I've got a 1996 850 Turbo. I live in Indiana and it's currently 15 Degrees outside. I went out to start it and it cranks, but won't turn over. I can smell fuel, so I know it is getting fuel. I filled up at a gas station I've not filled up at before the other day. We've had a lot of snow recently, what are the odds it's contaminated gas? I've read up that it could be the coil, camshaft position sensor or the crankshaft position sensor. My concern for the gas comes from a couple of gas stations in the area were shut down yesterday for having water in their gas.

Thanks in advance
Ben

 

My guess would be the camshaft position sensor. If you heard the news of bad gas, that is likely your problem. Find your receipt and call the station and your dealer.

 

+1 on that. If the mechanic determines that it is, in fact, bad gas. ask the gas station where you bought your gas to pay for the tow, diagnosis, and repair. if not, see them in small claims court.

Where in Indiana are you, by the way? South Bend area here.

 

I'm on the southside of Indianapolis. I purchased gas at a Marathon, not by choice... The very next day they closed a Marathon on the North West Side of town. I think I might call the state to have them test the location. That's how they discovered the contamination at the Northside Location. Thanks for the advice, I'm also going to check into the camshaft sensor. I did an alternator check from my battery charger and it faults out, but I can't see this the alternator going out without any prior symptoms.

 

Not exactly sure how, but I got it running again. I read another forum to keep cranking it for a minute to a minute and a half. The biggest issue was my battery kept draining. I hooked it up to my battery charger and set it to 75 amp jumpstart and cranked away. Sure enough it started to sputter just slightly. I repeated these steps 5 times and on the 5th time it started up. I let it run for about 10 minutes with everything disconnected. Then I shut it off and it started right back up. I've checked it a couple times and it starts up every time! No clue what could have gone wrong, but I guess the mystery is hopefully solved for good! Thanks for the replies!

 

If your battery is weak replace it. I was under the impression that it was cranking fine. My brother says that you should heat your battery up a little before trying to start your car. You do that by turning your key on, turning your lights on for 30 seconds, then cranking the car. It warms up the battery a little. He lives in Pittsburgh.

 

lg: one thing to keep in mind.....just because the problem went away for now, it doesnt mean it wont come back.

Maybe it's just me, but i NEVER look at a car issue magically fixing itself as a good thing. I want to know what caused the issue in the first place, so that if something needs to be fixed, i can do it before it strands me.

 

And one more thing here....My 94 850 did that to me once. It's as reliable as the sun coming up, but ONE TIME just recently I started it to move it in my garage just a few feet (have a bad back can't push it). It was cold (Michigan) and just before turning off the key I reved it a little and shut it off. About 10 minutes later I had to go someplace and it wouldn't start after 3 or 4 attempts. I let it sit for a couple hours and was racking my brain as to what could go wrong in an instant like that. Tried it again and after it sat and in 3 attempts it sputtered and was firing on one cylinder. A few more tries and it cleared and started and has run perfect ever since. I figure that when I gassed it and shut off the key before the rev's came back down, I flooded it and that's why it wouldn't start right after. Sitting gave it time to clear out enough to start (after a little cranking effort). So all that to say this...Don't rev it up and turn off the key, just let it idle and shut it down. That was about two weeks ago and it has not happened again. My two cents!