Howdy, been lurking here for years and finally ran into a wall I haven't been able to read myself around.

I have a 2000 3.0l that has been my daily for the better part of seven years. Multiple trips coast to coast, through desert dunes and alpine peaks it has been a fn champ, but lately she seems to,be dying.

A few weeks into winter I was having trouble starting, itd crank, but not turn over --I took it as a cold related problem and doped my gas tank with some HEEt and changed my oil to make sure it wasnt too thick, then had my battery tested.

Did well for a few days and then stopped starting.
So i changed my spark plugs and it ran for the day.

Stopped again.

I decided it was time to change my cam synchro on account if it being rode hard for 170 k miles and it fired right up, now hesitation.
It was looking pretty good for a week and then yesterday morning nothing.

I checked my dipstick and found it to be mixed with gas and a little on the wat-too-high side of things.
Pulled my sparks to see if they were wet, but they looked fine.
Finially got it running after looking at her real hard and thought i was in the clear.
Drive to the market (15 miles) to get some beer and the gd thing started misfiring in 4th gear, just a hiccup here and there but by 5th gear I couldn't give her any goose without it just about stalling.

Got to the market and parked and would yah guess that it didn't start up again till I checked every hose and plug again?

Any ideas?
I'm thinking I was a tooth off on the synchro and its causing an impartial burn so the leftover gas is seeping down into my oil, but why the hell isnt it starting?

Fuel pressure is good,
Air flow is stock and unobstructed,
Sparks throw.

At a loss here.

 

What is you fuel pressure, should be at least 50 PSI, 65 is normal, but the system needs at least 50 to run ?

A way to test if the injectors are leaking (fuel in oil) is to hold the accelerator peddle right to the floor.
This enables the PCM to a no start mode _ it shuts the injectors off _ it should not start.
If it does, or tries to, then you have one or more leaky fuel injector.

Replace your coolant temperature sensor, it's near the thermostat and has 2 wires coming out of it, the other is the sender to the gauge and has 1 wire.
Make sure you order the correct one.

Carefully check your firing again... It's easy to get that mixed up.

You may have gotten the cam synchro in wrong, what procedure did you use to install the new one ?

I think you should also check your compression, that should be at 165 psi.
Compression testers are not expensive.

 

Cheers bud, ill look into those things.

I never saw the fuel pressure gauge. A buddy of mine was checking that for me while I was changing rotors on another rig.

Synchro got done the lazy (it was -5 out) way and I didn't set my motor to tdc. Marked the sensor key on the housing amd the block and dropped the new one in along the same line.
Called my mechanic and he told me not to worry about it (I'm still worried) , if it runs it runs, if it dont, he'll tow it in

I appreciate all the good leads.