John-Reed,

You may have a bad ECU.  I had similar symptoms to yours and discovered I
had a bad ECU. List member Darrell Boehler diagnosed problem and repaired
mine for $100.  Turns out I had a bad transistor that controls injector
duration.  Pull the plugs and check for wetness from gasoline - if so you
may have injectors stuck on and flooding the engine due to a bad ECU or a
short in the FI harness or injector(s).

Disconnect the fuel pump and see if it cranks and runs for a few seconds.
If it refuses to fire at all when fuel pump is reconnected you may have
found the problem.  Another possibility  is that you are ingesting enough
coolant from said head leak to prevent starting.  Look for evidence of
coolant in the combustion chamber and on plugs.  Contact Darrell for more
info. on troubleshooting/ECU repairs.

Bill
83.5 Westy

At 08:13 AM 6/29/99 -0700, John-Reed Maffeo wrote:
>I went out to start my van two days ago, doing everything the
>way I normally do. I turned the key and the engine sounded like
>it started for about 1 second then died and will not restart.
>
>This is on top of a >major< leak from the right head following
>an all day trip (400+ miles) in the Arizona heat. I will be taking
>it to a garage soon, but I thought I would ask you all for any
>comments or suggestions. It would be nice if I could get it to
>start so I could drive rather than tow it to the garage.
>
>I do have a spark and the smell of gasoline in the exhaust.
>
>Thanks,
>
>John-Reed Maffeo '86 Syncro Glacie
>Mesa, AZ
>