Troubleshooting non-starting 1998 Jr botheimny after 4 years

 Hi guys,
 Won't bother you with the details but to cut a long story short, this 1998 1.3 Jimny was not started since 2018 and it appears as it is not firing.
 Borrowed a good battery which turns the engine strong and removed most of the old gas then added some 5L of new one. No joy.

 With the key turned in the position that lights up the dash I cannot hear fuel pump buzzing. Can you confirm that on this model the fuel pump should be running when turning the key on that position?  (if not, how should I test it without having to remove the return fuel line)

 Also how to check the presence of spark at the spark plugs without damaging the coils? Thanks a lot. Sorry for the weird title, keyboard went nuts and I didn't noticed

As a side note, there were two jump start attempts before borrowing another Jimny battery. One involved getting current from another running car and the other one used a larger spare battery.

Assuming a G13bb engine, each coil pack fires two plugs, disconnect the lead from the second plug (#1 or #3), pull the plug, refit the lead to the plug, hold the plug against the cylinder head and crank the engine.

The fuel pump should run for three seconds when the key is first turned to on after which it should stop and not run until the key is turned to start. It should run for as long as the key is in the start position, but it will not stay running if the engine does not start.

Another approach to troubleshooting is to get a can of starter fluid and spray it into the intake whilst cranking the engine - if it fires you have a fuel delivery issue, if it doesn't you probably have an ignition issue.

wrote:

Assuming a G13bb engine, each coil pack fires two plugs, disconnect the lead from the second plug (#1 or #3), pull the plug, refit the lead to the plug, hold the plug against the cylinder head and crank the engine.
 

Thanks for the suggestions, that is correct, the motor is a G13BB. You mean #1 or #3 counting from the radiator or from the flywheel?

This being said, the car has quite a few rust spots, one of them being the support of the relay box neat the battery plate. (said support is all flaky, I can tear it up by hand)  Is any obvious ground spot that I should check knowing that it could prevent the engine from starting?

Generally, I would not expect that 5 year old gasoline that sat in an fuel tank and fuel system to be sufficiently flammable to start the engine. And topping up the tank with new gasoline also does not really help because the old gasoline is also in the hoses etc.

Still, I would first check if there is a spark with a separate spark plug without removing any spark plug or I would exchange all 4. If there is a spark, then try starting with some starter spray (be careful with starter spray, it is highly flammable and only use it outside).

If then the engine starts or coughs, then I would flush the fuel system and use new petrol. Maybe even use 5l of alkylate gasoline because it ignites better and often dissolves residues.

Of course check oil and cooling water first.

Thanks for the suggestion.
I'll check for spark tomorrow morning and post here the result. In case there's no spark what would be the first obvious things to check? (fuse? ECU ground?)

First thing to check would be to use the next spark plug but probably there is a spark unless some animal gnawed through some cables. Long term standing usually fouls the fuel system much much more than the electrical system.

Yesterday I repaired a motorbike that was not operated for two years and even with starter spray I could not get her to run without starter spray. After removing all old petrol and flushing the carburetor with new petrol everything was ok.

Gone are the times (or actually the fuels) when you could start a diesel after 5 years or a petrol engine after 2 years without problem. Now the petrol starts to get sour (vinegar) after 6 months and then starts to corrode metallic surfaces and in diesel you get bacterial growth that clogs the filters and is corrosive.

I can confirm there is spark at the spark plug (#1) . (Lucky to have a spare spark plug in the glove compartment, as the key I could find wasn't long enough

However when I put the key to ON (without cranking) there's absolutely no sound coming from the back of the car which leads to the conclusion that the fuel pump is not running.

Where should I look for the leads to the pump? Maybe there's corrosion to the contacts? Is the (-) coming to the pump from the ECU or from a ground spot on the chassis? Is there a separate fuse for the pump or it is the ECU fuse?

To add more detail: check engine light (amber) stays on with ignition ON.
Is it possible to remove the fuel pump relay and feed 12V to the pump using the contacts in the relay box? If yes, which contacts I should use?

Is there anyone familiar with the location of fuses and relays of this Jimny generation? I cannot find any fuse for the ECU, fuel pump, fuel injection etc and clearly there should be one.
The car has no MOT for 4 years, is rusty and stays outside, don't want to discover that it was towed as abandoned vehicle. I am attaching a photo of the fuse box found inside (it's a left drive car, so this is under the left side of the dash). The fuse box inside the engine compartment has just a fuse for the main relay, when I removed that one there was no "Check Engine" light when turning the key to on.