03 accent sputtered and died

Hi,


I was driving my 03 Accent with 110k miles in traffic yesterday and it
sputtered and died.



I have tried to start it a few times since and it spins over but shows no
signs of life.



It did have a rare miss when I was lugging in the wrong gear, i attributed
that to poor quality fuel and poor driving on my part.



I changed the timing belt 10 months ago and used a Hyundai factory belt.



I had just filled the car up the day before and there was plenty of fuel.



The battery was good and it cranks over fine, i tried turning the engine
by hand and there still seems to be compression.



It didn't show a check engine light until it wouldn't run.



Is there a common failure point on these engines ?



Should I buy a code reader as a next step ?



I havnt really had time to finish the fuel, air, compression, spark, testing
yet



I am very busy at work right now and really need to fix this thing as
quickly and correctly as possible. I may only have one day to work on it
this weekend.



I was really liking this car until it left me stuck on the side of the road.



Thanks,

DaveV

 

There's no one failure point that sticks out. Hold off on the code reader
for now. It's possible there are no codes stored. You're on the right
track checking for spark, compression, etc. On the other hand, if you
have access to a code reader you can obtain/use free, it's a good idea to
plug it in real quick and see if anything comes up.

If the engine cranks faster than normal, suspect a compression issue.
This is often caused by a timing belt problem.

 

ok,

I took a first look at the car back here in my garage
the timing belt and compression are good
there are no codes showing with a code reader
the code reader was communicating with the car, i was able to look at
coolant temp and such on a differnt menu.
there is no spark
the plugs are dry and show no signs of unburned fuel
no unburned fuel smell in the tailpipe or garage
there are no signs of this engine trying to run at all
I took a look around with a light to see if anything seemed to be
disconnected or worn thru

I am guessing this to be some kind of sensor or engine management issue,
but i dont know why the code reader wouldnt pick that up.
I am very frustrated and not sure what to look at next

thanks,
DaveV

 

Since you've got no spark, and it sounds like you have no fuel either, I'd
suspect the crank sensor or similar issue. If it failed suddenly, the
computer may have just assumed the engine was turned off. The fact that
you can communicate with the ECM indicates that it's probably functioning
normally.

I'd recommend pulling out the crank sensor and having a look at it. If
you see the wiring cut, repair the wiring or replace the crank sensor as
necessary/appropriate. If there's physical damage to the crank sensor,
check the wheel on the crankshaft (screwdriver in hole) to see whether
it's loose. If you see nothing, I'd recommend trying a new crank sensor.
Unfortunately, this means you'll need to go out and buy one. At the
dealer, we have the luxury of getting one from parts and replacing it
first in the event we're unsure.

I feel like I may be forgetting about something obvious. If someone else
has suggestions not mentioned above, please feel free to post.

 

turns out that it was the crank sensor

the online shop manual gave the specs for testing it and mine was bad. I
picked up a new one and the car is running fine again.

how often do those fail ? should i keep a spare in the glove box ?

thank you, you have been very helpful as always

thanks,
DaveV

 

All in all, I don't think they fail very often, unless the wire is routed
to chafe on the exhaust manifold cover. I don't think I've seen one fail
at less than about 30k. While that's not very long, it's also on very few
vehicles. The majority of vehicles I see have never needed a crank sensor.