QuestionQUESTION: This car died under power and would not start. I found very low fuel pressure and changed fuel pump and filter. Still had low pressure then changed regulator. pressure now up to 44 psi. while cranking, engine now starts and dies immediately every time you crank. found code 43 from check engine lite. any ideas?
ANSWER: Hi Jerry,
The 43 code says there is something wrong with the spark coil pack's primary circuits but not which one (there are 3 of them, each energizing 2 spark plugs). So take a look at the coil pack to be sure that the resistance between the common dark green/orange wire's pin in the socket and the other three pins of the pack's socket are 0.45 to 0.65 ohms, and if you want to go further the black wire on the plug goes to pin 19, the red wire goes to pin 18, and the white wire goes to pin 17 of the powertrain control module. Check that those connections are patent, and are not shorted to ground. You should find that 2 or more spark plugs don't have spark if the 43 code is correct. So check for spark at 2,4,6 while a helper cranks it over. Also check that the entire pack is tightly mounted as that is the ground for the high tension side of each coil. If the primary windings of any of the 3 coils don't meet the resistance test then get a new spark pack. The secondary winding should read between 7,000 and 15,800 ohms measure between each pair of spark plug towers.
Roland
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QUESTION: Roland,
Thanks for your time. I've always had good fire, spark will jump half inch on all 6 cylinders. i thought maybe i created a ghost fault from some of the diognostics I've done, so I cleared the faults and checked again and sure enough the code 43 disappeared. I now have bypassed the fuel pump relay and with the pump running i have 48 psi. With the engine cranking the pressure bounces from 40 to 48. I tried using starting fluid and found that the engine run for a longer time before dyeing, so then i found that I could keep the engine running as long as I provided the starting fluid as it was running. This car missed and sputtered a while before these problems, but I did find very low fuel pressures and i have repaired that. can I check voltages at the injectors while its running? The car car starts and sounds very good every time you try, but it dies immediately. I can't believe the injectors would be that dirty and still start the way it does, but maybe. Also in case your thinking of egr, I also temporarily plugged both passages into the intake with no change to problem.
AnswerHi Jerry,
The 12V supply to the injectors is provided off the same lead from the ASD that supplies the coil pack, via a common splice. So if you have spark you have power to the injectors unless there is an intermittent from the splice to the fuel rail. The dark green/orange is the wire color so you could check that by using a pin through the insulation to test. The injector 'drivers' are on 6 separate wires from the pcm that goes thru a 16-pin square disconnect on the way. You would see pulsing to ground on those wires but the voltmeter may not be able to sense it at the operating pulse rate.
I would check the compression and see how that looks. And keep looking for fault codes which may be set. If the engine dies within about 3 seconds of starting, repeatedly, then I would also check on the theft alarm system being the cause.
Roland
