Car will not start

try resetting security system it was probably engaged. if no manual look online on how to do it for your car.

I have read conflicting information that ford may have removed the anti theft feature from the arc correct me if I am wrong. As for spark and fuel my uncle is a retired mechanic and is going to take a look at it and tell me if it tries starting with some fuel in the carburetor. He says the PNP switch would prevent cranking of the engine at all if it where to be malfunctioning. "not sure if this is with all vehicles so that may still be an option" I cant take it back to the shop the work was done as that shop no longer exists. I will keep this post updated as I get more information. I will also look into the PNP connection if nothing else works. Any extra thoughts would be much appreciated. the car went in running, came out cranking but not starting.

you can always jump the switch with a jumper wire as long as it is in neutral and the parking brake is on. that would tell you if that was the problem. but if the car's starter turns the engine over it is not the pnp switch.

The car came out of the shop cranking but not starting* anyway yeah I think the PNP switch is ruled out. Hopefully the fuel pump/filter is not toast I cant see how the pump would just die after the clutch was replaced, but it will be a lot of fun dropping that gas tank if it the fuel pump died. Is it possible that the clutch isn't aligned properly keeping the engine from starting?

no because it turns over. check fuses under hood and try a security reset like I said in first reply.

Okay sorry for the long delay, the car has been through a lot of checking. So the engine cranked, but got no fuel pressure or spark. The car may have been sabotaged while in some of the cheap shops it was sent to here is why I think that. We checked the engine fuse box and found a missing fuel pump relay. So we had to go out and buy a new one, we then found that the fuel pump would kick on and supply the engine with 25-30 pounds of pressure, this is below factory and the fuel pump probably needs to be replaced, but it should be enough to atleast get the car to start atleast for a moment. At this point the car still wasn't starting, (no spark) so we decided to replace the Distributor because in the 1997 version of the car the Crank position sensor is in the distributor, so we would be killing two birds with one stone.. Success.. kind of, now the engine sparks, cranks, and fuel pressure is good... But the injectors are not firing. We found a plug that had multiple wires going to it, but the bridge plug thing that grounded all the connections was missing (another sign of sabotage) I'm not sure what the plug is called, but we found that by bridging the wires together using some wire connectors everything seems to come to life. The car wasn't getting spark or fuel before fixing those wires. The sparkplug wires where randomized in the original disty (yet another sign of sabotage) and the fuel cut off switch was triggered, nothing major has been noticed other than those issues. The car has little signs of rust, and will start puffing if you put gas directly into the intake. So the only issue we have now, is the injectors are not firing to give the engine fuel to start. What would prevent the injectors from firing? We have tried two computers as well.

scan for codes first you need to see if there is a code set causing the problem . with everything that has been changed there probably is a lot of times it's an iginition problem not allowing injector to fire. check fuses underhood as well.

more things to look at

So I just got off the phone with my uncle who is working on the car currently, and after some messing around the injectors are finally firing, however the pump is no longer sending any pressure to the engine, when he gets time he is gonna bypass the fuel pump and force gas directly into the line to see if the engine starts sputtering or starts briefly. If so, we are gonna drop the tank swap out the fuel pump/strainer, and possibly the float as well (the fuel gauge is stuck on E all the time). Hopefully the car will fire right up, he made sure that the timing belt didn't skip any teeth as well, so hopefully the car will start soon.I'm getting excited, almost out of the woods :D

Nice to hear, please let us know what happens. Happy Holidays!

Best, Ken

I forgot about this post oops..

I'm sorry It took so long to reply, but I finally have hands on the car, and I got it started. The timing belt was bad (Timing belt was way off), distributor was also bad, fuel tank was full of sludge, and the fuel pump was rusted out. The strainer for the Fuel pump was disintegrated, the fuel filter was rattly and broken, the fuel pump relay was missing.
Vacuum leaks all over the place (I replaced all of the vacuum lines, and Intake, throttle body gaskets)
Once all of that was taken care of I got the car to fire up.

- Other issues
thermostat bad - fixed
battery bad - fixed
ac leak -fixed
2 bad o2 sensors - fixed
Bad knock sensor - fixed
all 4 brake rotors rusted badly - fixed
Spark plug wires bad - fixed
MAP sensor causing fuel trims to spike and fall rapidly - asking about in another post.
etc etc..

