Fuel is needed to start a car. The newer cars are equipped with electric fuel pumps. As soon as you turn the key to the start position the electric fuel pump is energized and fuel pressure is produced. Ensure that you have enough gas in your car also. The fuel is then forced to a fuel pump regulator which adjusts the amount of fuel pressure you have. Then it is directed to your fuel injectors where your onboard computer opens and shuts your injector nozzles. That is how your engine gets the gas it needs to start. A simple fuel pressure test could verify this.
Compression is produced when your starter cranks the engine over and your pistons compresses the fuel and air together to burn and or explode internally from the spark, which pushes your piston down. Now a lot of things could prevent your pistons from working properly. For instance, your timing belt could be broken or slipped causing your car to be out of time. If you have an older car the timing chain could of broken also. A simple compression test of one or more cylinders could verify this.
Spark is needed to ignite the sparkplugs. Depending on what type of car you have, spark to the plugs come from either the onboard computer’s control system or a distributor. Today’s cars are equipped with distributor less ignition systems. What that means is, a lot of testing needs to be done on your crankshaft, camshaft, and Throttle position sensors. Basically all of these connect together via the computer to produce a spark. A simple spark tester will start you off in the right direction to find out where you are losing it at.
