cranking over but not starting, please help a newbie

[87 Wagon]

Hey everyone
I have had this car for 4 days and now it wont start

Heres some info just in case its relavant.
Used to start fine, and accelaration in 1st gear was good, but once it hit 2nd gear it was slow and once it got going it ran fine.

Now what its doing:
I was driving home from work goto turn onto the interstate and give it some gas and it stalled. Pulled it over, put it in park tried to start it and all it will do is crank. I was cranking it so much that the starter was over heating and than I would have to wait for it to cool than I could try again. Well after relizing that it wasnt going to start i had it towed home.

Now Im wondering were would you guys start, I was thinking the distrubutor cap and rotor.
Its getting gas because you can smell it after I crank it for a while so I dont think its the fuel filter or pump but I guess it could be.
Could it be a fuse? Looking at them they looked ok but I will have to get my meter from work and check them the right way just to be sure.

Any ideas you guys have would be great
Thanks for your time
Bernie

[Nad1370]

You basically need two things for a motor to run.

Fuel and Spark

You said you have fuel why not check for spark.
Check spark from the coil and then check it from the plug wires.
Check your plugs too if they are fouled.

[87 Wagon]

Originally Posted by Nad1370

You basically need two things for a motor to run.

Fuel and Spark

You said you have fuel why not check for spark.
Check spark from the coil and then check it from the plug wires.
Check your plugs too if they are fouled.

Do I need two people to do this, one cranking on it and the other checking the coil or plug wire?
If not could you please tell me how to do it by myself, i normally work on my cars alone due to my work schedule

Also I just read the email from the guy who I bought it from and he said it just recently had a tune up which included, filter, plugs, wires, cap and rotor. I will look in the day time but tonight when I was looking at it it didnt look new
What else could be causing me not to get a spark?
Thanks again for your guys time
Bernie

[WannaBButch]

Yes you need two people.

[Doctor J]

Make sure the timing belt is intact:

• Remove the 3.5 inch round rubber plug in the upper timing belt cover:
• With ignition OFF, place the 10mm socket wrench on the alternator shaft end (its 10 mm hex) and rotate the engine clockwise (the alternator drive belt will rotate the crankshaft via the pulleys)
• Look trough the opening on the cam sprocket , if it rotates , the belt is fine (its easier to rotate the engine with spark pugs out)

You also can do that if you have remote starter switch; crank the engine at least 5 seconds
Read the instruction and pull out the trouble codes. Let me know if any present.

[87 Wagon]

Got it running again.
I went and got the repair manual from the parts store and started checking all the ignition stuff since I knew it was getting fuel.
One of my buddies came over and we figured out the coil was bad.
went to the store got a coil and booya its all good.

Thanks for everyones input and time
Bernie

[fairladyZX]

where's the coil located if u dont mind sharing the info...is it pretty easy to changed it yourself...tks!

[87 Wagon]

Originally Posted by fairladyZX

where's the coil located if u dont mind sharing the info...is it pretty easy to changed it yourself...tks!

I dont mind sharing at all thats what these forums are about.
First off I had help from a friend but if I knew how easy it was I could have done it myself.

The coil is located inside the distibutor cap. Youll need to take the distibutor off first to get the coil off. Just remember to make marks on the distibutor and the engine so you put it back on as you took it off so the timing doesnt get messed up. than there are 4 screws that hold the coil on plus the 2 screws that connect the wires.

I recommend you pick up one of the repair manuals from a parts store just to have on hand, thats what I did, they have alot of info w/ pics to help out.
Thanks
Bernie