Friends Saturn 1997 wont start. Some times It tries to,and puffs out black smoke - sot. Tried with starter fluid, no help. checked plugs, they fire

Hello,

Okay--I am thinking about several things here. Electrical fire; engine failure; coolant system leak. Visual inspection--look at the wires on the engine, do they appear melted or are any of the wire casings soft? Check the fluids for the engine (e.g.-oil coolant) if you have water in your oil or coolant is black you could have blown a head gasket. There are some hoses on the firewall side that go into the block or intake manifold, check them for tears, cracks, etc. After you have diagnosed the problem a little more--re-post.

Did you check the injectors to see if they are firing?

could be a stuck egr valve

check the crank shaft sensor its behind the starter they r cheap

If you tried jumping it and it still doesn't start, then it's not your battery. There may be a problem with the solenoid/starter. Try tapping the starter a few times with a metal object (tire wrench or something), but not too hard. Then try starting it again.

1342 is the firing order but white smoke signifies water loss like a head gasket or a inlet manifold losing water thats being sucked into the engine

car is not earthing properly poss broken earth strap from battery to car or gearbox to car or the 1 at rear of engine to bulk head

did you use carb cleaner or starter fluid. if you try starter fluid and it starts for a second and then dies you might have a fuel pressure issue. if not check for spark.

I dont know why it wont start,but our plugs and wires had oil on them and we replaced the head gasket and it doent get oil on them anymore

if starter fluid made it chug, I would suspect fuel pump fuse, relay or pump, also fuel filter.