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I purchased a 1993 5spd GS with 100,000 miles. I had the rear main seals, water pump, timing belt, axle, motor mounts brake pads and rotors all around, exhaust system to get the car up and running. Now it doesn't want to start up. All the lights, window works, but now the engine wont crank over. I had the distributor changed and still no results. I took the car to a local shop to get a dianogstic and was told they could get no reading and I might need a new ECU. My question is

Are these symptoms of a bad ecu or is the shop trying to rip me off?

How come the shop dianogstic machine can't get any codes from my car?

Is there anything that I might miss that is causing this problem?

The shop sounds like a bunch of idiots..There is like 1% chance its your ECU. I have an extra ECU to my 92 5sd GS. Worse comes to worse I will mail it down to you and you can see if that is your problem (provided you do it yourself so your shop doesnt charge you lots!)

First off - check the starter, and all wires to it. If the lights are working its not the battery, but starter turns the car on!

Check grounds, specifically the starter ground and alternator ground.

Did the engine TRY to crank over at some point then stopped?

Im 99% sure its a wiring issue seriously, check all the wires to your starter and disty...why would you change the disty if the car wasn't even turning over! The shop seriously recommended this? You should get your money back! Thats total BS - I would be pissed!

Please give any more info

My guess would be that it's the starter/wiring as well. Give that a try and let us know what happens.

Yeah, I'm not sure why the distributor change if it won't even crank.

There's one more thing you could check besides the starter. There's a clutch switch above your clutch pedal. It's designed to keep the car from starting unless you have your clutch in. It's pretty simple. Sometimes these go bad and don't get good contact, or get stuck, so it reads as clutch out, even when it's in, and this keeps the car from starting. A long shot, but easy to check, so might as well.

http://www.mx-3.com/manuals/showimg.php ... F2-158.gif" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

^Yes yes, I totally forgot about that, probably because I removed mine!

yikes holy s---. you mind tellin us how much you spent so far? a rear main seal isnt exactly a cake walk.....

^^^^ya no s--- eh, pull the tranny and clutcha nd flywheel. im surprised they didn't say that was bad too.

Sounds to me if its not the clutch switch its either the starter or battery/alternator. ECU has nothing to do with cranking the car.

Thank you guys for your feedback info.

onlytrueromeo I knew the shop was full of s@$*!. I didn't pay them for anything since the job wasn't done right. I will look into the starter and check the wiring . The engine did crank over like it wanted to start up but never did

Thanks Whisper for the link

The work I had done before the car wouldn't start ran me about $1400. My friend is a mechanic and get discounts on parts and charged me dirt cheap for labor. He told me to take the car to a shop since he couldn't figure out what cause my car to not turn on.

mx3autozam your funny. The shop might try to tell me I need to change the fluids in my light bulb. Idiots.

Ok, if the engine is cranking, then its not your starter! Is it still cranking? You should have told us this, it sounded like it wasn't turning over.


Check for spark! Pull a plug and place it near the valve cover when youre cranking - if you see a spark, than thats not the problem.

Check for fuel! Make sure your fuel lines are hooked up right and your injectors are plugged in! While you have that plug pulled for checking for spark, do you smell gas in the open spark plug hole? (Keep in mind you dont want to keep cranking the engine over and over venting gas into the engine bay or the engine, just a few times are enough)

If you are getting spark and fuel, then the engine should be trying to start. You can check codes yourself, you dont need a shop. Go to the V6 FAQ and check for codes using the paper clip!

or better yet PM mx3kid16 about pulling engine codes. he knows all about it (dont let him talk you into buying his gameboy)

lol yea ask mx3kid16 he would know about the codes

I am betting its the timing

If this car is killing your wallet, might as well sell it to me for 500 lol jk


dont give up.

I also bet its timing.