Ford laser 1988 hatchback wont start right away and has a strong fuel smell when it first starts whats wrong with it?

SOURCE: Ford Fiesta 1998 Finesse 1.3 - imobillisor / ecu fault

hi mate i hade this problem and it were the catlicconverter

SOURCE: 1988 Ford F 250 5.8L EFI wont start

Since you are getting spark and fuel we know you are good there. Check the timing on the engine. Turn the engine from the front of the crankshaft with a socket and a large breaker bar until you reach top dead center of the intake stroke. Then remove the distributor cap and check to make sure the rotor is pointing to the # 1 cylinder. It almost sounds from your description of the sound the engine is making that the timing chain has jumped a few teeth on the gear. These factory gears have a nylon coating on the teeth and over time the nylon chips off the gear. When to much of this plastic gets chipped off the teeth it results in chain slack on the push side of the gear. When you shut the engine off it can jump a few teeth at the very last second before the engine stops rotating the crank and cause it to jump teeth. The engine probably has high mileage and might need the timing gears and chain replaced now. If you perform the visual check with the distributor I think you will find the chain has jumped a few teeth. If you need more help come back to this site and one of us will be glad to help. Good luck. Let me know what you discover.

SOURCE: 1991 ford ranger wont start

I do believe the FORD is located under ther hood either on the firewall or on L/S wheel housing. Have encountered many , many faulty control modules. There came a time if you came across a Ford product with a no start, you automatically suspected it, and 90% of the time you were right.

Dennis Mulford

• 1055 Answers
• Posted on Apr 19, 2009

SOURCE: my 1988 ford f150 wont start

fuel pressure regulator!!
and when is the last time you had a complete tune up?

SOURCE: Our 1988 ford laser splutters especially after

Could be trash in tank, if it settles down and runs good after you have run some gas out of tank thats probably what it is. I would drop the tank, remove fuel pump and fuel level sending unit if separate from pump. Clean tank, replace fuel pump while you have it out even if its working because your right there and if it has pumped up some trash and you reinstall it you may have problems again. replace the fuel filter too. If you have a lot of rust in the tank another thought would be to have your fuel lines cleaned and carb.

Testimonial: "thanks. i'll follow that advice. i should leave it to the kids as it's their car but it'll never get done. cheers"