So my uncle did a bit of tinkering around with the car, but after I got ahold of it I did all of the work above myself.
I actually have a new issue regarding open loop, but that will be in posted in a new question to keep things organized.

Thanks for the help of everybody who chimed in. It turns out pretty much everything was preventing the car from starting, Air, spark, and fuel where missing.

Glad you could get it fixed, that kind of problem can be tough. Please use 2CarPros anytime we are here to help

Cheers, Ken

Engine Mechanical problem 4 cyl Two Wheel Drive Automatic

I have a 1997 Ford Probe GT 4 cyl will not start. I have heard it might be the distributor or the ICM but I can't seem to locate the ICM anywhere.

Do below

Lets do below for a start to determine if its fuel or spark related issue and get back with some results

Get a helper disconnect a sparkplug wire or 2 and ground it to the engine atleast 3/16 away from ground-have helper crank engine over-do you have a snapping blue spark? If so-you have a fuel related problem, check the fuel pressure to rule out the fuel filter/fuel pump/pressure regulator and listen to the injector/s are they pulsing or hook up a noid light. No snapping blue spark continue to troubleshoot the ignition system-power input to the coil/coil packs,coil's resistances,cap and rotor,distributor pick-up coil, ignition control module, cam and crank sensors and computer Note: If it doesn't apply disregard it

Hi, I have ford probe 2.0 1997, overheated causing blown head gasket, resurfaced the head and changed the headgasket and now it doesn't start,
checked the timing belt and it's set correctly, spark plugs are new, checked the spark on the wires comming from the coil and all have a spark, checked all wiers and hoses and everything is in its place, after a contious try crancking only the first and second cyl got warm, the fourth and third cyl still cold so now burning on those cylinders. what could be the problem??

Is there any adjustment should be done to the ignition coil? i saw there's a brace there and wonder if it has a role on timing adjustment?

Did you recheck the compression?

no i didn't, the 10 bolts have been torqued following the sequence provided on hayness manual.

Would like to add an input here, it has a steady crank and no "pop" there or backfiring, but when i touch the exhaust tube for Cyl 2 is warm! the first is less warm than 2. cyl 3 and 4 are totlly cold.

Three needed items for success are fuel, spark, and compression. Cheerful all three and post findings.

Engine Mechanical problem
1997 Ford Probe 4 cyl Automatic 6000 miles

My car overheated and stalled out on the highway last month, the car cranks but it wont start. Can you give me a possible reasons why the car wont start? Also when i put water/coolant mixture in the car it leaks out all of the mixture as fast as i can pour it in. Im not sure what the causes to either problem and i was wondering if you could help me out?

Cranks but wont start

Do below:

Get a helper disconnect a sparkplug wire or 2 and ground it to the engine -have helper crank engine over-do you have a snapping blue spark? If so-you have a fuel related problem, check the fuel pressure to rule out the fuel filter/fuel pump/pressure regulator and listen to the injector/s are they pulsing or hook up a noid light. No snapping blue spark continue to troubleshoot the ignition system-power input to the coil/coil packs,coil's resistances,distributor pick-up coil, ignition control module, cam and crank sensors and computer Note: If it doesn't apply disregard it

Engine Mechanical problem
1997 Ford Probe 6 cyl Front Wheel Drive Automatic 130,00 miles
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I have just change my 1997 ford probe gt time belt and before i did it turn on fine but after i change the belt now it wont start i check the distributor and it seems to be kinda rusty i bought the parts and am about to change it....but if it still doesnt start what could be the problem all my fuses are fine everything works but starting the engine...oh yeah i aslo have a new battery i am stump please help? or do you think the distributor is the case and that i will be fine?

