Svenska Posted July 21, 2008 Report Share Posted July 21, 2008 My brother-in-law's '93 850 is in VT and too far away for me to actually look at it so I'm trying to troubleshoot for him over the phone. The story so far: two-weeks ago, my sister started the engine, drove it ten-feet out of the way and turned the engine off. I know. The engine ran for all of ten-seconds maybe. Soon after and for every day since then, it won't start (it never turned over even once after that move of ten-feet). It cranks beautifully, but won't turn over. Immediately, I thought lawnmower syndrome. No problem, depress accelerator fully, then crank engine continuously for about twenty-seconds each attempt. Each time it sounds like it's 90% about to turnover, but doesn't. I had my brother-in-law check for codes - none found, 1-1-1 in all systems of the car. He confirmed the buzz of the fuel pump in the trunk upon start up. I had him depress the valve at the fuel rail, fuel came shooting out into the paper towel he had ready, he said. The spark plug boots are all fully depressed on the plugs. The plugs have about 12,000 miles on them and are about two-years old. It's not bad gas, since he filled the tank in Rhode Island and drove up to VT without a problem. I have my sister try each day for a minute or two (or three) of cranking the engine and it's always the same thing - it almost catches but won't. The battery is still good, still up to 12.72 volts 24 hours after each attempt. I've never heard of it taking two-weeks to cure this "lawnmower syndrome" condition. Can anyone else throw me a bone here? What else can we check if there's no CEL illuminated? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlvinL Posted July 22, 2008 Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 Pedal to the floor for ONE minute. It should sputter and fire up but don't let go prematurely. It will eventually fire up and run really rough from the flooding. Take it for a drive and let it warm up properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Svenska Posted July 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 Pedal to the floor for ONE minute. It should sputter and fire up but don't let go prematurely. It will eventually fire up and run really rough from the flooding. Take it for a drive and let it warm up properly.So crank it continuously for one minute with the pedal depressed? Usually you don't crank starters for more than 30 seconds at a time for fear of overheating them/burning them out... Then hold key to the stop until it sputters etc.?I'll have him try that. I can't believe this happened after only ONE brief start/stop of the engine. I've heard of it happening after multiple brief cycles of on/off in a row.Why does this seem to happen to 850s? We have a Ford Taurus that my wife moves a few feet here and there in the driveway and this never happens... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlvinL Posted July 22, 2008 Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 I had a NA before that it happened to. Not from one short run but a few. IIRC, it's the hydraulic valves that are unable to close the valves for sufficient compression. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drin850 Posted July 22, 2008 Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 i had the same problem, turned out to be ingnition coil. did he check for spark at the plugs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozark Lee Posted July 22, 2008 Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 If the compression is bad pull the plugs and dump in a teaspoon of oil into each cylinder.Replace the plugs and crank it until it starts. A fully charged battery is a must and it will smoke like a mosquito fogger for a few minutes....Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlvinL Posted July 22, 2008 Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 I had a NA before that it happened to. Not from one short run but a few. IIRC, it's the hydraulic valves that are unable to close the valves for sufficient compression.Correction. What I said doesn't make sense. If the hydraulic valves weren't opening, then there's nothing to compress. That makes more sense! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Svenska Posted July 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 Thanks to all who answered. I knew it was a common problem, so common I didn't know what to enter as a subject in the search function. It occurred to me last night to try entering "lawnmower syndrome". Sure enough, about thirty entries came up, all with almost the same issue - moved the car for a few seconds then shut the engine off. All of them basically said to add some oil to the cylinders. That makes perfect sense to me since gasoline is a cleaning agent (works beautifully on bicycle chains, as does kerosene) which inadvertently cleaned (or washed) what little oil coating there was around the rings/pistons/cylinder sleeves, thus leaving no compression. Adding a small amount of oil mimics or replaces that lost vacuum seal. I knew it had to be a washing syndrome issue since I knew it was started and moved for a few seconds. That greatly helps in the troubleshooting process to know that since it mimics so many other possible issues. This whole problem/solution should become a post-it up top...I still don't know why this happens to the 850? My wife moves our Ford Taurus a few feet very often with no ill effect. We used to own a Chevy Equinox too, same thing she'd start the engine for a few seconds then shut it off. I've never heard of this happening to any other car but the 850, anyone know why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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