Thanks in advance guys... The car is a 96 Protege LX with the 1.5 engine... In short the car overheated and now will not start ... The temperature gauge pegs hot when I turn the key ... I have used a multi-meter and checked every fuse ... I have checked the crank position sensor and it seems to be within specs... I have verified that the fuel pump is energizing when I turn the key ... I pull the plugs and there may be a indicator of coolant on one of the plugs ... I am of the opinion that with a blown head gasket the car should still run rough ... I am looking for suggestions to get a rumble out of the car before I pursue replacing a head gasket ... Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated... Thanks, Steven

 

Remove the radiator cap,top the radiator off. Leave the cap off and crank the engine. If coolants blows out of the radiator while cranking then you have a warped cylinder head. The higher the coolant blows out the worse the head is warped.

 

Make sure you flush all coolant and replace all coolant sensors as well as thermostat.

 

Pressure test the cooling system, then remove the sparkplugs, then wind the engine over off the starter moter & see if coolant fires out the spark plug holes. Also get a compression test done on the cylinders.

 

I actually modified and attached a clear hose to a shop vac ... then removed all of the spark plugs and vacuumed to see what, if any , fluids the vacuum would pull out ... yep, a couple of cylinder had some signs of coolant but not enough that the cylinder would not fire ... and there is no visible sign of coolant in the oil ... I pulled a plug wire and attached it to a exposed plug so that I could watch for a spark ... I am getting a spark ... I do not think that the injectors are firing but I can hear the regulator when I leve the key on and pull, then re-insert the injector relay under the hood ... What should I look for or what can I test in terms of seeing if the injectors are actually firing ... I may try just squirting some start fluid or gas into each cylinder, then try to start ... I want to see the engine run before attempting to replace the head gasket ... Then, if it doesn't start after the head gasket, I would at least know that it is probably something I did not do correctly ...

 

If you insist on running an engine with a warped head (bad idea) then drain all the coolant and try then.

 

Yes bad idea!

 

I just want the car to crank/start ... I do not want to go for a drive ... Once I hear the engine run, I move on to the problem of fixing the gasket ...
Can you offer any suggestion on how to verify if the injectors are firing .... I will get a 2nd set of hands this weekend so that someone can turn the key while I look and listen under the hood...

 

A noid light from a parts store.