1995 mighty max turns over wont start

[killamax]

Drove to gas station to park it for a day came back next day would not cranking. Hauked it home changed spark plugs and coil distributor cap and wires. Cranked up but smoked badly so I decided to go ahead and put a head gasket, intake gaskets, also new fuel pump. After putting it all back together it won't start turns over. Replaced whole distributor still nothing. Has 150 compression all 4 spark and fuel. ecu looks good showing nothing burnt. timing is point on except distributor not sure but tried different positions still no start.

[killamax]

2.4 fuel injection 5 speed

[Pengineer1]

I don't have any experience with your 2.4 liter motor but maybe try spraying some starting fluid down the air intake and seeing if it tries to fire or start? No trouble codes?

[killamax]

Thanks for replying but I have tried that and same thing just turns over. Been messing with it over a month.

[SubGothius]

Since you redid the head gasket, did you remember to connect a ground wire/strap from the head to the firewall? FWIW, I moved mine from an exhaust manifold stud to an intake stud since those are cleaner, found a generic ground strap from an auto-parts chain store that fit and was long enough to reach just fine.

[xboxrox]

Compression, Spark, Starter Fluid = NOTHING..!

Ignition timing ??

[killamax]

Ill double check. I removed the plug off the temperature sensor and it tries to run but struggles and pops

[killamax]

Just tried to crank it without temperature sensor plugged in and it actually tried to crank but kept popping with the gas held down. When I turned over before it would just shake like it was trying to crank.

[killamax]

Got it to finally start then it actually ran for a minute or so then it kinda back fired and dumped a lot of fas out of throttle body

[SubGothius]

Got it to finally start then it actually ran for a minute or so then it kinda back fired and dumped a lot of fas out of throttle body

That last bit leads me to wonder if any injectors are stuck open, or the signal to them is constant rather than pulsing in time as it should, either way just constantly hosing fuel into the cylinder(s).

If so, there's prolly a lot of gas in the oil by now, so you'll wanna change the oil once you get this sorted if not sooner.

[killamax]

Replaced temperature sensor and changed oil. Grounded head and valve cover. Now it tries to start and run but feather gas peddle and won't really stay running. Really struggles and I dont smell gas as I did before. Also replaced plugs with a .43 gap I mean it barely will run or atleast try and not smooth really

[SubGothius]

First post here you mentioned replacing the whole distributor. Was that a brand-new or otherwise known-good unit, or just a used spare you had lying around?

Asking cos I wonder if the ignition control module (ICM) inside the dizzy may have failed. Sometimes when they start failing they don't go totally dead but can burn-in a bad dwell (which is how long the coil charges between sparks), so you'd still have spark but not enough oomph to start and/or run well at idle or certain RPMs. Also a good idea to replace the capacitor/condenser at your coil, since that going bad can contribute to the ICM getting cooked.

Also not sure that .43 spark cap is correct, seems large but I'm not sure what the proper gap spec is for the 2.4L.

[killamax]

The distributor i ordered from rock auto which was reman in a napa box. As for the plug gap under the hood says a range .39 to .43 going to make it a .39 or .41

[killamax]

Update gap plugs to .39 and retimed distributor and it started up and ran like a top. Tried the position before and wouldn't crank so dunno. Anyway it's running finally. I believe it was temperature sensor, grounds and plug type and gap. Thanks everyone for your input and help