Hey guys, i tried searching for a similar situation, but wasn't getting anything so I was wondering if someone had any similar experience. Car in question is 03 Z 6mt.

A few weeks ago I was a part of a 4 car pile up on a highway. Some guys wheel flew off and he was just sitting in the middle of the highway around a bend. I was the last person to hit the guy in front of me and sustained some front end damage (passenger side suffered the brunt of it, but the frame is straight). Passenger air bag deployed, but not the drivers side.

So after the wreck i turned off the car, then the tow guy came and started it back up to get it on the towing trurck. Then at the towing place, he again started it to drive off. The next day I went to pick it up and did the same thing, turned it on to get it on the ramps and back off. (All was done fairly quickly)

It sat for about 3-4 weeks and then the nice weather came so I figured, let me move it closer to the garage, so I can start pulling the parts apart. I started it up and it ran for about 2 seconds and died. Now when I tried to start it again, it just cranks, but doesn't want to start. I'm a little baffled, as I don't think it overheated significantly. The engine spins freely by hand, but I'm not sure if I want to dump money into it if I messed up the headgasket.

I checked all fuses (inside and by the battery) and they're good. I'm thinking of what my next step should be. Is there a fuel pump kill switch/airbag computer that somehow is preventing me from starting the car? If so, is there any reason why it didn't do so right after the accident? I would greatly appreciate if you guys pointed me in the right direction. I'm thinking of the typical checking for fuel/air/spark, but maybe someone can shed some light on the airbag module and how it affects the car after the accident first. Thanks in advance, your thoughts/comments are greatly appreciated!

 

Not the airbag module. If the car was hit hard enough, there's all kinds of things that could be wrong. The ECM and IPDM are near the battery. Did the car take any damage in that area?

 

No, everything past the radiator looks intact. Frame looks straight, just the bracket that you mount the absorber to got the top part bent slightly toward the engine. I'm just stumped why it would stop running all of a sudden.

 

The RF strut? That's where that stuff is. The shock of the impact could have damaged the IPDM or the ECM.

 

Ok, so looking at the IPDM, the top resistor looks kinda funky. I will have to look into that. I was going to take a look at the ECM as well, but it started raining. Just to confirm, it is located under the passenger leg area, correct? I pulled the carpet, but there was some sound deadening mat there and it didnt look like there was anything underneath, but then it started raining so I had to retreat. Boy this is going to be fun.

 

Why not let your insurance company take care of getting the car fixed?

 

because I was at fault and only had liability insurance

 

Bet you wish you wouldnt have cheaped out on full coverage now huh

 

Nice.



Check if you have fuel pressure, then check if you have spark. If you have both of those, you have an engine control issue. Either ECM, wiring harness or IPDM.