I got in my car after work and let it warm up for a couple minutes but when I put it in reverse it stalled, I started it back and it ran fine so I drove home. About a mile from home at a stop sign the car stalled however this time it would not start up, it just cranked and would occasionally sputter to life for a second.

I got it home and listened for the fuel pump when the key was in position II, I couldn't hear anything, so I had my friend listen for it with his head in the trunk, he didn't hear it either so I got a screw driver and rag to push on the fuel rail valve, no fuel came out. I grabbed a paper clip and jumped the fuel pump relay, still no sound from the fuel pump.

Figuring the fuel pump was dead I went to the parts store and grabbed a replacement (Warlboro), after installation I put the key to position II and I could audibly hear the pump pumping. I checked the fuel pump rail valve after priming it about 5 times and a good amount of fuel shot out.

I went to go start the car and it just cranked. I checked to make sure everything was all plugged in, still nothing. I took a spark plug wire out with a plug and let the plug dry off, had my friend crank the engine and there was no spark so I took a screw driver and put it next to the coil wire, still no spark. Tested the contacts on the coil and there was no voltage going to it.


Checked all the fuses, none were broken but replaced anyways. Checked the codes, I had one about the fuel gauge circuit however I cleared this and cranking the car doesn't make it come back. It had the camshaft sensor replaced about a year ago so I unplugged it and used a multimeter while it was cranking, both pins have a reading. Tested crankshaft sensor and I couldn't even get a blip of voltage, I know that you're supposed to use an Oscilloscope but I don't have access to one, so I changed out the crankshaft sensor and engine still cranks. Also checked the red wire going from the positive terminal of the battery, the wires going from the plugs from both the Cam and Crankshaft sensors.

Thought I would try and start from the basics so I replaced the coil, still nothing, in the process my battery died and wouldn't jump, got a replacement battery under warranty. I tested all four wires coming from the main relay on the radiator for voltage and they all had readings, replaced the main relay and still nothing.

I'm really confused here, the car was sparking before the fuel pump died because the car sputtered a few times. After the replacement no spark. Anyone have any ideas? Tried unlocking/locking 3 times in case it was the alarm, but the hazards weren't going so I didn't figure that was it.

 

Wow, sounds like you checked a good deal of stuff. No spark huh? Is the timing belt still on good?

 

Yeah I'm pretty stumped, visually if you look in the oil fill cap while you crank the engine the intake cam spins and if you probe the cam sensor you get a reading that alternates as you crank, I figure this means the exhaust cam is also spinning.

I haven't taken the timing cover off to check out the entire belt yet though.

Not sure if this matters, checked the crank sensor for Ohms and I got .3, the cam sensor also puts out .3 however the harness for the crank sensor is putting out about 5v on both pins. This seems very odd to me, shouldn't the harness be accepting voltage and not sending it?

 

What did you use to test your sensors? I have a cheap 25 dollar multimeter and I got a .3v reading probing the back of the connector as well! From what I saw in the how to section should be 0 .5v 0

 

Lets go back to your coil. You said that there is no voltage there? Not even 12v on the red wire? Please check that and report back. If it does turn out to not have voltage on it run a jumper wire from the battery to the red wire on the coil and try to start the car. If it starts you may want to look in the fuse compartment but you will need to pull the outer trim off the tray and there are three relays inline next to the fuses. The middle relay marked with a J is called a Relief Relay and provides voltage to the coil.


This is the diagram I used when chasing a ghost

 

...sound as if you have a lot of eliminating 2 du

 

Huh? .....

 

Went back to the coil, think I found the culprit. I put the multimeter on the red and the black terminal of the coil with the key in position II and got nothing. However when I held the multimeter to the red terminal on the coil and the grounding screw below the coil it read 12v.

I pulled back the rubber on the plug for the ignition amplifier and put the multimeter into the back of the connector on the grounding wire and also to the red terminal on the coil, 12v.

I unplugged the Ignition amplifier and set the multimeter to Ohms. With the multimeter connected to the back of the connector and on the front it read 0 Ohms. I put the multimeter on the pin for the ground on the ignition amplifier and on the black terminal of the coil and I got .9 Ohms.

I know that the car shuts off the ground to the coil when the crank sensor is faulty but I figured that the shutoff for the ground would be somewhere before the ignition amplifier, however that's just a guess.

Figuring that I have a faulty ignition amplifier, which would make sense because the car has plagued me with ignition related problems and I used the MSD coil when I changed coils so I never changed out my 15 year old amp.

 

Using a regular multimeter, nothing too fancy.

0 .5v 0 is what you're supposed to get out of the CPS right? The Crank sensor only has 2 pins, however I tested the CPS and I did get 0 .5v 0.

I would try to probe the crank sensor but I don't have an oscilloscope and my multimeter doesn't seem fast enough to pick up the signal.

 

Checked it out, didn't really see anything about the no spark issue.

 

I would still check your J relays as well. I tripped the one for the A/C and it never reset itself, I actually had to replace it to get the A/C to work again.

 

Totally forgot to mention those. I pulled the middle one today and reseated it. Didn't see any corrosion or anything. Is there a way to jump it or do I just need to go find myself another one to verify if its working?

 

If you have 12v at the coil its working.

 

distributor rotor?.....Not sure if our cars have a replaceable one, I never taken mine out to check.

If the rotor doesn't sit all the way down making full contact, it could give a weak or no spark.

with your multimeter you can check voltage continuity between the coil contact on the outside of the cap to the inside rotor contact. There shouldn't be much loss.

just trying to help

 

Dont need to go there. Taking the coil wire off the distributor and testing is all thats needed. The distributor on our cars is simply that...a distributor to sent the spark to the right cylinder.

 

Fixed!! Turns out that it was the ignition amplifier, car stumbled on and almost stalled, hit the pedal a little bit and it fired right up.

Lifters clicked for about 10 minutes but quieted down and sound hasn't returned.