Hey guys new member here, I have a 96 RS with the 3.8 it was running fine then overheated the head gasket didn't blow but I towed it anyway got it home and both fans quit I am certain this is the source of the overheating one has a bad bearing the other no idea why, well now it will not start but it sounds like its trying.
have spark and I have fuel but I am thinking not enough spark so could it have killed the computer?maybe jumped time? it is backfiring through the intake.
I have ohm checked the plug wires and they are fine, I put in new Bosch iridium plugs but it's just not starting, can anyone tell me where I need to start looking for possible issues? I don't want to just throw parts at it that will get real expensive real fast. oh yea and the only code its throwing is something about the evap canister purge valve

 

if she overheated then you got coolant a over the front of the engine. check the plugins for your crank/cam sensor, maf and any other you can see, clean and dry and maybe add a little electrical grease.

 

Is the spark strong enough? Spark testers are cheap. Check parts store or harbor freight. They hook inline, if lights up its firing the plug.

You have fuel but do you have enough pressure. You can borrow a fuel pressure from most parts stores to verify fuel pressure.

Are the sensor hurt from the coolant. OBDII blue tooth adapter will link to your phone and there are a lot of apps out there. Its a powerful scan tool for under $20, see ebay or Amazon.

The last one is the tuff one. If the car overheated and the pistons got tight it could have cause the timing chain to jump. This would cause a back fire condition and make the car sound like it wants to start, But all the above could cause a similar condition.

 

Thanks Gorn and Craby for such quick replies, I totally did not think about the sensors getting antifreeze on them and the spark tester I did think about the fuel pressure tester but have yet to get one, while I am waiting on my new fans to come in I will go to harbor freight and get one, I checked the spark the old fashion way with a spare plug and a grounding point but it did not seem like a lot to me coming from those high dollar plugs so I will pick up a proper spark tester and see what's up, I would replace the sensors and coils but I don't want to just throw parts at it and not get fixed, I will let you know when I get it figured out and thanks again.

 

as for why it overheated, better borrow/rent a pressure tester for your coolling system, even if it didnt leak before it may be now. plastic elbows are a common failure, i would think overheating would cause falure if the plastic was unhappy. the other fail point is the intake gaskets and the pressure and heat of boiling over could make a unhappy lower intake gasket fail.