My car wouldent start last week and i tried endlessly to figure it out, well i gave in and took it to the shop they diagnosed the problem as a bad ignition mudule they said the pickup coil was bad which in turn burnt the module. So i went to autozone yesterday and bought a new distributer, rotor, and cap installed it and set the timing at 6* after it ran fine i reconected the brown and black wire and was on my way the car felt ok i drove it around a little while with no issues. i shut it off and went out later and the ses light came on the car was still running sort of ok but there was a significant loss in power when its revved high it backfires when you let off the gas, i parked it and drove it today with same results, i then disconected the computer to reset plugged it back and it ran better no ses i drove it a couple blocks and parked it when i started it again i got the ses light code 42 and same simptoms runs sort of ok but not quite up to par....Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Any suggestions?????

 

Code 42=Fault at electronic spark timing circuit OR Fault at direct ignition system OR Fault at fuel cutoff relay circuit.

I would check all ignition wires/connectors. If that all pans out, look into the fuel cutoff relay, have you check fuel pressure when problem is happening?

 

all wires seem to be good but no i havent checked fuel pressure yet. But im assuming its probably ignition related since i just installed the distributer,im gonna go double check timing tonight if the timing had become off somehow is it possible to throw this code?

 

Did you disconnect the neg post of battery after you replaced distributor and set timing? Having the ESC connector off while you time the car will set codes. Just checking.

 

Might of been code 43 with my issue but maybe code 42. This went on for two years before I gave up on the computer and installed a new distributor/intake manifold/carb.. So I researched the krap out of this issue. The following things you might want to check.
(checked the haynes book to see where these are located)
>knock sensor
>ESC module
>Spark plug wire to close to other computer wires
>Oxegen sensor
>Wires going into the computer are not damaged or pinched

These things are the sensors and modules that can throw off your timming when the ride is in motion. This is what happen to me, the car started just fine, code reset it self every time the ignition was shut off and back on. Sure it was fine when ideling but as soon as those sensors read that something was wrong, it sent a signal to the computer telling it that this of this as the computer tries to retard or advance the timing to adjust for these so called "faults" that that the sensors cause 90% of the time. This is the reason of the such loss of power. Which is enough to drive a man crazy!

I have bought and obtained parts to try and resolve this issue. Its that kinda replace everything and anything that can cause that code till you find whish is at fault kinda thing. I replaced all of it and still couldnt find out what was wrong. Dont waste your money on replacement parts or dealerships analziing this for you because thats gonna cost far to much. If you have the same error code that I had and these are the sensors giving you problems, I'll send you my sensors for free. They are now worthless to me! lol it was really hard decide to save them instead of break them.

 

I appreciate the offer for the sensors it goes to show there are still good generous people out there willing to lend a hand. But actually i dug into some more last night and i found it ran better if i advanced the timing beyond the indicator maybe 12 13* i think maybe my balancer is off or something when i reinstalled the distrib i put the rotor facing the exact direction as when it came out. another thing i noticed last night my timing didnt seem to advance after reconnecting the esc wire which seemed odd, but i got it to run better but still code 42 even after i completely disconnected the computer and reconnected, but then i got in this morning and it was running pretty good drove to work no codes so im not sure what to think im gonna drive it around later and see what happens. appreciate the imput guys.

 

well i drove her around a while on lunch and the ses light came back on code 42, the car feels good through low rpms has power accels ok and idles alright but whaen i stomped the pedal to the floor it sputters badly and backfires so something is still off, i set the timeng basically by trial and error and listening to how it was running at 6* it would run fine but had no power once i advanced it it still runs ok and has some power back but still a loss at high rpms it seems the computer isnt advancing the timing maybe.... would that explain this problem 6* is just base timing if the computer doesnt advance it it would result in low power right?? and moving the base timing way high like 13*14* would make it run better because it isnt being advanced but stil would not be completely right correct me if im wrong anywhere here ... is there a way to check the esc resistance voltage ect i need to get this fixed right once and for all.

 

I had a simular experience with a 90 3.1 V6 regarding timing, Did a tune on the motor, plugs, rotor, cap, wires, filters, etc. No big deal, well in the process I put a little advance in the timing to help with the idle, not much, just enough to take the shake out. I did this with out unplugging the EST connector. Needless to say, the van ran OK, but not Good, never set any codes though. Finally after a month of driving it, I decided to start from scratch. This time I cleaned and set the IAC, Cleaned O2 sensor,verified TPS at .54vdc, set idle then removed EST connector and set base timing. My experience with timing is to keep as close to top dead center as you can and still maintain idle, the ECM will advance timing as required so not to worry. What a difference, since this little situation I myself have come to the conclusion that if you don't set and verify everything, your wasting your time trying to tune these ECM motors. And the biggest mistake I made orginally was missing with the timing with the EST connected.

My advise to you is the same, run thru the tune up again and verify and test your sensors, make sure all the vacuum lines are OK, set your base timing. One other thing that you can test and verify is the fuel pressure? Hope this helps, we all been there at some point in time, keep after it.

BTW, how are the plug wires? And how are they routed, need to keep some seperation in them so you don't get induction from one wire to the next causing a miss fire? I am streching here..