QuestionQUESTION: Previous Answer:
So there is evidentally not signals from the sensors sufficient to 'drive' a spark or you would have gotten it to run somewhat if not well. How about going back to comparing the pulses of the cam with the pulses of the crank sensor? Supposedly it should oscillate between 5 and 0.3V, and you told me the crank was closer to 0.03V. See what the cam sensor pulse is like. The common sensor ground is pin 43 at the pcm, and the crank signal is pin 32 while the cam signal is 33.
I can't think of anything other than one of those two sensors being faulty as an explanation of why the ASD won't close and why even when you jump it the engine won't catch. You say the rotor/cap/distributor is new, so that only leaves the sensors. The last possibility is the ecm has gone bad or the spark coil 'driver' wire, pin 4 at the pcm to pin 6 at the distributor plug, is faulty.
Roland
Pin 4 to the distributor appears to be fine. The camshaft sensor reads 5.0V for an entire rotation. After the full rotation is completed, the reading goes to 0.16V. Also the fuel pump kicks on whenever I move turn the crank to the point at which the camshaft sensor reads 5.0V.
Does the distributor have a capacitor? There is a small metallic cylinder hooked to a black/red wire that is attached by bracket to the distributor. The wire was exposed and the cylinder looked old/damaged. I was curious if this has anything to do with the ignition system.
Shawn
ANSWER: Hi Shawn,
Yes, there is a capacitor on the black-red wire that goes to the 2-pin plug at the distributor. It could be open (shows infinite resistance either way you try your ohmmmeter) or shorted (shows 0 ohms either way). If it is good, when you put the + lead of your ohmmeter on the wire and the -lead on the shell the ohm reading should start low and move to a higher value as time passes (which is the normal charging up pattern of the capacitor). If it isn't good that could kill the spark.
Roland
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QUESTION: The readings were oscillating near the limit of my ohmmeter's upper range of resistance (100+MOhm). When the battery is disconnected, the capacitor reads 2 ohms. The car battery begin to get low and the readings were stuck at 50 ohms cranking, 100 ohms run, and 30 ohms and slowing dropping off after cranking.
I'll let the battery charge and try again. After playing with the wire (there is a 1/8" bare spot near the cap) and trying to start the car I got the first sign that the car wanted to fire (the engine had maybe 1 or 2 small backfires).
ANSWER: My suggested measurements were to be made with the capacitor taken out of the circuit entirely.
Try that and see what you get. Just disconnect it from its mounting post and also disconnect its wire that goes to the black/red. Then see how it responds to your ohmmeter.
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QUESTION: Removing it from the circuit, I drained it of charge, then measured the resistance. It climbed very quickly from 0 ohms to high resistance.
After fully charged, the voltage skips around from .33V to .25V.
The wire looks pretty frayed (almost half the gauge) and is crimped near flat close to the capacitor.
AnswerIt sounds like it is not shorted or open so I guess that is not the reason for your problem. You could reconnect it to the circuit after cleaning up the wiring.
Currently, I can't think of any other reason why you can't get the engine to run. You still don't have spark, I assume. Is that correct? Did you ever try testing for spark by removing the distributor cap and touching the tip of an insulated screwdriver to the coil post and then positioning the shaft of the screwdriver 1/4" from the engine metal surface and have helper crank to indeed verify the no spark sitcuation? That would bypass the rotor and cap and spark plug wiring, just in case one of those were the cause.
It seems like you have the sensors working, the fuel pump working, the ASD relay closing while you are cranking it over, so you should get spark.
Roland
