Car Starting Problems

I am pretty sure it is behind the passenger-side kick-panel just below the glove box. It's not very big, you will see a red button on the top of it that you will need to press.

You can use a wire tester to check for a ungrounded wire. Attached the wire tester to the battery posts. The tester will show you if the ground is weak or strong.

Yes .

If u mean still gets power as in compression and sprays fuel? then your problem is your spark plug check if your spark plug is working simply by unscrew it put the spark plug housing on and lay it on the head of the engine of the car. (make sure that the metal part on the side of the spark plug is touching the head of the engine) if you have no spark then get a new one or fix it if u know how..

It could be caused by any of a number of problems.

Some of the possibilities are:

* One or more worn sparkplugs that cannot deliver a hot enough spark. It may be providing enough spark to function after the engine warms up. * Low compression on one or more cylinder. Any cylinder with low compression will have a little more difficulty firing. * A sticking or plugged injector that has possibly flooded the engine when it was turned off or even not providing enough fuel at startup. * A sticking or poorly seated valve. * Oil fouled plugs. * Vacuum leak on one or more of the cylinders.

Battery is dead or the alternator is bad. Have your battery tested at an auto parts store such as pep boys. Chances are your battery will test bad - unable to hold charge.

I have the same problem and I was told, by the dealer, that the fuel pump module isn't holding the correct pressure after a "warm soak" and needs to be replaced to the tune of $1,000.

check the front of the engine at the bottom for an electrical plug

Yes, the TCC (Torque Converter Clutch) can do that. Remove the TCC fuse and see if the problem stops. With the fuse removed the vehicle won't go into overdrive but it should not stall at a light.

at the back of the engine slightly to your right as you face the engine,you will see a black plastic cylinder verticaly aligned this is the air filter, the starter is below this, a knobbly casting and metal horizontal cylinder the size of a can of beans,,,and they are expensive to replace!!

A bad radiator is a radiator that is leaking or clogged. If you are loosing coolant then you have a leak that should be easy to find if the leak is at the radiator. If it is clogged your engine will overheat.

Its hidden under the camshaft

That depends on several factors:

If the car battery is FULLY discharged, a starter can pull as much as 200 AMPS when you try to start the engine, depending on the size of the engine.

If the car battery is only "low", but still carries a pretty good charge, you might be able to get by with considerably less than 200 AMPS.

Depends on the car. Most cars use a universal module called a "556U" With this module, you put a chipped key in the module which was a wire that wraps around the key and the other side wraps around the key cylinder so the car thinks the key is in the cylinder. There are new modules that have just come out that interface with the car's immobilizer system that store the code in them where the person does not need to lose a key

Go in the PCM with a scan tool and relearn the cam/crank values. I'm not 100% on this, but I think you have to have a Chrysler scan tool to do it.

All 3.1 engines have the same firing order - It is 1,2,3,4,5,6

Ignition module

the easiest way is with a vaccume guage on the engine move the air fuel mixture screw slowly until maximum vaccume is achieved then back off slightly. If you are in astate that requires emmision testing you may want to have a professional do it. Make sure they are licensed!

Check the BMW for ignition fire. Check the coil pack. Check the distributor or crank sensor depending on the year of the car.

I would suspect that you're actually leaking "soot". If the engine is running reasonably well and you're getting black liquid when the engine is cold, it's soot. Engines have to run a little "rich' (extra fuel) when they're cold and that sometimes produces a little carbon in the exhaust.

Another thing that happens when an engine is cold, the EXHAUST and muffler are also cold. that causes some of the exhaust gasses to condense on the side of the exhaust system. Since automotive fuels are nothing more than complex hydrocarbons, a good portion of the exhaust gas becomes an oxide of hydrogen that we lovingly call "water". Once the water vapor cools on the exhaust system it condenses and picks up the soot and it all drips out, sometimes out of the back of the exhaust pipe, other times out of the "weep hole" of the muffler.

If you feel that you're getting too much soot it might be a good idea to give the vehicle a good "tune-up", other than that, there isn't much to do about it.

On the other hand, if it truly IS oil, that's leaking out, you have serious oil burning and it's amazing that the engine even runs.

I was a mechanic on Mazdas for 9 years. Can't remember the particular model 1998, but generally, here's how to remove the starter on a 90's Protege:

Disconnect the negative battery terminal to remove power from the starter. The starter and starter solenoid are one unit.

There should be 2 or 3 14mm bolts holding the starter to the tranny. At least one of these bolts is accessed from above the transmission, requiring the removal of (at least)the air filter housing and intake, and the battery and tray if you want to make it easy on yourself. Remove those first, then remove the top starter bolt before you go under the car. You might be able to access the top bolt from the left wheel well if you take out the plastic splash guard behind the left wheel, and have a nice long extension with a "wobbly" 14mm socket. There are a number of 10mm bolts and a few plastic fasteners that hold this on.

I believe the starter is located behind a bracket that supports the intake manifold from the engiine block. Remove the 4 bolts on this bracket and remove it from the vehicle. The starter wire may be attached to this bracket with a plastic clip, just undo the clip and the bracket should come right out. The bolts that hold the bracket on the manifold end are usually pretty hard to get to; be patient.

Once you have access to the starter, there should be either 1 or two bolts that hold the starter in on the bottom. Remove the bolts and carefully remove the starter from it's position in the transmission. Once you have the starter free, remove the starter cable and the small wire from the clip on the starter solenoid.

Re-install in reverse order.

I thought I had the same problem with my grand am, and it turned out that I needed to go to the dealer and have the transmission fluid flushed, and changed. It seem this is not someone a car owner can do unless they have a way to pick the front end up to let the ait out of it. I had to do it around 80,000 miles

I assume that you mean the ignition OFF position. Or do you mean the starter moter keeps turning in the ON position rather than just the START position. This may be a possible wiring fault. If the wires became overheated and melted through the insualtion, the START bare wire may be touching the IGN/ON bare wire. Cheers Malcolm