won't start

[StephanieD]

I was just driving along one day and my Corolla's motor stopped running.

I once had a Caravan that had a fuel pump die, and it acted the same as that.

The car will turn over and will "sort of" start for a few seconds with the help of a couple shots of ether, so I assume this shows that its not a timing chain / belt.

I got a friend to put a used (13,000 km) fuel pump in. Didn't help.

He replaced the starter relay. Didn't help.

Any suggestions?

[StephanieD]

In case anyone reads this in the future, the problem was a fuse.

My career as a mechanic is off to a slow start. :-)

[Gu5To]

i'm having the same problem, which fuse did you change?
Thanks!

[StephanieD]

Like I said in my PM, the fuse only lasts for a few minutes, and then it blows again.

I must have a short somewhere. A bare wire somewhere could be a bugger of a problem to find. :-(

The fuse is in the black box under the hood on the driver's side. I can't give you the exact location right off hand, but you could just take a couple minutes and check them all..

[GaryGoatse]

Try doing a few continuity checks with both connectors on a wire disconnected to see if it has 0 ohms of resistance meaning a short to ground, or disconnect the wire at both ends and check from the wire to the chassis ground to see if you have any resistance. If you have anything but O.L. (Open or infinite resistance) then it means the wire is connected to the frame and has grounded, so you will then have a fun time removing the entire wire to replace it.

good luck, please update us

[StephanieD]

Thanks for the suggestion. I think this is what my mechanic friend suggested and he said he'll tackle it in a couple months when it warms up a little. I will let you know how it goes.