No fire. We have replaced the pick up coil, module, coil, plugs, wires, and still no fire. Not even at the coil. can anyone help with this? 1991 RS 3.1 170,000 miles. I just bought the car, and it wasn't running when I bought it.

 

Turn the ignition to "on" but don't crank the engine. Check for +12 volts on the pink/black wire going to the coil, on the gray connector.

Check the fuel pump/ecm fuse, located under the hood, on the passenger side's upper frame rail (just below the fender lip). Fuel pump/ecm fuse holder will have red and orange wires coming from it. Check for +12 both before and after the fuse, ignition doesn't need to be on.

 

Thanks, I will check for power at that fuse. I checked the fuse and it was ok, but I didn't check to see if it had power. As far as the coil, it does have power, and so does the module.

 

Crank the engine with the distributor cap off and check that the rotor is rotating (could be a broken cam or distributor gear).

RBob.

 

Rotor is rotating, fuse on the upper frame rail has power to and from it, and I dont know what else to check. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

Oesn't that year car have VATS. Maybe that is sutting things down. I have never owned a car with VATS and don't know anything about it- but have heard it overrides the ignition in case of theft- Its a security feature built into the key and computer ecm.

 

Yes, my car has VATS, and that was my first thought. VATS will not even let the car turnover if the key is wrong. I tried to start it without the key in it (I unlocked the ignition, pulled the key out, then tried to start it) and it did't even turn over. From what I've heard, that is what is supposed to happen when the key is wrong, or not in the ignition. Thanks anyway!

 

VATs disables the starter motor and the injectors.

Still going on that you are not getting spark. Disconnect the 4 wire connector at the distributor.

Leave the two wire connector to the coil connected.

Crank engine and check for spark. If have spark then it is an ECM or harness problem.

If still no spark change the 2-wire harness piece between the coil & distributor. Check for spark again.

(The 4 wire connector is still being left disconnected).

If still no spark I would swap in a known good coil & distributor. There isn't much left. Can also spin the distributor by hand and check for spark.

RBob.

 

Thanks for all your help. I pulled the cap off again the other day, and noticed that the white wire on the pick-up coil was too close to the shaft, and that it was shorting out on metal. I fixed the wire, and it started right up. Thanks again

 

Always something so simple