QuestionQUESTION: Previous Answer:
Answer
OK, then check general purpose fuse 8 (10 amp) in the cabin just to be sure it hasn't been replaced with a shorting wire. It would usually blow first compared to the link if that were the problem area. But just to be sure...
Then the other possible short causing items are:
The fuel pump relay actuation coil
The cam shaft position sensor
The egr solenoid valve
The evap emission purge valve
The radiator fan relays
The condenser fan relay
The 12V power supply drawn by the ecm and the tcm (pull the plugs)
All these items are directly wired to the ignition switch pin 2 plug wire. You could disconnect each of them to see which one of them cause the resistance to rise above 0.3 ohm and that will be what is causing the short that blows the link. Also, look at the harness for each of those items to try and spot a melted insulation situation that could short a wire to ground. Some where in this complex set of circuits something is shorted to ground
Roland
Followup:
While working through the system I cleaned up an oil covered ground on the driver's side of the ignition block near the harness. After cleaning the ground, the resistance of the #2 pin to ground when to 9 ohms. While working on the wiring harness, I found a spot near the exhaust manifold where the insulation had been heated, was brittle, and bubbled. On further inspection I found nicks in the insulation on the solenoid terminal, and a damaged terminal leading to a bell-shaped protrusion near the oil filter (attached to the crank case). I solder, replaced with new primary, and sealed those connections.
I then tried starting the car. Turned the key, no blown fuse. I hear the fuel pump kick on when turning to run, but only for a half second. I turn the key to start the car and I hear the starter running, but no firing.
I haven't taken apart the distributor assembly yet to check the camshaft position sensor.
In summary:
I was wondering what could cause this new symptom (before the car would turn over, or start, then blow the fuse, now the fuse doesn't blow, but now fire occurs, just the whirring of the starter motor).
Additional note; I cleaned the harness with a multipurpose degreaser. The harness, ground, and crankcase were heavily encrusted with oil deposits from the front of the crankcase to the drivers side of the block (about 6" shy of the distributor). The leak was significant enough to reach, and coat the starter terminals with oil (which I promptly cleaned).
Thanks for all your help, Shawn.
ANSWER: Hi Shawn,
It is normal for the fuel pump to run for a second but then shut off. It restarts when you crank the starter, but you may not hear it or it could be that the cam or crank sensor is not putting out a signal which causes a no spark/no fuel pump situation (other than the 1 second hum).
Try the code readout using the ignition switch:"on-off-on-off-on and leave on" doing that in 5 seconds or less elapsed time.
Then count the flashing of the check engine light. Repeat for accuracy then tell me the flash counts in order of appearance. It appears you have solved the fuse blowing issue, but the present "no fire" maybe came about as the result of your 'fixes' or it may have been present but not recognized because the fuse was blowing first. You are making progress, so hang in there.
Roland
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---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: The error code displayed was 1255. I've unhooked the battery a few times. I tried to start the car before doing the codes.
ANSWER: Test for spark at a plug, and if not then remove the cap on the distributor and see if you have spark coming off the spark coil tip and also check the rotor for continuity. Have a helper verify that the fuel pump hums when you crank the engine over. We are at basics: fuel/spark/compression?
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: No spark at the plug, the fuel pump doesn't run after the key is cranked to ignition, had to grab a marker to mark wireset before I take apart the distributor.
AnswerHi Shawn,
I suspect that one or the other engine rotational sensors is going bad because the fuel pump will not run again when cranking unless both signals are acceptable to the pcm. To verify which is the problem you can measure between the signal wire and the ground wire of each sensor at the pins of the pcm for those wires while you rotate the crankshaft by means of the cranshaft pulley bolt and with the ignition in the 'run' position. You should observe the voltage oscillate back and forth several times per crank revolution (between 5 and 0.3V) if the sensor is good.
For the cam(distributor) sensor measure between pin 33 and 43 of the pcm , and for the crank sensor measure between pin 32 and pin 43). Use fine pins to reach the conductors of the wires on those specific pins add attach your leads to the straight pins.
One or the other of those should not show the pulsation if I am correct that this is the cause, even though there are no codes.
If the signals look good, and since the fuel pump does the 1 second hum, then also verify that the single black/red wire on the 2-wire plug at the distributor similarly shows 12v for one second when you first turn the key to run. If it does that just like the fuel pump, then the only other reason for no spark and no fuel pump when cranking is that the pcm is bad.
Roland
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