2002 2.3L B-series cranks but won't start
 

Hello everyone. I am new to this site. I have a 2002 Mazda b2300 2.3L that won't start. Ran fine until one day I tried to start it and it would crank but not start. I am disabled and very limited to what I can do myself to fix it. Also on a fixed income so any advice that would save me money and/or not to difficult to do before having a professional mechanic look at it. Here is what I have done so far from advice from friends and family. Replaced the ignition coil since I had a similar problem about 2 years ago and that did the trick. I checked the coil by removing plug wire and ground it to see If I was getting a good spark and it is. I then checked the inertia switch. And it was in the down position but I reset it anyways. I checked all fuses including those that go to fuel relay and fuel pump and all seem okay. Engine cranks and on a full charged battery so plenty of juice to work with. It does sputter like it does want to start and even at times would try the engine would stay on for a few seconds but very weak. I had wife to turn key to the on position without trying to start the engine and removed the gas cap to see if I can hear the fuel pump start and it sounded like it did. From my own feelings I feels like it's not getting enough gas. So here I am asking you good people for advice on what to do next. Trying to avoid big expenses' if I can fix this myself. Also my wife has the newer car for work so I don't have a vehicle myself to get around with so please respond as soon as your able to. Thank you in advanced.

Does it have a Distributor? What about a timing belt? When was the last time the belt was changed?

Pull the cap of the distributor and see if the rotor turns. If it does not, I'd say that you probably have a broken timing belt.

That is a 2-3 hour job.

No it does not have a distributor and I removed the oil cap and can see the cam turning when cranking the engine. Don't think it's the timing belt but could be wrong. It's has fuel injection no carburetor, I replaced the ignition coil which does spark, new plugs and wires, checked all fuses, the inertia switch is okay it did not pop up. I did listen for the pump after removing gas cap and It did sound like I could hear the pump switch on. Just want to make sure every other option is checked before taking to someone professional and paying big bucks for something simple I can do myself. But it seems to be pointing to probable fuel pump problem. Any other suggestions you might have will be much appreciated.

Beg, borrow, or steal a "Code Reader". It may help you figure out what's wrong. To me it sounds like it might be something in the electronic part of the engine, that is it's not something mechanical.

You mentioned fuel. Have you pulled the plugs after trying to start it ? Were they wet from fuel?

I put in new spark plugs because the old ones were soaked when I removed them. As for the code reader I wish I could beg (but I don't), wish I could steel, (but I don't), and I don't know anyone who has one or I would borrow one. My problem is I am disabled and on a fixed income. So having the money to send it to the shop is something I can't do at this time. I can afford small not to expensive parts but major work is another issue. I have to save for that.

Some chain auto parts stores wil,l free of charge hook, up a code reader to your car and download the codes, if any. You should see if any in your area do that.

Thanks Jim for the info I will check the nearby auto stores and will get back to you. Thanks again for your advice. Much appreciated.

Weellllll, if the cam was turning, your belt is probably OK. It could have jumped, but not likely. Has the belt ever been changed?

I am leaning towards no fuel or weak/bad spark.

Before this happened, was the Check Engine Light (CEL) on?

How many miles on the beast? Generally speaking...on a fuel injected motor, anywhere between 125k and 175k the fuel pump can go at any time. After that, tis just icing on the cake. You may have a removable, plate, in the floor, or bed that makes the job easy to do...if not, tis a pain, but doable (that said, never done it, watched it done is all).

Assuming that they are in the proper configuration, in order to run a motor needs: Spark (which you have), compression (which you probably have, as it is not likely that it disappeared on all 4 cyls at once), and gas (our top suspect).

Therefore, I'd put some gas, or starter fluid into the intake, TBI, or somewheres and see if it fires. It should fire for a second or two and then die.

IF it fires, then you know that you aren't getting gas. If it doesn't...either too much gas (not likely, but possible) or your spark is not strong enough or your spark is not at the correct time. This brings us back to a jumped timing belt, or some other reason that is just as mysterious.

You could do a fuel pressure check. W/o looking at your manual, It possibly should have 40-50#, maybe more. Anything over 25# and it should run...so-so. You probably have a wire somewhere, on your PU that you ground and it energizes the pump for pressure testing purposes and a spot, on your fuel rail to hook up a pressure gage.

You just changed the plugs, right? The old ones were wet, correct? If your plugs are wet, you could either have weak spark, or a rich mixture (but it should have been throwing a CEL code). If your motor is running rich, it WILL foul the plugs, regardless of the condition of the ignition system. It may take 10K miles to do it, but it will.

If it doesn't fire by inducing fuel into the manifold/tbi/etc then it has enough fuel. Especially if you have fuel fouled/wet plugs (that brings us back to Ignition. But, it also raises the possibility of too much fuel...not likely, but possible.

Take one of your old sparkplugs, put it in a wire and ground the plug, crank it. What is the spark, if any like? It should be blue, not yellow. Autozone has a tester gizmo, that you put in a sparkplug wire. It cost less than 10 bucks.. It has a screw, that you clip to a ground...you turn it out and it will show you how many volts are in your system.
Great Neck/Adjustable ignition spark tester (25069) | Ignition Tester | AutoZone.com
Anything over 20K is fine (actually enough to run on). 25K is common to many vehicles and 30-35K is what a stock Chevy HEI puts out and is one of the best out there (way more than enough).

Autozone has Codereaders....but you have to tow it down there. Once you get it running, you could drive it down there and have them read the codes.

Coils don't normally go bad (they do, but they normally last a long time). Something could have made your coil go bad.

Thank you Stinky1. You gave me allot of very good information. It's been raining here for the past 3 days (and I mean lots of rain) with flooding in some areas. So haven't had much of chance to work on the truck since it is parked in the driveway (not under cover). But tomorrow I will definitely be able to work on it. Thanks again to you and Jim for your help and like I told Jim that once I am able to work on the truck again I will definitely get back to both of you. Oh and by the way. On other internet forums I have read other people advice on people with similar problems and more than not they all seem to point to something other than timing belt or fuel pump. So I am not giving up. The truck has 89,000 + miles. And no the belt has never been changed. The truck has ran great for 10 years with no problems other than simple maintenance, oil change, tune up and so on. This current problem with my truck happened without warning. It was running fine. Started the truck to move it back to work on the edging on the lawn in the drive and turned it off. When I went to move it back it would crank but not turn on. No warning or nothing. But I do believe the engine light did come on for just a minute before turning the truck off when I first moved it in the driveway. Thanks again for your advice.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...not-start.html

Notice what Radioflyer had to say.

There are 2 people in the thread that have had their cam jump time. If you put fuel into you manifold and it doesn't start, and if you have spark...guess where I'd check next.

I have the same truck - has a timing chain - no belt.

Russ