97 JXI starts when engine cold but not when engine hot

[joshodonn]

I recently had a problem with my 1997 Sebring JXI. It had 114,000 miles on it at the time. The car always started on the first try when the engine was cold (i.e. had been sitting for at least several hours). However if I shut the car off after the engine was warmed up and tried to restart again it would not start. The engine would just continually crank but there was no fire. My mechanic told me the distributor was out and that the new part was only available from the dealer at a whopping $950 for the distributor alone. Thankfully, my mechanic new someone who could rebuild my defective distributor for about $300. I chose this option and have only had 2 isolated incidents where my car wouldn't start (and I believe they were a result of fuel system problems, not the distributor). The moral of my story is this... if your car will start fine when cold but will not fire when the engine is hot, have your distributor checked and try to find someone who can rebuild your existing distributor as opposed to buying new.