Truly unusual problem!!

[WGUNGHO]

I just got my 97 back from my mechanic. He's Ford certified, and runs his own shop, as well as being a ranked Outlaw racer. Several days ago, I went out to start the Cobra, and it wouldn't start. The motor cranked, but it turned freely-as in no compression! My first thought was the timing chain, but that wasn't it. My mechanic tried to start it, same results. The motor turned freely again, like there was no compression. He determined that everything was turning properly, so no bad chain. He told me he held the gas to the floor, and cranked for about 45 seconds :shrug: . The car started, running very rough and spitting raw fuel from the exhaust. After about 15 seconds, the smoke went away and the car is running fine.
There were NO codes. The starter was engaged. The motor turned, but under no load, i.e., little or no compression. We cannot duplicate the condition.
I had him Seafoam the motor and power clean the injectors, just because I could!
Any ideas about a cause?
Thanks
Thom

 

[SnakeStang96]

That is unusual. Had a similar problem but I just forgot to hook my MSD back up. Sorry to hear about it but Im sure there will be somebody on here with some answers. Good Luck.

 

[VirtualSVT]

was there spark?

If the motor dumped fuel but no spark that would explain it.

 

[WGUNGHO]

My mechanic checked-plenty of spark. He hooked up his computer stuff for the whole thing. Never showed a code!

 

[VirtualSVT]

has it happened again?

 

[WGUNGHO]

It only happened once, and we can't repeat the incident. I know it sounds like flooding, but that doesn't account for the lack of compression. The starter really spun the motor, with the low/no compression. The only senario we could come up with is that all the injectors leaked the cylinders, and the gas acted as a solvent and broke the ring seal. But that doesn't explain the loss of compression.

 

[cgriff97cobra]

I think you should go back to your ignition. From what I hear is the car is lacking the spark in some way or fashion from cranking. In which it will not throw a code for that necessarily.