no spark, any ideas?
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From: South East Houston
no spark, any ideas? OK, first off I have to tell you that the previous owner did a pretty bad hatchet job on the wiring of this car. That said, I'll begin my story.
I ran out of gas the other day, thinking I had enough to get to the station. I didn't. I pushed the car to the station and put in $10 worth, but the car wouldn't start and I couldn't hear the pump prime so I figured I killed it. I sprayed a little starter fluid in the intake and it would run on that so I was confident I had a no fuel issue. I bought a replacement fuel pump and installed it. That's where things got wierd.
With the new fuel pump in I went to start the car, still won't start. I re-tested the pump and it's good so I started looking at the wiring. I found that there was no voltage to the pump, only to the gauge wire. I traced it back and found the wires in the fuel pump harness cut, the ground wire completly and the power wire mostly. I guess something must have bounced up under the car while I was dragging it back home. I spliced the wires back together and have power to the pump and fuel at the schrader valve so I know the fuel is good.
Still won't start, this time even on the starter fluid.
I bought a spark tester and have no spark now. I checked the wires at the ICM and there is no voltage on the A or D wire (the 2 middle ones). I also checked the fuse in slot 11 and it is fine. I think maybe I hit a harness with the strap I was towing with but I don't see one loose.
If the coil went bad, would it keep voltage from the connector on the ICM? Is there somewhere else I should check? I'm kind of at a loss here and want to get some advice before I tear into it chasing stuff I don't need to chase.
Thanks in advance for any help!
I ran out of gas the other day, thinking I had enough to get to the station. I didn't. I pushed the car to the station and put in $10 worth, but the car wouldn't start and I couldn't hear the pump prime so I figured I killed it. I sprayed a little starter fluid in the intake and it would run on that so I was confident I had a no fuel issue. I bought a replacement fuel pump and installed it. That's where things got wierd.
With the new fuel pump in I went to start the car, still won't start. I re-tested the pump and it's good so I started looking at the wiring. I found that there was no voltage to the pump, only to the gauge wire. I traced it back and found the wires in the fuel pump harness cut, the ground wire completly and the power wire mostly. I guess something must have bounced up under the car while I was dragging it back home. I spliced the wires back together and have power to the pump and fuel at the schrader valve so I know the fuel is good.
Still won't start, this time even on the starter fluid.
I bought a spark tester and have no spark now. I checked the wires at the ICM and there is no voltage on the A or D wire (the 2 middle ones). I also checked the fuse in slot 11 and it is fine. I think maybe I hit a harness with the strap I was towing with but I don't see one loose.
If the coil went bad, would it keep voltage from the connector on the ICM? Is there somewhere else I should check? I'm kind of at a loss here and want to get some advice before I tear into it chasing stuff I don't need to chase.
Thanks in advance for any help!
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Thread Starter
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From: South East Houston
It does crank over, just won't start. I would check the opti if I was getting power to the ICM and coil and it still didn't start, but since I'm not getting any ignition power to the ICM at all I think it's somewhere else. i did have the opti off a couple of weeks ago and took it apart to inspect it. I put thread locker on the screws and checked the points. A little RTV on the seal and buttoned it back up. I'm confident it's good.
I'll get under the dash and see if I'm getting 12V ignition at the key, maybe a harness got unplugged or a wire got cut when we did the alarm last week. I told my friend not to use t-taps but you know some folks.......I'm thinking a t-tap that was too small or bent got squeezed on with pliers and maybe severed the wire. That's what I'm hoping anyway.
I'll get under the dash and see if I'm getting 12V ignition at the key, maybe a harness got unplugged or a wire got cut when we did the alarm last week. I told my friend not to use t-taps but you know some folks.......I'm thinking a t-tap that was too small or bent got squeezed on with pliers and maybe severed the wire. That's what I'm hoping anyway.
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remember optis break in different ways one time when my opti broke it didn't throw a code and then another time it did. it just seems easy to replace now for me so i usually look at it like its the first thing and it is always my problem
let me know what you find. 
Thread Starter
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From: South East Houston
There is no power to the wires going to the coil. Do these cars have an ignition relay somewhere under the dash? I checked shbox but found nothing about an ignition relay. I know there is not one under the hood.
Thread Starter
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From: South East Houston
OK, I saw a lot of people with the same problem and no posted solutions so I'll close this out. I checked the ignition fuse several times with my meter and my test light, plus a visual inspection. In all my years of installing I have heard of fuses being bad and not looking like the were but had never seen it with my own eyes. I thought I should check it our anyway because fuses are free and as soon as I replaced it with a new fuse I had voltage where I needed it and the car fired right up.
