won't idle
 

98 sebring conv, V6 Jxi.
I turned the crank when the car was cold and it started right up then as soon as I released the key, it immediately died. Did it again a couple of times then pushed the gas while starting and got it to run. after the car warmed up, the problem went away.


I heard it might be the throttle. so I removed the four bolts and couldn't figure out what was holding the throttle in place so I gave up and figured I'd replace spark plugs while I was in there.


Replaced front three plugs and far right wire would not go back on new spark plug and seat.


Could not figure out how to get manifold out of way so held off on replacing back three plugs.


Drove to autozone and engine ran rough. opened hood to find middle wire popped off spark plug. . . bought new wires and gasket for manifold. pushed old middle wire back on and car started great. drove 50 yards and stopped at corner and engine died and did not restart. front middle spark plug wire kept popping off spark plug.


Any ideas how to get the car driveable again with out completely ripping everything out in the part store parking lot?


By the way, when removing old spark plugs they were covered in oil.

Got the spark plug wires to seat and charged up the battery again and it turned over fine but will not fire up. any ideas on what could cause it?

If you browse the forum here you'll probably conclude that many of the starting problems associated with that engine trace to the distributor.
There are many other possibilities including ASD relay, fuel pump/system problems, timing belt, etc.

Hi there. You mentioned something about giving it gas and it would stay running. Is this every time and will it continue to run with your foot on the gas?

This sounds similar to an issue I had with my 95 Eagle Talon TSi. Was working fine and all of a sudden at a stop sign, the car killed. Would not turn over no matter what. I figured it out that it would stay running if I kept one foot on the brake, and the other on the gas at the same time, at stops the car would stay running. Worked fine whie driving, just at stops it would kill out. Did some research and found it to be my IAC motor was shot. Bought a new one, put it in and with in ten mins It was up and working perfectly.

Thanks all I am trying to get the stupid thing apart and access the distributor, and rear spark plugs. I can't seem to access the rear right bolt on the manifold. What is the secret to that?


Also have massive leaks from the front gasket cover and am trying to remove it. I have all of the bolts out but it isn't budging. Not sure how much to force it. There is also a piece of metal to the left side of the cover overlapping the edge of the cover and behind a wheel, not sure if I need to remove this or how. no mention of it in the Haynes manual. thoughts?

smashed gasket cover with a two by four and it came loose... still have a hose on back right that will not budge...

still won't start
 

I got the car back together with new spark plugs and new wires, plus new gaskets, less leaks, and a lot of gunk cleaned out of the various tubes and manifolds. It will now turn over but not fire up. I hooked up one of the front spark plug wires to a spark tester and nothing. When it was apart I took the distributor cap in and it looked OK but I did not remove the rotor. I am guessing the car trade in value isn't much more than a few more switched parts so I don't want to keep swapping parts. By the way, the car worked fine before I started switching out spark plugs.


So are there any recommendations of cheep things to check first before swapping out a rotor?


How hard is it to swap a rotor?

The best investment you can make right now is to spend about $25 on a manual. The Haynes repair manual #25040 covers that vehicle. You can usually find them in parts stores or you can go on line and buy one. Might get lucky and find one on eBay for cheap.
Spend some time reading through it about your car and its problems. Then you can decide about the next step, depending on your skill and your toolbox.

I have both the Haynes and Chilton manuals but neither seems written with enough detail to do the work for the first time.

They're actually a lot better than the factory shop manual, which assumes a great deal more knowledge and experience on the part of the reader. Part of the problem with shop manuals in general is that they either don't explain exactly how something is supposed to be done, or if they do, they state it only once and although it may need to be done for different repairs, they leave it up to you to figure out where in the book they explained it when you are doing a different repair that requires the same procedure. You can often find out how to do something by just reading through large sections of the manual even though you may not see the relevance of a section to the repair you are considering.