rbrackett

'89 TA, 305, TPI, bone stock, no mods. My daily driver.

Drove to work this morning, no issues, end of day...no start at all. I've had this happen before and a shot of starting fluid cures it...not this time.

Even after a shot of starting fluid, the motor would only turn over, not even trying to hit. So I reach over to the distributor and found it loose. I wiggled it a bit then went to try for a start and I had ZERO power. No dash lights even tho the key was turned on. I jiggled the distributor again and the power was on again. With power, the engine simply won't fire.

What could be happening? I'll tighten the distributor once I find where it needs to be to get it started but it seems to be sending no power to the plugs.

I'm stumped...and need to get this resolved quickly.

Any ideas greatly appreciated.

zed-028

i had a similar issue and had to run a tonne of wiring to fix it, sadly i never found out the root cause.

Dash Lights
in the convenience centre (which is anything but convenient to get to) you will find 2 flashers. power to the dash lights and gauges seems to come in through one of these. apply power to one side and see if the dash lights up. if they do, you might have to see if you can find a decent source of aux power to apply to this side for a quick fix.

Distributor
This could be a hell of a lot harder to diagnose with a TPI engine, however the usual starting point is the ICM inside the dist, ive killed them before both genuine and aftermarket - the general concensus is that theyre crap. I had one tested 3 times, never failed, then i took it back to the store again, they tested it and it failed. you could replace it or go for another distributor - your choice. I eventually went for a new aftermarket ebay distributor and havent had an issue since.

Power to the Distributor
once again could be harder to track on a TPI. There are 2 types of power that apply to the distributor, switched 12v and the cranking 12v

When you turn the key to on, you get switched acc 12v power to the dist, when you turn the key to crank the engine, the acc switched 12v power drops to protect your accessories and ensure that power is diverted to cranking, the 12v from cranking is provided to the dist/icm/coil either directly or through a relay, when it fires, you release the key and the 12v switched takes over.

when i had the dash light issue, mine wouldnt never fire when cranking, but if i released the key it might fire as the 12v switched power took over.

this was a stupid issue to have. So i ran my own relay to power the coil/dist whilst cranking and havent had the issue since.


Once again, my car is carbed and no doubt the TPI system is way more complicated. This might give you some ideas at least of where to start.

below is a wiring diagram page that i found ages ago, it isnt specific to your year (or even my cars year for that matter, but it will probably hold a few nuggets of truth and might lead you in the right direction

http://92b4crs.tripod.com/86wiring/86wiringindex.html

rbrackett

I'm leaning towards the ICM first. The odd part is that as I would turn the dizzy, my power would go out. Radio stayed on. By power out, I mean it was at I didn't even have the key on.

rbrackett

Anyone seen that before....turning the dizzy kills power

zed-028

turning by hand or cranking the motor?

rbrackett

Turning the dizzy by hand causes it.

I'd sit in the car with the key turned on. Volts meter looked good, temp was reading fine, ses light was on (a code 32). As my friend would slowly rotate the dizzy, all my dash indications would go out. If I tried a start, it wouldn't do anything.

If he turned it back, the power would come back. Then if I tried to start, it'd just turn over and not start. No fire to plugs.

rbrackett

I'm gonna replace the cap, rotor, icm and ignition coil. Then see where that takes me

zed-028

thats some shonky wiring mate, sounds like you have a legit power issue above all else

rbrackett

Maybe. Keep in mind that this car is all original. Wiring has never been touched.

zed-028

28 years and never been touched - the car dies - when you do touch it, you notice that by moving a part that has 28 year old wiring attached to it, you get intermittent breaks

this is a pretty good indication that you should look at the 28 year old all original wiring before you start replacing parts

rbrackett

Well....I'll give you that, I agree.
But, over 28 years, I know this car. It's been meticously maintained.

I'll check the wiring during my repairs.

I do know this, the cap, rotor and plug wires were last replaced in 2003.
The ICM and Coil are original.

rbrackett

I'm the original owner, bought it new in 1988. It has over 400,000 miles. Motor and tranny have never been opened up. I've babied this car.

Tuned Performance

iTrader: (92)

engine heat will take its toll on the wiring. This usually happens bye the distributor. You might want to have a helper tell you when you have power as you narrow down the wires.

RedLeader289

iTrader: (2)

ICM. It's my go to reply to any no-start situation. These cars eat them like candy. . .