1984 380 sel. Perfect yesterday, this morning just refuses to start. Kicks over fine, battery very good, checked leads, dizzy cap and button. Im stuck, any quick ideas?

 

got sparks on the sparkplugs?

got fuel pressure?

 

Im by myself right now is there any way of checking spark or the coil without assistance?

 

yes.

pull out one sparkplug cable.

if you have an old sparkplug, plug it in ground the body and see if there is a blue spark on it.

if you don't have an old sparkplug, use a small screwdriver inserted on the cable and keep a distance of about half centimeter from the body ground. check if it sparks.

if you are not wearing pacemaker, you can also use your finger to feel the spark. just keep the rest of your body from touching the car. if you feel the electric up to your armpit, the spark is good. up to the elbow, poor spark. if up to your head and hear some crackling sound, then drink a glass of water.

on fuel pressure, you need to remove one injector. just find the easiest one. connect it to the line and crank the engine. if it spray, then it's okay. (better press the sensor plate down while doing it)

no spark... maybe CPS sensor or coil or distributor cap or distributor rotor.

no fuel... maybe fuel pump or fuel pump relay or no gasoline.

 

sleepwaker, thanks for your help so far. Here is the story, honestly yesterday the car was perfect, refuelled 3 days ago, plenty of fuel left. Checked the spark seems to be o.k. got a good jolt in the process. Fuel pump relay is o.k. did the bridging just to make sure. not familiar with the cps could you brief me on that please. Dont know if washing the car yesterday had anything to do with it or the fact that we had a cold night last night, not raining though. Also when im cranking the engine, the rev meter is popping up and down, the longer i crank the higher it goes.

 

CPS is crankshaft position sensor.

okay, now you are just one step away.... good spark means it's a fuel system problem.

can you just expose one fuel injector and crank. see if the spray is good. if possible, push down the throttle plate with your finger...this will give you more fuel.

please remove one sparkplug also and see if it is wet with gasoline. flooded cylinder will also take time to start.
if it is wet, dry them all... remove the fuel pump relay and start the car. once it fires, you can put back the relay.

 

Where abouts is the cps (crankshaft position sensor)

 

cps is good because you got ignition.

 

is there anything else i can try, still no luck

 

have you tried the fuel injector if it spray yet?