my bonnie died on e-way today. I thought i heard a faint sound like a belt getting loose and slapping around. then nothing, complete loss of power. serpentine was still on. turned it over when i got home, sounds like crank and pistons turning but not valves. after a couple of turns i hear that out of sync back pressure. my question is would a bad crank sensor cause the odd cranking? I'm leaning towards a timing chain. I have a code reader coming for the rough idle issue I'm still having. I dont know if this is related but I backed out of the drive way put it in drive hit the gas and no response. after a couple of taps on the pedal it took off. ?? without tearing the front of the motor apart how can I tell nif the timing chain is off or broken? thanks

If you suspect timing chain, remove all spark plugs and have someone turn the engine over while you have a finger over the spark plug hole. If you feel air going in and out of every cylinder with suction and compression, then your timing chain is good.

If your engine is running, and the throttle seems unresponsive, I'm suspecting either the TPS sensor or MAF sensor. Disconnect the MAF sensor and see if it runs/drives any better. Let me know what you find out after reading all this. We do have TPS diagnostics in the Techinfo section.

had something simular happen to my 97 bonney 3.8 i to suspected T chain, it was my harmonic balancer came loose throwing timing off via crank case sensor, and the serpentine belt never came off,felt tite, car did start running rough before it happened. dunno if this is your problem but it might be worth checking out.was easy fix for me. bought new balancer cleared code, 217k on same eng still runs like a champ today! good luck!

You can also pull the valve covers to see the rockers moving. You may be able to spot them through the oil fill even.

took a look in the fill hole and valves are moving. still waiting for my code reader. the balancer issue is possable because it just feels and sounds out of time. there is a small metal tang near the balancer I think is a timing mark? do I need a timing light to see if the balancer has spun? do they still make timing lights?lol. will a scan tool tell me the balancer has spun? thanks guys!!

I finally got my scan tool ! what an ordeal. save that story for another time. the only code that came up was p0102. my scan says low input to maf. I unplugged MAF and still wont start, still sounds funny turning over. scan tool says $10 to fix but cheapest one I found was $100. stumped!!! If it wont start with MAF unplugged do not want to spend $100+ to find out it is something else. what now???

put crank sensor and map sensor on. still no start. still getting low input at the maf code . will a bad oil pressure sending unit prevent car from starting? will iol pressure unit show up on the code reader? almost ready to surrender to the dealer!!

Ok, lets start with the basics.
1. Spark
2. Fuel.

Pull a plug and verify we are getting spark.
If you are, spray some ether into the throttle body. This should tell us if the ICM is working and if everything is timed correctly.

pulled plug, getting spark. nothing happended with the starting fluid. checked all the coils, 5.56-5.58-5.80. checked fuel pressure got 52. going crazy!!!

Sorry if this seems like a dumb question but did you spray into the throttle body?