i have a 93 deville 4.9, i replaced the water pump, battery and serpentine belt. when i start the car it wont stay running. ppl have said the timing is off or its the crank shaft sensor. andy clues on whats wrong? and where exactly is the sensor located. thanks for any help! kim

If the water pump was removed my guess would be the same, crank sensor. I'm not totally familiar with the 4.9's but it's there somewhere. Unless something else was disturbed. Just take a close look around for loose or disconnected wires. It mayy be something very simple that didn't get put back together correctlly

I didn't think the 4.9's had a crank sensor, just a cam sensor. As the cam sensor is distributor driven no need to have a second sensor, as the high res signal is taken off of the cam sensor and #1 is determined there.

Did you touch the distributor?

Is it getting fuel? Is it getting spark? Any vacuum hoses taken off? Cruise is over there and is vacuum driven.

This thread should be in the HT4100/4.5/4.9 forum or the FWD forum. The people there would best help you.

There's no crank sensor on the 4.9s and I'm pretty sure there's no cam sensors either! Something must have come loose when you changed the WP. Check all the electrical connections.

its trying to fire, if we spray starter fluid in the distributor it will run for about 20 seconds. and come to find out there is no crank shaft sensor.

ok, ive tried alot of forums and i was told to go here cause i hear you ppl are the best. i have a 93 caddy deville 4.9 i replaced the battery, water pump, and the serpentine belt now the car wont start. if we spray starter fluid in the distributor it will start and run for about 20 seconds. it car ran fine before all this happened. it was making a bad noise one day and the following day the pump went and i just pulled off the road so i just dont understand whats going on. thanks for any help! kim

That sounds like a fuel problem. Check for fuel pressure, and make sure the fuel pump is working and getting power with no fuses blown.

Good Morning,
Did you bump the distributor? I mean try and remember if the distributor was turned.

And are you sure you mean you sprayed it into the distributor?

im not sure if the distributor was bumped. but the guy who was taking the water pump off also took off the altenator, power steering pump and i know he took off the air filter. as for the started fluid, i know he sprayed it into something under the air filter.

OK, so what he did was spray the starter fluid which is highly flammable into the intake (carb, fuel injection manifold, whatever). The distributor is fine then.

I would check to make sure there are no air pockets in the fuel lines.

EDIT: auhh Sorry, I was wrong. Your engine doesn't have a carb. SO, maybe your distributor is NOT fine.

OK on my 89' the injector pulse is triggered from the distributor. I had the same exact scenario after working on something else and come to find out, one of the wires on the distributor got knocked loose. I plugged it back in and everything was fine.

If you get a small squirt of fuel when you turn the key to the run position and then nothing while cranking, that's it.

I apologize for the previous posts, I wasn't paying attention to the year.

OK on my 89' the injector pulse is triggered from the distributor. I had the same exact scenario after working on something else and come to find out, one of the wires on the distributor got knocked loose. I plugged it back in and everything was fine.

If you get a small squirt of fuel when you turn the key to the run position and then nothing while cranking, that's it.

I apologize for the previous posts, I wasn't paying attention to the year.

ok, ive tried alot of forums and i was told to go here cause i hear you ppl are the best. i have a 93 caddy deville 4.9 i replaced the battery, water pump, and the serpentine belt now the car wont start. if we spray starter fluid in the distributor it will start and run for about 20 seconds. it car ran fine before all this happened. it was making a bad noise one day and the following day the pump went and i just pulled off the road so i just dont understand whats going on. thanks for any help! kim

Why did you decide your water pump failed? I would say you have apparently fuel pump problem since you do not get fuel presuure and the motor run id you spray something in. Check th epressure fuel pump relay, fuse, harness etc.

Slow down...read my post above. Often you may very well feel like the fuel pump is bad when it's not. All signs we normally consider to say the fuel pump has failed may be caused buy the injectors not receiving the pulse signal from the distributor.


Why did you decide your water pump failed? I would say you have apparently fuel pump problem since you do not get fuel presuure and the motor run id you spray something in. Check th epressure fuel pump relay, fuse, harness etc.