My wife's 97 Stratus died after backing out of driveway what could it be?

Question

The car started just fine, as always, after she backed out of the driveway it died, and it won't start. It turns over just fine, and sounds like it is just not getting the fuel. I don't know fuel injection engines like the old carborator ones, so I am at a loss. I let sit , still the same it starts to fire, then just turns over. Put the pedal to the floor in case it's flooded, and nothing. Wait a minute and try to start, it turns over and without the foot on the pedal "starts" to fire but acts like not getting fuel. Press foot on accelorator, and the same thing. Can someone give me suggestions on what the problem might be please. V6 Fuel Injected.

it turns over normally. I have tried the starter fuel. It does not change things. It will "want" to fire only when I am not touching the gas pedal. Just kind of "starts" to fire a little and quits. You can do it over and over and over and it still acts the same. So according to what you 2 tell me is probably timing belt?

Answer 1

Her distraught lover put sugar in her gas tank

Answer 2

Verify spark with spark tester below. Spray "quick start" into fresh air intake to see if it readily starts and then stalls indicating a fuel delivery problem. Your V6 is an interference engine where the valves hit the cylinders if the timing belt breaks. If the engine sounds like it's cranking much faster than normal on a good battery, your timing belt may have broken and your engine has no compression which allows it to turn over much easier and crank much faster. But you seem to say it's cranking normally and starting to catch. You have a timing belt driven water pump (see Gates listing below). Your timing belt should have been changed at 60,000 and 120,000 miles, so I hope it didn't slip or break. If the timing belt has never been replaced, have the belt, tensioner pulley and water pump replaced now. Total cost: $650 installed.

http://www.napaonline.com/MasterPages/NOLMaster.aspx?PageId=470&LineCode=BK&PartNumber=7002456&Description=Electronic+Ignition+Spark+Tester

Answer 3

Oh....another dead Stratus.
You broke a timing belt.

Answer 4

potato up the exhaust