The fuel you're probably smelling is from all the cranking without it starting. The cylinders are most likely loaded with fuel. You can try the clear flood mode by holding the accelerator to the floor while cranking.

If unsuccessful, you might want to check for spark at the plug(s).

 

I tried the clear flood, and it was unsuccessful. How do i go about checking the spark?

 

There is a tool for checking for a proper spark, but for a basic test you can use a spark plug connected to the plug wire and the plug threads grounded to any ground point (block, chassis), while trying to start it. This will confirm the presence of spark, not how strong it is.

When it was running, how did it run? Missing?

 

When the car runs it runs pretty decent. It doesnt idle very smooth, but it does need a plug/wire change soon. No obvious problems such as missing or anything. It will overheat if it you let it, that is if it even stays alive. It used to just cut off after awhile. Then couldnt restart for a little bit. Now it has nothing at all. Im working my way through it.

 

If anyone has any ideas, it would be greatly appreciated. Ive replaced everything ignition wise except distributor, plugs, and wires. I can't get this car to start at all. It turns over and never fires no matter what. I can have a current data log if that will help. I don't think it has anything to do with fuel. I can hear the pump working. On the scan it says something about fuel trim and all 4 rows are 128. Idk what that means, but maybe it will help.

I thought clearing the DTCs would help, but it didn't. I've fixed them though. DTC 41&42 i replaced the coil plugs. DTC 16 i replaced the opti harness, however i dont know if that fixed it. It didnt have any other new codes, and im completely lost now. I have no ideas what it could be. Although there is no code for it, is the opti gone? Thats all i can think of..

 

Did you rescan it after replacing the parts? This will tell you if replacing the parts fixed anything.

I've explained DTC 16 already. You have to read these things, and pay attention. If you cleared the codes, and it still shows DTC 16, THAT IS ONE OF THE TWO CODES THE OPTI CAN SET. DTC 16 is for the pulse signal from the optical cam position sensor. IF you replaced the harness, and still have DTC 16, you have the fatal code for the Opti that will prevent the engine from starting. It would indicate the Opti is the problem.

What about DTC 41 and DTC 42? Do you still have those after replacing the coil connectors?

 

Yes i scanned it after replacing the parts and the codes were still there. I thought that you would have to clear the codes to get them to be reset and see if it still sets. I cleared them with Scan94/95 but the SES light is still on and i can't pull the codes up on the application.

I replaced the coil connectors and connected the ends with butt connectors, and taped it closed. As i said, when i rescanned the car they were still there.

So in short all parts are replaced, i rescanned car and codes were still there, no start. I cleared them with the app thinking it would re set them, still no start and they wont re appear on the app.

As of now im going to go ahead and start getting my money together for an opti, plugs and wires. I'm going to replace the radiator instead of cleaning it as it may be damaged anyway. Any suggestions or tips about the replacement will be helpful, but i've done enough research to be confident enough to attempt it.

 

It seems that judging the failure or success of fixing DTC16 (low res signal missing) or DTC36 (high res signal missing) can be a bit tricky sometimes. If the symptoms are intermittent failures or if the fault is just affecting one of those signals (but not the other also), then the codes are pretty straightforward.
However, if the failure mode is a constant failure of both signals (lo res and hi res) missing, then the verification process does not work, because the pcm will not set any codes unless at least one of those two signals is present. I just confirmed that with my bench-top setup because I wasn't sure that would be the case.

Also, I found that the codes will not clear without at least one signal present. When I temporarily removed both signals (setting both codes) and reconnected them , I was unable to clear DTC16 or DTC36 by using the usual reset function without removing all power from the pcm for about a minute.

 

It is generally not wise to just throw parts a problem. I've done it and it gets expensive fast.

Do you have a good multimeter and have you viewed the opti troubleshooting video, in the thread, at the top of this forum? Below....