Isuzu Trooper II stopped running

Hi guys- My 1990 Isuzu Tropper II v6- the car was idling in my driveway last night and suddenly just stopped. Now it will not start- it does turn over- so starter & battery are fine. Any suggestions as to what is wrong- I had just returned from Jiffy Lube and was checking the fluid levels- could they have bumped something- or did fuel pump suddenly go bad. I noticed the wingnut to the airfilter top was missing- as they replaced the filter- could they have dropped the nut in the carburetor? Very strange- the vehicle has ALWAYS started perfectly- now I am stuck- any advice appreciated- thx- Mark

Forgetting to put that wing nut on will allow unfiltered air to flow into the engine, which is bad, but won’t cause it to quit running immediately. And even if the wing nut fell into the intake manifold (fyi, this doesn’t have a carburetor, just a very carburetory-looking single point fuel injection system) I don’t really see it causing a no-start either.

First off, you need to figure out if the problem is no fuel or no spark. It’s really easy to check for fuel on one of these because the two fuel injectors are in plain sight. Just take the air filter lid off (hey, you don’t even need to undo the wingnut!) and then while someone else turns it over watch to see if the injectors are spraying or not. If they aren’t it’s a fuel/computer problem, but if they are it’s most likely a spark problem. Give that a check and post back.

Every time I read the “JL” words I cringe a little. If they forgot the wing nut what else might they have forgotten?

You’re going to have to do some diagnostic work. Do you have spark? Do you have fuel? Luckily, your V6 has a timing chain, not a belt, so a broken timing belt is not your problem.

When was the last time the fuel filter was replaced?

Well I have never changed fuel filter- own car for 8 yrs- where is this located- in fuel tank. On the JL issue- they kept trying to sell me on so many add on things (engine/radiator flushes, rear-axle/transfer case changes- all I wanted was an oil change- now I am afraid they did something to the car. I will check 2nite to see if they fuel pump is working- on my own I could smell gas as I was pumping accelerator pedal with air cleaner lid off- but I will have my nephew look for squirting fuel- thx for the advice- I will let you know 2nite- Mark