Desperately need help

[cad614]

Simple problem, my car won’t start.

It all started Friday (4/18) when I heard what could be best described as a squeaking sound coming from my distributor. It sounded to me like the cap was rubbing on the dist. and figured it was since there's so much play between them. Went out Saturday (4/19) and installed a new cap and rotor, however the sound was still there. A few hours later when I was driving the car died on me and I rolled into a parking lot dead.

It wouldn't start because I was not getting any spark off the coil. All fuses and voltage going to the coil checked out fine, and I tried a new coil. I suspected it might have been the TFI module so I let it sit for that night thinking it would have more than enough time to cool down by the morning, it still didn't start. All I had yet to check was the strator (PIP) and since it's in the distributor I figured it was what I was hearing all along.

After installing the new strator (Sun 4/20) I realized that the distributor had too much play in it and was no longer any good. I managed to pick up a new one at NAPA on Monday and installed it in my car. Everything went fine, dropped it in, started it up, adjusted the timing, tightened it up, and shut the hood. Went to leave and as soon as I hit the gas the car bogged down and died. Opened the hood to find the distributor had moved. No biggie - I must not have tightened it enough. Loosened it up, moved it back, and torqued the heck out of it. Go to start it up, and no luck. It had spark, just didn't want to turn over. I checked again and found the dist. had moved yet again. That's when I pulled it out and found the gear had been ground down by my cam. I headed back to NAPA where we compared it to my stock distributor and found that the shaft was just a bit longer (possibly a 351 dist). They ordered me a new distributor and gave me 6 quarts of oil and a new filter without any hassle.

Tuesday (4/22) I picked up the new distributor and went to start up the car, however it would not start. I had spark at the coil and I had plenty of fuel but it did not seem to want to start. After a frustrating few hours I talked to Redsnk95 who suggested the TFI was out. He was right, so I went and got a new one from Autozone. After installing it I still could not get the car to start so I checked the plugs and found they were soaked with fuel. Decided to let it sit for a day hoping they’d dry themselves.

That brings us to today (4/23) when I realized I needed to get new plugs. After installing them and still not getting the engine to start I tried to jump-start the car thinking the battery had just gotten too weak. When I tried to start this time, the car the car backfired. Good sign for me, it’s the only sign that something had changed. After a few attempts keeping the gas pedal floored to keep more fuel from being added I could not get anything but a few more backfires. I rechecked TDC, which was dead on, so I figured this meant that the distributor was 180º out. However, when trying that all I got was an engine turning over and no firing. Went ahead and set it back where I had it originally, tried one more time with no luck and gave up for the day.

New distributor, new TFI module, new plugs, and a good coil = no start

I’m running out of ideas (not to mention patience) at this point.
Anyone have an idea of what could be wrong?

[bigred90gt]

Could be your ignition switch. It doesnt really sound like it, but that is about the only thing left. Unless the wire that goes from your coil to your dist is bad. Check that out.

Caymon

[drtbiker]

Hold on is there spark at the plugs aswell or is there just spark at the coil? Is it a strong spark at the coil or is it just a spark? Sounds like to much fuel not enough spark or the timing is off. Check to see if there is spark. Did you do anything to the car before you had this problem or did it just occur.

later

[BLACK85GT]

check the simple things first. Are the plug wires all good. Are they in on correct firing order?(could have gotten switched around). You could have had a bad distributor, and then mixed up the wires when you put the good one in. Some times when you are looking at it too hard it starts looking the same.

[cad614]

Update

I pulled codes yesterday (4/24) and only got 111, everything passed. I checked the timing with a light as I tried to start it and timing is at ~10º BTDC. All wires are in the correct location.

Good news for today, the coil is bad. I took the TFI module in to have it checked to make sure I didn't get a bad one and figured I should have the coil checked at the same time. TFI was fine, coil wasn't. Looking back I remember the last time I tried using the old coil was before I replaced the TFI. So it looks like I was getting spark, just not good spark.

I'll try starting it up tomorrow after I check all my other connections to make sure everything's fine. I want to enjoy my Friday night by thinking I finally have this problem solved.

Thanks for the help guys.

[cad614]

I should have known it wouldn't be that simple. The new coil didn't help. I went ahead and tore it down to the timing chain to make sure it didn't jump a tooth, it didn't.

I'm out of ideas at this point. I'm going to head down to the Ford dealership on Monday and hopefully talk to a mechanic that can give me an idea of what else could be wrong.