Wife yells to me this morning that her 2002 VDP wont start and she is taking my car to run errands.

So after 8 hours of tinkering.....it wont start. This is a last ditch effort before I have it towed to a real mechanic.

-I cleaned out the sensor that is next to the air filter. Both filter and sensor were clean to start with.
-Replaced spark plugs. They looked mostly fine, two were dirty.
-Topped off with oil as it was 2 quarts low.
-The fuel pump in the fuel tank was replaced a year ago.
-When I opened the schrader valve on the fuel rail, it spits out fuel.
-Only code it throws is 10001? Manufacturer something. A generic code.
-There is evidence of a mouse.
-According to the wife it has been running fine with the occasional Coolant Message. (Its topped off and I replaced the expansion tank/thermostat housing/Octopus hose 2 years ago) Just a recurring gremlin.
-Battery is an unknown age but holds a charge and cranks fine.
-Tried starting in Neutral....Nada.
-Checked ALL fuses, especially fuel and ignition related ones.

Can a mouse (IE chewed wire) totally disable the car without throwing a code? Only other thing I can think of is the 'cylinder wash' thing i have read about here.

Anyway thats the clues. Hopefully someone has a 'Hey dummy, did you check XXX?'

I humbly thank the collective in advance,

Christian

 

does it sound like it is cranking faster than normal?

 

Good question, Its not my car. But Im gonna say same if not slower because it always fires up within a second or two. Thus the theory that a mouse chewed a wire. Question is which one?

Sorry for the bolds and Italics..

 

I think the 2002s are past the date of the cylinder wash issue but couldn't swear to it.

Does it try to fire at all? Or does it just crank endlessly?

 

Endless cranking. She parked it last night and this morning nothing.

 

So we're assuming that it cranks fine, just no firing, or an occasional firing, and we are assuming you are getting enough fuel pressure to the fuel rail. Can you check for spark ?

 

Thanks for the help guys, its on a flat bed on its way to a professional. Please deduct one point from my Man Card. I only had a day to diagnose it, so off she goes.

Ill report back once they find whats wrong with it.

 

I had these symptoms before on my 2001. Ended up being a bore wash. Got fixed quite easily by adding tea spoon of motor oil in each cylinder. Just had to warn neighbors about the anticipated smoke a start, but cheap fix.


Cheers

 

She is running!!!

Bore Wash / Cylinder Wash etc. Tech put some oil in the spark plug holes and it worked.

So $259 for the work performed which included an internal engine wash, oil change, and cleaned out the intake manifold.

Yorks & Lancs in Chatsworth, Ca. Hopefully I wont need another pro in the near future, but if I do they will get the business.