HEEELP... Will Not Start!

[horseplay01]

My 96 Explorer 4.0 will not start.
First here is what happened....
My wife was driving it one morning to work and the freeze plug blew out the back of the head blowing anti-freeze everywhere. She cut it off before it got hot... so she says.
We had it towed to a garage and a new freeze plug was installed at the rear of the head on the left side... I think.
It sat for about 2 weeks before we were able to pick it up. When I first tried to start it, the motor turned over okay, but wouldn't fire. After trying for some time it finally started, and it smoked bad then finally cleared up. I drove it home with no problems. Started it when I got home and everything seemed okay.... until it sat for about three days and again it was hard to start. When it finally started it smoked real bad, but had a steam look to and no antifreeze smell. Again it ran fine and started fine. Then it sat for about a week and it still will not start. It will pop, sputter, and back-fire thru the throttlebody, but will not start.
The symptoms remind me of a car with a distributor that has moisture in it. I have no idea what to check so please help me!!!
The motor was replaced 2 yrs ago and has 42,000 miles on it. We hadn't not had any problems until the freeze plug blew.

Thanks!
Alan

 

[horseplay01]

Anyone have an idea??

 

[budwich]

It doesn't sound good. Was the engine a "bench rebuild / remanufactured" or a "used drop in"? Blowing a frost plug isn't a good sign. Suggest that you search / follow the numerous posts on "no start" problems thru out the forums for some of the "diagnostics / checks". You should probably pull your plugs and check their condition in terms of appearance as this may give you a hint as to what your problem might be (ie. cracked head, intake problem, etc).

You are using "cranking" and "starting" interchangeably which may lead to confusion. "cranking" is the acting of the motor turning from the starter. "starting" usually refers to the engine "firing" under its own "power" (ie. sparking, fueling, etc). It sounds you have a "cranking but no start" condition.... where the cranking speed (of the starter) is normal, not slow or dragged but no firing because of lack of spark and / or fuel.

From the above, you need to check that you are getting fuel (check fuel pressure), and getting spark.... that will get you a bit along the way to narrowing down your problem.

 

[horseplay01]

It doesn't sound good. Was the engine a "bench rebuild / remanufactured" or a "used drop in"? Blowing a frost plug isn't a good sign. Suggest that you search / follow the numerous posts on "no start" problems thru out the forums for some of the "diagnostics / checks". You should probably pull your plugs and check their condition in terms of appearance as this may give you a hint as to what your problem might be (ie. cracked head, intake problem, etc).

You are using "cranking" and "starting" interchangeably which may lead to confusion. "cranking" is the acting of the motor turning from the starter. "starting" usually refers to the engine "firing" under its own "power" (ie. sparking, fueling, etc). It sounds you have a "cranking but no start" condition.... where the cranking speed (of the starter) is normal, not slow or dragged but no firing because of lack of spark and / or fuel.

From the above, you need to check that you are getting fuel (check fuel pressure), and getting spark.... that will get you a bit along the way to narrowing down your problem.

Thanks... I changed my orginal post, so maybe it will make more sense now.
The motor was a remanufactured long block.
It seems like it isn't getting spark. I am thinking that something is soaked with antifreeze and is not letting it fire. Each time it started it ran fine, but after is sat for a few days, then it wouldn't start.

Thanks again.

 

[budwich]

antifreeze is very corrosive so that it may cause electric contact issues on surfaces the get contaminated. As suggested, pull your plug, get some electrical grease for the boots / contacts. Check you coil packs and the contacts there. Again, check for fuel pressure and ultimately check for spark.

 

[Cobraguy]

The burning antifreeze has me concerned. I would go after that if you get it running. But it's possible it's not a big deal either. If they pulled the head to replace the soft plug, it's possible they dumped coolant down the exhaust and it will take a while to clean out. That happens a lot. But if you say it's cleaned out, then comes back after sitting, I would want to find out what's going on. I would say it may be time to take it back to the shop and see what they missed. If they tell you it's a cracked head, etc., have them show it to you. Maybe even mark the head in question so you know you're looking at your head. Man it sucks to have to do this kind of crap just to make sure you aren't getting screwed.