Well it's another thing to smell the fuel and another to hear the pump priming lol (that came out *******-ish).. but yeah reason im saying this is because my fuel pump wiring arc'd and caused the - and + wires to fuse, causing a shortage which kept blowing out the ECM ignition fuse (in the little fuse box on the driver side dash) which wouldn't allow the car to start. it would click, but no go.

 

Ignition fuse to the ECM is still ok. I checked that like 100 times haha, and yes, it is priming.

I'm thinking, maybe without realizing, tha tpossibly my timing chain broke. I'm going to pull the valve covers off the car tomorrow and see if they are moving, if not, the chain is busted. I can also check the spare key to see if that's a problem. Would a faulty key allow the car to crank at ALL? The car wants to crank, and it does, there is just no spark. Tomorrow is a new day, and I'll check the key and valve covers.

 

I'm also going to engage, and disengage my alarm, maybe somehow my security system is active, and not allowing spark because of it.

 

If it's anything ignition, it wouldn't allow the car to crank. If the ignition was bad, the car wouldn't crank over. It's cranking, but it's not turning over. The starter is fine, and so is the battery. It's gotta be the opti or timing chain.

 

Sounds like a starter. And the Saturn batt had a BIT more cranking power, hence it turning over a bit.

 

Yeah, thought it was the starter too, but the starter is fine. It's cranking, but there is NO spark.

 

How much are you asking for the car? PM me.

 

How much are you asking for the car? PM me.

 

Did you test the starter? I know you say its fine but as soon as you said everything is good just clicking when you turn the key, starter pops into my head. Same thing happened to my moms 2000 Lexus LX470. New starter and everything was perfect. It probably isnt the alternator. That usually gives some hint its going to go, and usually does when the car is running and just dies and even after jump will only stay started for a little bit. Why dont you pull out your opti, have a looksy, and maybe try blow drying it? Definatly keep us updated!

 

if the opti got wet, it should dry out since 97's had vented opti's..

 

True that, but he is afraid of moisture being frozen inside of it(cold weather). Only reason i suggested the blow dryer. Still won't hurt to take it out and look at it though!

 

I would always change the coil out before trying to change out opti. I had a coil that was giving decent spark and was misleading because it was bad.

Much cheaper starting out that way.

 

beat the starter with a hammer, work's for me all the time.

 

Another thing to check (the solenoid would keep clicking but no go) would be the ingition switch inside the lower dash/steering column.. its like a white plastc thing with holes in it to plug stuff in lol

 

I know what you mean with the clicking. But I think since the car wasn't being charged via the alternator, the battery was draining fairly quickly from trying to start it so much. I tried rejumping it, and it's back to a full out trying to crank, and trying to start, but still no spark. I'm not getting ANY spark, but the car is still trying to crank over.

I'm thinking a broken timing chain, or possibly a bad opti. I had my timing retarded last year for nitrous, and since I've taken it out, haven't had it retuned back to normal.

 

If it was an ignition switch, would the car try cranking?

Like I've said, the car cranks, but there is no spark to the wires. Any other ideas? Is it possible that I damaged the ignition switch while putting in the new throttle cable? Weird thing is, that it started before the new throttle cable, so I kinda ruled that out.

Since it was nicer today, it still did it. Maybe I can upload a video of some sort of the problem?

 

Cranking as in the motor is turning over correct??

Knowing exactly what the car is doing helps. Before it wouldn't crank and now it is turning over?

There isn't much to an ignition system so you should be able to track it down pretty quick. Start with the cheap and move on. Gotta make sure your coil is working. Did you unplug it and crank it? Make sure it is sparking.

That tells you that you are getting the signal from the computer (not that it is the RIGHT signal), and that your coil works. Hmmm So how many things are left in the ignition system if that stuff is working?? The dizzy.

Dizzy has all the parts to tell the pcm when to spark and it distributes the spark.

 

Well, the reason why it was doing that, is because from all the times I tried starting it, it was draining the battery. So once I jumped it, the motor is trying to turn over. The coil wire is fine, and as are the spark plug wires.

The car isn't getting spark. That's the issue. I wasn't sure how I go about testing the coil to make sure it's working, but I think that is the problem. How do I go about testing it without removing it?

 

Ignition control, mounted next to the coil. Died on me the same way. Drove into the driveway, shut it off. Came out 1 hour later and it would crank but no start and no spark.

 

Sounds like your coil and opti is all thats left. Try it out and let us know. If coil is fine, its definatly the opti.