One off no start condition on 3.2
 

Last night I stopped off at the car wash. When I was done the car wouldn't start up again. It just turned over fast, noticeably faster than usual, and I noticed the tach never twitched once while cranking.

I swapped the DME relay out right there in the car wash, the previous owner had left me one which appears to be new, although I don't know that. It didn't make any difference.

I wondered if there was a chance I ran out of gas, so I pushed it out side and put a drop in. That took about 5 minutes. And then it started right up. I really don't think I was out of gas, although it was very low.

Now the car runs like a trooper of course but I'm concerned about getting stranded somewhere. My thoughts are crank sensors for tdc and speed. If they went bad the DME wouldn't call for fuel or spark correct? Or I guess the DME, which I could open up and inspect for dry joints etc... Right now though, the car is fine.

Is there a way I can check the sensors? Any other obvious things I should jiggle to see if I can replicate the problem? I hate intermittent faults. So hard to track down.

sounds like you got water in the electricals, distributor, etc. I guess once it dried a bit it started?

If you push started her, then it is likely the starter may be getting tired or loose grounds at the chassis near the gear box, check those first. "Fast Spin" did you hear the clicking of the solenoid engaging onto the flywheel?

When you had it washed, did they do it by hand or thru the machine with under carriage spray. It could have placed just enough water on a loose ground to have none continuity.

BTW, Hand wash from now on PLEASE.

sorry, - by fast spin, I mean the starter successfully engaged the engine and turned it over, but at higher rpm than it normally would. No tach twitching at all though, not like on a normal start.

It was a wand wash. There was some water found its way onto dizzy cap and surrounding area. Not enough to be a problem I didn't think....

Sensors can fail intermittently and so can the DME. I don't know of any good way to inspect the sensors for intermittent issues. The DME can be inspected.

However, as other ps said it could be simply water that got into the distributor.

Ingo

Check your grounds. Run a jumper cable from the chassis to the intake manifold as a bypass test.