Gas 2003 Montero Limited 3.8L V6 will crank but no start
 

Another Sunday evening spent banging my head why my beloved mountain won’t dang start. Lol.

I have crank but no start.

I had the tapping leaking down hydraulic lifter devices that started tapping about two weeks ago. I could run through the bleed/clean-out procedures 8 times (rev to 3,000 RPM for 15 seconds and repeat) and it would entirely disappear, just to be back the next day. Did it 3 times and same results. I was getting used to the noise and then this happened.

Three mornings ago I went to drive and had crank but no start. I have fuel because I can smell it flooding the motor, and I think I hear the fuel pump coming on, and I also sprayed propane and starter fluid into large butterfly at intake and it would not start either, on two test occasions.

I have spark at least at the spark coil that feeds out of the driver-side most front coil. I removed the front wire and inserted spark tester in the front-most wire hole.

The engine temperature sensors are reading normally. No other codes of any kind. Fuses under the hood are good.

History: 165,000 miles. 18 months ago I replaced the timing belt, tensioner, idler and water pump. And I removed the intake butterflies that have ruined so many of these motors when the flaps and screws come slinging free at 80mph. It ran fine until the lifter tapping and then this new no-start problem.

Anyone one else chased this same thing down I hope? What should I do next? Should I check timing to be sure it’s still on? Could a tensioner or whatever caused it to skip a rung or two and do this overnight? Wondering if I possibly have flooded it at this point so I don’t have required compression, adding to the original problem. I’ve cranked on it for a good 10-12 minutes combined over the last 3 days.

With crank - no start you have following likely culprits:
1. Fuel (sounds like you've eliminated that)
2. Spark (not convinced that you have ruled that out just yet)
3. Compression.

It is possible that you are not getting spark (or not getting it at the right time). Check Cam Position and Crank position sensors, since they control timing of the spark.
You should also check compression. You can take off the intake manifold and run compression test to see if something happened internally.
As far as a noisy lifter - sounds like your lifter had failed. If it had a slow drain, you would run through the bleed procedure and it will hold until you shut the engine off (say overnight). In your case you get the noise back when the engine is running, which means the lifter can't maintain pressure with oil flowing through it. You will have to tear into it and replace lifter(s).

The tapping noise doesn't come back until I turn the motor off and it sits for many hours, like overnight.

Yeah I want to check all 6 spark output paths on the coil. I only checked one. Access is the pain in the neck there. What's an easier way to do that, other than removing all that topside stuff? Shortcut by chance? If one, or half of one coil was failing would that cause it not to start? I figured if 2 cylinders were not firing it would start and run like crap, but still run some.

If the camshaft sensor is toast would it not show RPMs while I crank on it?

Any relays cause it to not start like this if fuel and spark is good?

Does the 3.8 have coils over the spark plugs with an additional wire running to the other bank? Not sure how best to test those. I've only dealt with the setup with coils up front with all 6 wires easily accessible. Try to find the manual for that year and check the resistance on primary and secondary coil circuits. Also, check to see if the coils get input from PCM on the primary circuit.
A fuse or a relay is a possibility. Fuse is more likely. Check all of them again.

I think I know the problem. It's the camshaft position sensor. I've checked other stuff and my RPM isn't moving when starting. Where is the camshaft sensor? Can't find the location anywhere online. This is a 3.8 liter version, 2003 year.

I hope you found it by now - back of the driver side head, right by the firewall. Pain to get to. Make sure the engine is cold when you are replacing it. Two bolts holding it to the back of the head.

Yes it's on the drivers side rear of the motor, in a nice easy spot to access, like all the other timing parts. Lol. I like these vehicles bit a little more design thought could have been incorporated into the repair access. That's why i really like the older ones better with 3.0 motors. They are much easier to repair. Thanks much!

It is true that some parts of these engines are Royal Pain to get to... But lets be honest - they do not break nearly as frequently as some other vehicles, so there is less need in"getting to" to those parts. I'd take my super tightly packed Montero engine bay any day, over the large as spacious engine bay in my friend's Ford. The Ford engine compartment has comfortable places to sit in there, because you spend soooo much time in there :)

In my 2003 Montero Limited this symptom was a faulty fuel pump.

Tee pump sounded like it was working, smelled fuel at the engine like it was working. But it had become weak and it wasn't until I replaced the fuel pump that I could start it up again.

Now all is well... for now.