I have 94Tracer 1.9 engine. Several months ago I noticed the exhaust was sounding a little louder than normal. After checking the sound seemed to be coming from the converter. A month later the car would not idle when stopped for about 20 seconds,but would start right back up. Yesterday I drove the car for about 25 miles and stoped in the market for about 5 minutes. When the car started up a noise like the fan blades hitting the radiator commenced. I cut the car off and restarted the car and there was no noise. I drove about 7 miles and the car shut down and will not start.could this be a plugged converter and how can I test it before going to the expense of replacing the converter.
Is your check engine light on?
Please describe exactly what you mean by “will not start.” Does it crank, does it catch then stall?
Car cranks as normal but will not catch. Check engine light never came on.
If you suspect that the internal workings of the converter or muffler have collapsed and are blocking the exhaust, can you have a friend (carefully) check the tailpipe while you crank it?
There is an exhaust pipe that bolts on to the exhaust manifold at one end and the converter at the other end, then more pipes back to the muffler. You could test whether the exhaust system is plugged by unbolting the first exhaust pipe from the manifold and see if it starts up. If it runs, reconnect it and then disconnect different pipes working your way back to see where the plug is. Unfortunately, many of these connections will be rusted shut and there may be no way to take them apart without having to replace them anyway.
A plugged converter shouldn’t keep the car from starting. If it is loud that actually likely means it is leaking and the leak would dissipate back pressure build up.
What you need to do is find out whether you lack fuel or spark. If you squirt some starting fluid into the intake and that gets it to fire briefly then you need to investigate the fuel system. You can pull a plug, use a spare or a spark tester to check for spark.
Figure out if you seem to be lacking one or both of these things and report back.
And just as a side note - one recent poster was chasing a no start problem for a while before realizing his gas gauge was broken. He was out of gas.
Not out of gas,just filled before the stoppage. The car is fuel injected,where do you inject the starting fluid?
Spray it into the air intake, it will get sucked into the cylinders. Starter fluid is mostly ether and it will turn your engine over even if there is no gas, until the ether gets burned up. Get someone to spray while you crank, or vice versa.
Are there any mechanics in your town?
Check your timing belt.
new timing belt Feb 09. Is fuel pump located in gas tank?
Why do you want to know where the fuel pump is? Have you checked the fuel pressure? Have you looked for spark yet?
Yes, it is in the tank. You access it through the back seat (under the rear seat cushion). But don’t go there unless you verify that you have to.
Not out of gas,just filled before the stoppage.
Bad gas? May be time for a new fuel filter and maybe a tank cleaning.I’ve seen a plugged converter prevent an engine from starting.
Tester