Good morning guys, and man is it going to be a long day for me!

#1 - Had someone turn the key to accessory and I did not hear the fuel pump humming/making a noise.. I did hear a click sort of noise but I'm not sure if it was the fuel pump or not. Anyone know which fuse controls the fuel pump or another way to test the fuel pump??

Secondly, I pulled the oil dipstick and I do not THINK the oil has coolant in it although i am not positive.. I will let you guys be the judge of that.. It looks really dark and smells burnt.



#2 - Do you guys think I should drop the oil pan to confirm no coolant?

#3 - I bought an inline spark plug ignition tester tool this morning, but I now see I have to remove the entire manifold just to access
the spark plugs.. Is there another way for me to test spark? Or should I just pull the manifold and replace all the plugs anyways?
What is the oem type/part number for the spark plugs?

#4 - I also rented a compression tester tool.. so I guess I need to remove the manifold anyways in order to access the plug chambers..
Do I need to disable the fuel injectors somehow before cranking the car with no plugs in it?

Anymore ideas?

 

Did they turn it to ACC (the first position) or to RUN (the one right before start where your climate control system comes on and your power windows are energized)? The fuel pump doesn't run in accessory mode, basically just the radio does.. You need to turn it to the position it would be in after you release it from start and then listen for the pump.

There are some relays that energize in ACC so that's probably what the clicking was..

There should be a plastic box under the hood where all the main fuses and relays live near the battery. There should be a chart of what runs what on the back side of that cover.

The best way to check the fuel pump/system is with a fuel pressure gauge.. You connect it to the fuel rail and it should tell you if it's creating enough pressure.

The spark tester is probably the cheapest thing to get and easiest to test (I think you just have to hook up where the spark plugs connect and ground it.

That should at least confirm the the coils are working and the ECU is sending the spark signal to the engine.

Then you can do fuel and compression test... You might be able to rent or borrow those tools from a local auto parts store rather than buying them for a single use.

From the picture the oil looks alright to me.. I'd expect it to be more milky if it had coolant in it..

 

UPDATE:

#1 - I turned the key to RUN as mentioned above, and did not hear the fuel pump humming or buzzing as most cars do.. Maybe it's just too quiet on this car? Should I be able to easily hear it?

The fuel pump not making any noise bothers me. I am confused as to how it could possibly be not working, when I started the car numerous times when I went to purchase it and then drove the car about 60 miles home with no issues.. (until it overheated and annihilated itself that is! ha).

#2 - In order to use the In-Line spark plug tester tool I have to be able to access the plugs. So I have to remove the manifold and all that junk as you guys may already know.

Since I am removing all of that anyways, I ordered new plugs and new wires (NGK wires and NGK Iridium plugs). I also ordered new valve cover gaskets, intake manifold gaskets and also the rubber boot seals for the plug wells... Figured I would do it all while I am in there anyways!

#3 - I will also be doing a compression test with the tool that I rented, but like the plugs I need access to the spark plug wells in order to attach the compression test tool.. My question is, will I be able to crank the motor (in order to read the compression tester gauge) even with the intake manifold and the throttle cable and all that junk disconnected?

So I will be waiting for the parts to arrive hopefully next week and will report back after I do the plugs and wires.

 

Wow I just noticed it's a 98.. I thought it was a much newer vintage... OK that takes a ton of electronic things out of the picture. I haven't driven anything that old in a long time :P

The fuel pump hum should be pretty obvious when in RUN.. It should come on for a few seconds as soon as you click it there and then turn itself off within a few seconds..

I can hear my '10 Outlanders pump from the drivers seat easily...I don't think it would be so quite you could not hear it with the engine off.

Before you start ripping out plugs I would find the under hood fuse and relay center and check if there is a fuel pump fuse and make sure it's good, then you should be able to find the fuel pump relay. Make sure it clicks on when you turn the car to RUN.

If you have another relay with the same pins/markings/specs in there powering something less important (like a window defroster or headlights or horn) try swapping them and see if the car will start.

If you aren't hearing the fuel pump I would put my money on lack of fuel causing your no start condition.

I can't understand how this would tie in with overheating.. Unless it somehow shorted something or the heat wrecked a relay or something?? Hopefully it's not the pump itself.

It won't hurt to change out the plugs and wires anyway, might make it run better may as well check your air filter while your in there too if you haven't already.

