Introduction/Question about a "no start" condition

[MightyRiga]

I am 17, have been driving a beater Dodge Intrepid for over a year, and now a 1996 Talon TSi has fallen into my hands. Me and my dad rebuilt the engine, and now I will be driving it. I live in Michigan, and if there are any questions, just ask!

Now, for my question. The rebuild occurred 464 miles ago. Everything was running fine, no problems. I drove it to school one day, no problems. I stalled it after school (not used to driving a *new* clutch, too grippy), and it had problems firing. Floored gas and cranked, eventually fired. All good. Few days later, I am moving it around the driveway, stall it again (I can drive a stick, honest). This time, no start. Cranks fine. Gets fuel, has spark, spark plugs in order, and ran fine for 464 miles before this. What could the problem be? Checked timing and ran diagnostics as well. Thanks in advance.

Nik

 

[MightyRiga]

Well, as an update, my father disconnected the battery and let it sit for a few minutes. Reconnected, and it started right up. He didn't let it idle long, turned it off, and it would not start again. Any thoughts?

Was I not supposed to bump this and start a new topic? If so, my sincere apologies.

 

[smokey8667]

i'm clueless on that one, anybody else???

 

[nuclearpenguin]

Maybe something jank with the ECU? The only thing I could think is that when you disconnect the battery cable, it clears out the ECU, then you reconnect, it starts, regains whatever problems it has, then refuses to start again. WTF

Weird...

Pull out the ECU, take the cover off and see if it smells like rotten fish in there. That's the only thing I can think of.

 

[MightyRiga]

To follow the rules of the forum, it now runs/drives fine. Well, moves from space to space at my house fine. Drive it when we get plates transferred.

Couple of the spark plugs were defective. So, it was trying to run on two cylinders, and not doing so. Once that was taken care of, it fired up alright, warmed it up, and changed the oil. Came out like water, and reeked of gasoline. We flooded it a few times.

Thank you for all the replies. Thankfully it was nothing too expensive, but something that was difficult to diagnose. You were all very helpful and I will post again if I have anymore issues!