No, that is next. With each sparkplug having its own coil, that means there is no distriburor. How does this engine know when to fire a sparkplug? What components can mess up the ignition? Is the crankshaft position sensor the weak link? How to test it?

 

Yes, there is spark. Pulled out the front passenger side coil and stuck an old plug on it. Disconnected the fuel line under the throttle body and fuel came flying out.
Are the injectors not injecting it? Engine cranks, but no attempt at all to start.

 

The crankshaft and camshaft position sensors provide information for the computer to tell when to spark. But it those aren't working, there should be a code and there wouldn't be a spark. If you have spark and fuel you should start. Try getting a can of starting fluid and spraying it into the intake to see if you can get it to at least fire for a few revolutions. If so, then it's a fuel problem. One would think that if it's an injector problem, then at least some of the cylinders would fire. They are not likely to all conk out at once.

 

What about air flow sensor? Where is it, how to test it?

 

If that went bad it wouldn't prevent the car from running but it would set an error code. You might want to beg, borrow or steal a code reader to make sure you have gotten all the codes out of the computer. You might be able to get one on loan from an auto parts store.

 

I loaned one from Autozone, the reader comes up empty. Battery has been dead for a few days, I guess it wiped the codes

 

I am still wondering what would cause a running engine to die. Right after it first happened if I pulled the fuel pump fuse and put it back in it looked like it was trying to start and run, but it does not do that anymore either

 

"Battery has been dead for a few days."

Did you re-charge the battery?

A weak battery can make the computer do weird things.

 

Battery has been recharged. I changed the cranckshaft posirion sensor, no change. I pulled a sparkplug, it is bone dry. Somethinng is not telling the injectorsto open. There is fuel pressure where the line connects to the fuel rails.

 

Finally got my hands on a Haynes manual in the library (thankfully they still exist because on the www there is nothing to be found).
It says that if the crankshaft position sensor or the camshaft position sensor fails it will kill power to ignition and fuel injection in 1 second. That is why the sparkplugs are dry, and no OBD codes.
Changed the camshaft position sensor (did crankshaft sensor few days ago) and the car is back to its good old self. $70 for 2 sensors and several days of frustration.