Could be the valve and igniton timing is way off-Did you put engine no.1 piston on its compression stroke/TDC before you put the belt on? When the engine is on no.1 compression stroke the markings below should all line up as you see below

Engine Mechanical problem
1997 Ford Probe 6 cyl Two Wheel Drive Manual 110000 miles

My Daughters 1997 Ford Probe went into the shop to replace the clutch when it went out. At the time, the vehicle would start with no problems. Once the clutch was replaced, the shop could not get it started again. The shop did multiple test and said the on board computer had failed so we replaced that. Then they said it was the electronic ignition so we replaced that. The car is getting fuel into the cylinders and there is a power going to the spark plugs. I even took the vehicle to the Ford Dealership in town and they were unable to figure it out. What could be the cause?

This is a very interesting issue especially since you say there was no issue before the clutch was replaced. I would venture to say that this sounds like the problem is propably repair related. Since they replaced the clutch I would consider what sensors had to be disconnected in order to remove the transmission to repair the clutch. I would start at the transmission area and work my way around the motor. Pull on the connectors of all the sensors to make sure they are all fully connected, also look for electrical connectors or sensors that have nothing going to them. Also since you say there is spark and fuel being delivered this makes me think it is sensor related also. You have both elements necessary for combustion all you need now is the proper inputs to allow the car to start, these are your sensors. As for the parts that were changed to remedy this, it sounds like they may be just throwing parts at the problem. If they were diagnosing this properly and found failed components, like the one's they replaced, the car would be running. Secondly I would go through your fuse panel and check all fuses to make sure you have nothing blown. Keep in mind that your car was fine before the repair. This is the key normally to figuring these things out is being logical in the approach. Start with your sensor connections since they had to remove some of these to repair the clutch and then check your fuses. When checking the connectors you may also want to unplug them and check to make sure all the pins inside the connectors are straight, not bent or broken. Improper connection may have caused a pin to become damaged, thus rendering the sensor it serves useless. If all this appears correct and in good order, then go through and inspect the area around the transmission looking for any split or pinched wiring that may have become damaged during the repair.

Woah!!! This is crazy! Welp, I had no idea this post existed, but I believe this post was made in 09 by my aunt, or uncle who owned the car at the time.


The car sat until 2016, I got a hold of it, here is what I did to fix it.

The timing belt was off by about 20 teeth, and the distributor coil was going out.
(I believe 7 years ago those where probably some of the only problems the car had)

However I also ended up replacing:
Fuel pump
fuel sending unit
water pump
spark plugs
spark plug wires
distributor
valve cover gaskets
intake and throttle body gaskets
vacuum hoses
knock sensor
o2 sensors
thermostat
battery
and quite a few other things due to age, and the outdoor conditions it was being stored in.

The car works great now, aside from a few things here and there I am working out.

I had no idea this post existed, I stumbled upon it, and this whole back story is exactly what this car went through, so I have no doubt this is my uncle or aunts post from 7 years ago before I even knew this car existed.

We think the car was sabotaged by the shop, there is no telling what actually happened, as the shop owner isn't alive anymore, and the shop is gone, but this car is living on to drive on many more roads.

First of all thanks for all of your hard work! On to my question... I have a 1997 Ford Probe GT (2.5 L V6) manual transmission. The car has about 120K miles. I've owned the car for about 3 years. I drove the car to work in January and when I came out at the end of the day to go home it started and then stalled. I haven't been able to start it since then. I should mention that the car has had some starting problems in the previous months, mostly on damp days. Normally, though, it would start after several cranks, run rough for a while, and then run fine again. The check engine codes would come back as Misfire Cylinder 1 or 3. Soon after I bought it I had some starting problems and replaced the Crankshaft position sensor, which seemed to take care of the issues. I've replaced the spark plugs, wires, rotor, rotor cap, and fuel filter. The resitance tests for the crankshaft position sensor and distributor are normal, and i have the proper voltage to the distributor. I have plenty of gas getting to the engine as well. The distributor is rotating, but i haven't been able to get a spark. The distributor was replaced by the previous owner about 9 months before i bought the car. The last major problem I had with the car was the timing belt, which i had replace about a year and a half ago. After it was replaced the car hasn't seemed to run the same. About 9 months ago I had the distributor adjusted and that seemed to straighten out most of the problems. Any help you might have or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. It seems like I have tested or fixed about everything on this car, so let me know if you need more information. Thanks agian for your help!

Have crank and cam timing checked to make sure engine is aligned correctly.
Let us know what you find out!