Car will not start but does crank but it floods and gets gas on the spark plugs. The fuel pump is fine. nothing came back on a diognostic check. thanks for any input

Check your fuel filter. If it has not been changed for awhile, it may be plugged. The car would then be starved for fuel and quit. After sitting for awhile, enough fuel may get through, but after running a short time it will die again for lack of fuel.
Another thing to check is your ability to get spark to the spark plugs. You coil(s) may have died and need to be replaced.
You could also have a crack in your distributor cap if you have one and the spark is shorting to ground. You may also have faulty spark plug wires that need to be replaced. You could also have a blown fuse to feeds battery power to the spark coil. You could also have an open ballast resistor in line with your spark coil and it needs to be replaced. Gas or Spark, but how the spark is generated really depends a lot on the car. Here's a test you can run to check for whether your car is starved for gas: Get a can of starter fuel and spray a couple of puffs (small amount) into your air cleaner. Once the battery is charged, try starting it. If it starts running and then dies, you can be pretty sure you have a gas problem.
One last possibility is that your exhaust is totally plugged. Do you feel or can an assistant feel any puffs or unburned exhaust coming out of the tail pipe? If no vapors come out, it could be plugged.
Oh, one other thing it could be. Your plugs may be flooded, especially if you pumped the gas pedal and it is a new model car. If it smells strongly of gas, your spark plugs may be wet (flooded) with gas. In that case, remove all spark plugs, disconnect your spark system, turn the engine over to blow out excess fuel, dry your spark plugs and reinstall them.

its not getting gas, is that a guess? or the results of a real test.
as per FSM book.?
the only test that proves not getting gas, is all spark plugs out and all are white and dry. (NOT GETTING GAS to the combustion chambers)
i think its flooding (sparks wet)
and all cars clear floods, with wide open throttle cranking, (A feature)
this magic feature, cuts all fuel cranking, to clear said flood.
(oper, guide covers this)

if this works,
ever consider a full tuneup? this decade? with filters?
if tuned up, then scan it to see if there are DTC errors cranking?
check for spark , during failures. ?
check for flooding? spark good,!
there are many causes of flooding, (spark good, tuned up)

• too high fuel pressure
• injectors leaking
• fuel regulator bad.
• no air supply starting, bad IAC STUCK CLOSED,

Try starting with 5% throttle ,creating a good human made, IAC, (fresh air)
each line has tests we do,, if you dont have tools, all this is just
water under the bridge.

do you want guessing (unsaid)
here:

1. never tuned up.
2. too high fuel pressure and flooding.
3. and many more. i just rolled dice 2 times.

no engine size stated, (so i toss coin, 4.0L) 5miilion strong.
the 1988 is the gawd awful French RENIX fuel injection.
i owned 2 of these pigs. (sure it runs) but sux.
why?, no CEL lamps , no flash codes, no OBD1 , no OBD ! anything.
only the very old and rare factory and dealer tools can scan this pig.
lets do this better?
in vivid details.
NO start 101: (order matters too)

1. compression at spec, on all 6 cylinders? (old engines do die)
2. spark at all 6 spark plugs good,? not just 1.
3. car is tuned up. spark plugs.cap rotor, wires, and filters?
4. the ign timing light on #1 wire, shows spark landing near TDC 0 degrees or under hood stated spec. (open hood look up )
5. i now check for flooding, is it? spark tips , TALK to me.?
6. yes, then check fuel pressure. next.
7. no, then are they dry, you said wet. ('gets fuel means what"?)
8. if flooding, i unplug the fuel pump relay and start car with test fuel if it runs for 3 seconds and stops, that is a PASS condition so but if not 1, to 7 above was skipped. lets say its flooding
9. if flooding did you try cranking per opr guide wide open throttle? this CUTS all fuel and clears all flooding on all gas engines. and for sure all EFI. gas engines.
10. my guess is its running now. right? if here?
11. if not, check fuel pressure per the fsm cranking, and the MAP sensor. out put voltage key on, and cranking. and post that.
12. good luck.

get the engine to run on test fuel first. this saves big time labor
down time, and wasted parts , guessed at)

doing a real tuneup , is not ever a waste.
a tuned up engine pays back in lower gas costs. big time.
fuel is expensive.

gas engine, not diesel.
its probably flooding, ever give it a 60k mile tune up, ever?
we check spark tips for flooding and dry,never do we guess at fuel pumps, ever. (pressure gauge is $20)
tips dry or soaking wet.
we check for spark , no gas engine car runs with no spark
so we check all cylinders for good spark
if spark is good and flooding (new spark plugs) we use
cranking wide open throttle wot. like the operators guide says.
start now? this cuts all injection, this magic PCM trick.

see scotty ,
1: compresson at spec, 2: spark good and timed. and 3: fueling last.

skip the silly ad.
note he says 2, but he ASSUMES compression is good. (oops)
but his tests are fast, and if it fails to start, see #1 above. ask
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=064Ilsz8Fzg&NR=1&feature=fvwp

Possible that the cylinder is flooded and so it will be best to remove the PLUGS and flush by cranking out the excess fuel. Now test the GAP on the plugs, reset to specification.
Also check the spark intensity. If low check the coils and HT wires.

You need to check for spark. You probably do not have spark causing the engine to flood. Check your ignition parts and see what shape they are in. If you have not had a tune up in 50,000 miles you may want to start there.

It's flooded like you say.
If it's really flooded, you'll have to remove plugs and dry them off.
Install them.
Now when you crank engine, hold gas pedal to floor.
That will stop gas from spraying into engine.
You need to get the gas out of the engine for it to start.
Crank for 20-30 seconds with pedal to floor. Do this 3 times waiting 2-3 minutes inbetween cranks.
The starter needs to cool down.
Then after that start normally and see if it will start.
Remember if it will not start after 2 attempts, then the possiblity of it flooding is there and you'll have to clear out the gas by holding the pedal to the floor again.

verify condition by spraying some starter fuel in it.it should start and die if its a fuel problem.
if it still does nothing start checking any and all fuses.if all the fuses are good take out a spark plug and verify no spark.
if no spark check the ignition module.
it might be able to have it checked at autozone for free.but you will have to remove it.

ok, check distribuitor rotor, i have same problem, and replace ign coil, if 14 years old

I would say the car is not getting any fuel. you could try replacing the fuel filter which is cheap. It could also be the fuel pump which is probably in the tank.(try tapping the gas tank with a hammer lightly) If the car starts then it is probably the pump. The last thing i think it could be is that is isn't getting any spark. Take the spark plug wire off the plug itself and put a screwdriver in the hole and make sure it is touching the metal part of the plug. Have someone try to start the car and hold the screwdriver near a piece of metal, if you see a blue spark then the car is getting spark, if you see nothing then you probably have a bad coil.