As for #3 yeah I can't see what would stop you... The cranking is electric (battery to electric starter motor) and since the plugs are out it's not going to be able to fire up. It will probably suck some air in just make sure you don't do it in a dust storm or with anything that could get sucked into the intake. The throttle cable won't matter either as the car can't start so the position of the throttle can be closed.

Look at this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfYarHqS1EQ It should be the same vintage and give you an idea what you are looking for (though that one is apparently making a noise it isn't supposed to be) you should hear something there though.

You may as well check your compression while you're doing the tune up just to make sure the engine/seals are in good shape since you already have the tool.

Here is one scenario I just thought of, maybe someone more mechanical can vet it.. I'm more of an electronics guy :P
Fuel pump is on it's way out from the get go, pressure is lower than it should be, engine starved for fuel (running lean) this can cause excessive heating of the engine and over a long period at high speed could cause an overheating condition and when you finally lost power it conked out... Overheating would be a little milder and wouldn't necessarily cause permanent damage...
At the very least you can give me points for creativity :P

 

Thank you for all the great information and help, I really do appreciate your time as this is a huge pain and I just spent $1,500 on a car that is a giant pile of scrap metal in my garage right now.

I checked the fuse pump again, I had my fiancé turn the key to RUN while I was laying under the car and I heard a VERY brief (maybe 1 to 2 seconds long) "BZZZT" sort of buzz noise.. So I guess it is safe to say that the fuel pump is NOT the problem.. I am used to most cars having loud fuel pumps that buzz for maybe 5-10 seconds but maybe the 1998's just have quiet/short fuel pumps.

I also tried swapping the fuel pump relays around in the passenger side kick panel and the car still would not start so I guess fuel is officially eliminated as a problem. (hopefully......)

I guess now I will just wait for the spark plugs and wires to arrive and see if I can get it to start once those things are installed.

 

That seems like a really short run time for that pump to run.. does it stay running if you are actually cranking it?

Also do you hear/feel the relay click ON when you turn it to run and then back off 2 seconds later?

I noticed in that video where the guy turned the key to run but did not start the car the pump kept running the whole time.. You can try jumping the fuel pump on at the relay (connect the two load pins together with a small jumper) and then try cranking the engine and see if it starts.

You can't say for sure fuel isn't the problem yet however..Even if the pump is energizing it could have a clogged filter or it might not be "running on all cylinders" so to speak.. You need to check the actual fuel pressure to make sure you actually are getting fuel to the fuel rails at the engine and that it's at a high enough pressure for the injectors to do their thing...

If you know how to you can try taking off the fuel feed in the engine and turn it to RUN and see if it comes out or not that won't tell you if it's got enough pressure but it will tell you for sure that is is flowing from the tank. Just don't get it all over :P

It's also possible the computer may not be commanding the injectors to fire but let's not go there yet....

Also:
I don't know if this applies to your year but it looks like there is a "multi port fuel injection" relay in there too, did you check that one too.. If that's out it won't start either.

 

I wouldn't rule out the fuel just yet. 1 or 2 seconds priming time is too short, plus you can't tell how well it works just by the sound. It can be turning but not putting out any fuel. I like the idea of bypassing fuel pump relay and to test the pump. It is a good test and you can't build too much pressure in the system since the excess pressure would be relived via pressure regulator back to the tank. I do not know if it is possible on a '98 to plug a fuel pressure gauge somewhere around the fuel filter (before and after). Once you energize the pump you can see if you are getting fuel to the engine.

As far as testing spark - can you rig the tester to connect directly to the coil and then plug a spare spark plug and ground it on the engine? Alternatively, you can rig the tester to go between the coil and the wire on the coil side instead of the spark plug side.

Burnt smell of oil and black color is not an indicator of anything. If you are really concerned about possibility of coolant mixing in the oil, do the following test: heat up an empty tuna can the stove and drop couple of drops of oil from the dipstick onto the hot can. If you get sizzling and bubbling - you've got coolant mixed with oil. If you just get oil sitting there and smoking slowly - you are golden.

 

That's what I meant by not firing on all cylinders.. The pump is turning but not actually moving fuel. Glad you agree with my Hunter, half the time I wonder if I'm just talking out my *** :P

That's a neat trick with the oil, I'll have to add that to my bag of tricks... Does it have to be a tuna can, I hate fish :P

 

It's hard to mistake water in oil...

 

It doesn't even has to be a can - a frying pan will do, but your dinner will have a 5x30 flavor for some time.

That's some nasty mess in the photo above. The OP's photo of the dipstick doesn't come close to this situation.