My '89 300TE won't start. It ran great yesterday, no problems at all. The car needed a new thermostat, so I installed it this morning. So a few minutes later, after installing the thermostat, I went out to crank it up and drive it down the road....and it wouldn't start! I only let a small amount of coolant drip out while changing the thermostat.

It will crank over, it gets spark, and I can smell fuel. I checked the OVP, the fuel pump relay, and I unhooked the battery for about 10 minutes so maybe the car could reset itself. And still, the car won't start.

Could anyone help me with this? This is my main mode of transportation, so I really need to fix it asap.
Thanks in advance.

The engine somehow is flooded.Take out all the spark plugs and let the cylinders and spark plugs dry out.

Somehow maybe pinched a wire under the thermostat housing cover?


Gilly

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No pinched wires under the cover... I checked that.

I took the spark plugs out, and they all smelled like fuel..a few of them were moist with it.

I'll let them dry a bit and put them back in and I guess I'll go from there...
thanks

*Update*
So I took out the spark plugs, let them dry, and put them back in. Still, it won't start. So I took the top off of the air cleaner and sprayed some starter fluid in it, and it still wouldn't start. It's like the fuel isn't getting into the engine. The fuel pump runs... and I doubt that the fuel filter is clogged because the car never ran rough before. The car always ran great.
Anyways...I'm lost. Anyone else have any ideas about this?

If you have spark. The engine will start on starting fluid. To use the starting fluid depress the damper on the air flow meter and also open the throttle plate. Spray for 3 seconds. Get behind the wheel and crank the engine with the acelerator fully depressed. Engine should start after some cranking.

I have an idea for you, but what changing the T-stat has to do with this is beyond me:
You say you have fuel (obvious, as you have wet plugs) and spark. What I have seen happen with a non-operative engine like this is a broken rotor driver inside the ignition cap, this is the metal piece that screws down into the camshaft that the rotor itself screws on to with 3 machine screws. It's also called the rotor bracket. If it breaks, you can have spark, but the timing is totally wrong. Need to remove the ignition cap to check it.
Gilly

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Or... the car overheated and that's why the thermostat is being changed. If so the overheating could have caused the head gasket to blow. The maximum temrerature occurs just after shutting an engine off because the cooing system has been shut down residual heat then peaks the engine's temperature. So the head could have warped after the engine was turned off. If so the car won't start because there is insufficient pressure in the combustion chambers.

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