ok WTF...still wont start

getting fuel, hear the pump and can see pressure on the gauge. has compression. 12v at the middle wire to the coil pack upon cranking but no spark at the plugs themselves, nothing. new coil pack, reistances check out, even tried another one i had, still no spark at the plugs themselves when cranking. the motor turns just fine, its just not getting spark. im seriously thinking i may have a dead ecu, i have no cel's and my timing is right on, like i said it has compression/fuel, just no spark.

im lost, and i need some insight

im going to try it with a new ecu but i have to wait a few more days

edit: new cam sensor, as well as new crank sensor. any tips on checking these? what exactly controls whether 1&2 and 3&4 on the coil actually fire? the cam/crank sensors?

edit2: battery voltage is fine, in case you were wondering

everything points at either the cam/crank sensors or the ECU...

relays?? i'm sure youve checked but, just making sure.

I had the same one time and it was the cam sensor.
Also, this may sound funny but this hapened like 2 weeks before i put the car up for winter at another point in time after the whole cam thing hapened....
when i checked the relay for the ignition with the ohm meter, it read fine just like the haynes manual said it would. well, i swapped out the same one from my fuel pump replay, and it got spark but the fuel pump wasnt turning on then. soo hmmm, i went to satin and got a new replay even though it read fine with the ohm meter, and bam started right up no probs. just my .02 though.

if i remember right, if the pump is getting 12v and primes, and the coilpack is seeingh 12v when cranking, the relays are fine.

i'm going to try another cam sensor, and if that doesnt work another ECU...

fuckin dsm :wallbash

What controls the ignition? The ecu or a sensor.
I think its the ecu but im lost



Nick
97RS

turbo8u> shut your SUCK
ZAO684: NIPPLE warning...maybe>?
turbo8u> yea i was a window licker on the short bus in junior high

i was showing 12v at the coil and not getting spark and the relay was bad...so i dunno :shrug

Originally posted by Collente
What controls the ignition? The ecu or a sensor. I think its the ecu but im lost

i think with this info i found i'll be good to go when i get in there with the multimeter tomorrow

read this nick:

http://www.bwdautomotive.com/datastream/fall_data_stream/page4.html

any more input is definately appreciated though

I mention this just incase. I had the same prob and it ended up being the magnet that is at the end of the exhaust cam that goes under the cam sensor. I bought new cams and didnt notice that, duh.

Originally posted by DJ420a
I mention this just incase. I had the same prob and it ended up being the magnet that is at the end of the exhaust cam that goes under the cam sensor. I bought new cams and didnt notice that, duh.

i was thinkin that, im going to test if it fluctates from 0-5v tomorrow, i'll know if its the sensor then

Hey turby...

Bad news is it sounds exactly like a bad ECU. I have 2 of them, and they do just that ;)

You car is a 96 right? 96 I believe is the only year that the PCM has to see both the Cam AND the Crank sensor in order to fire a spark. ALL other years will fire the spark just from seeing the Crank sensor...

Because you have +12V DC at the coil pack when cranking, this means that the ASD realy IS working correctly. So that is not the problem.

Next thing I would check is that you are getting the 9V DC to both the Cam and the Crank sensors...
Are you getting fuel when cranking?

Sounds just like the ECU to me though, but check that the sensors have what they need ;)

Originally posted by MrSlick
You car is a 96 right? 96 I believe is the only year that the PCM has to see both the Cam AND the Crank sensor in order to fire a spark.

yea i thought about that and disconnected the cam sensor when cranking, but that didnt work...96, blah

Originally posted by MrSlick ALL Because you have +12V DC at the coil pack when cranking, this means that the ASD realy IS working correctly. So that is not the problem.

yea exactly

Originally posted by MrSlick Next thing I would check is that you are getting the 9V DC to both the Cam and the Crank sensors...

what if im not? is that another indication its the ecu?

Originally posted by MrSlick Are you getting fuel when cranking?

yup, fuel pressure is up...i'll get the stethescope on the injectors on the morning to hear if theyre opening

Originally posted by MrSlickSounds just like the ECU to me though, but check that the sensors have what they need ;)

yea exactly on my 'to-do' list when i get to the shop in the morning



thanks much lee for the fast response

hey turbo, i had this simular problem last year when my motor was getting rebuilt... got fuel, got 12v, no spark... thought the main problem was the ecu, but it was the ignition harness... my ignition harness was actually plugged in to the crank angle and vice-versa. it fried my ecu and couldnt figure it out for the longest time.. one way to check if your ecu is still good is to see if you get a cel light flash with the key in the on position. it should turn on then off. also check to make sure it is the right harness... this shouldve been the first thing that i shoudve checked. when my harnesses were swapped, i still got 12v at what i thought was the ignition harness... also check your asd relays too...
good luck man!

Turby,

What I was getting at is that a 96 car MUST see both CAM AND CRANk sensors to fire spark... so if you had a CAM sensor problem on a 96, you wouldnt get a spark. On a 95, 97, 98 or 99 you WOULd get s spark with a CAM sensor problem.

And yeah if you don't have 9V at the sensors, then that points to an ECU problem.

One question... did you recently have any of the harness unplugged? Then plug it back in?

Originally posted by MrSlick
Turby, What I was getting at is that a 96 car MUST see both CAM AND CRANk sensors to fire spark... so if you had a CAM sensor problem on a 96, you wouldnt get a spark. On a 95, 97, 98 or 99 you WOULd get s spark with a CAM sensor problem.

yea i know thats why i tried to start it without the cam sensor, but no dice....i knew about that from reading it in the manual but i guess 96's are special :rolleyes

Originally posted by MrSlickOne question... did you recently have any of the harness unplugged? Then plug it back in?

'
yea, the whole damn thing was disconnected for about 12 days

Originally posted by turbo8u

Originally posted by MrSlick Turby, What I was getting at is that a 96 car MUST see both CAM AND CRANk sensors to fire spark... so if you had a CAM sensor problem on a 96, you wouldnt get a spark. On a 95, 97, 98 or 99 you WOULd get s spark with a CAM sensor problem.

yea i know thats why i tried to start it without the cam sensor, but no dice....i knew about that from reading it in the manual but i guess 96's are special :rolleyes

Originally posted by MrSlickOne question... did you recently have any of the harness unplugged? Then plug it back in?

' yea, the whole damn thing was disconnected for about 12 days

Ok, well just so you know I killed my ecu by having the Tranny Speed Sensor and Coil Pack connectors switched... ;)

Originally posted by MrSlick

Originally posted by turbo8u

Originally posted by MrSlick Turby, What I was getting at is that a 96 car MUST see both CAM AND CRANk sensors to fire spark... so if you had a CAM sensor problem on a 96, you wouldnt get a spark. On a 95, 97, 98 or 99 you WOULd get s spark with a CAM sensor problem.

yea i know thats why i tried to start it without the cam sensor, but no dice....i knew about that from reading it in the manual but i guess 96's are special :rolleyes

Originally posted by MrSlickOne question... did you recently have any of the harness unplugged? Then plug it back in?

' yea, the whole damn thing was disconnected for about 12 days

Ok, well just so you know I killed my ecu by having the Tranny Speed Sensor and Coil Pack connectors switched... ;)

oh man, lol i definately didnt do that :P dont worry

Good, you'd have to be stupid to do that.... ;)