airbrush1

If I have an ignition coil go bad on me, will the car start?
If not, when it turns over, could this cause a backfire? trying to troubleshoot a problem that has stumped me.

HAILERS

Never had a bad coil in my life. But.......say the Lead coil assy goes bad. So what. The trail coil assy is still there and the car will start and run. And vice versa if the Trail coil goes bad.

A car that has its timing waaaaay off, will cause a backfire when trying to start.

No, I did not answer your question and I know it. So when does this backfire happen? Is the engine running or are you just cranking the engine and it won't start?

airbrush1

it turns over and begins to run, then backfires and dies

duboisr

Pull all the plugs and put them back in the wires then ground the threaded shells . Then have someone crank the motor while you watch each plug gap for a good spark. Do it in the dark so you can see the color of the spark . You should pull the fuel pump fuse first. This is so easy. Most bad coils will work untill they get hot.

silverrotor

iTrader: (1)

When the Leading Coil Fails, you will be unable to start It. Atlest In my experience...

Zach McAfee

I fried a the leading coil pack and the car started and idled fine, just had no power.

HAILERS

I've not had that symptom before. Sorry. Try taking the Trail plugs off, and then start the engine and see if the car does the same. If it does, then pull the lead plugs off and leave the trail on and see what happens.

I'm inclined to think the timing is off though. But you can't set the timing unless the engine runs. In fact the more I think about it, the more I think its the timing being tooooo far advanced. Maybe. Have you been messing with the cas since the last time it ran???? Has it run good before??? When did it start going bad on you?

In the dark recesses of my mind a voice says it could be a bad/broken apex seal also. Just a dark thought.

airbrush1

I have not messed with my timing, idle, or anything else. I have the same haunting thoughts of blown apex seals too It ran fine before, it actually ran without a problem at all(except charging) until a small electrical fire ocurred the other day. It was the valve wires by the aux ports(think solenoid air control valve????) we were jumpin the car and they just caught fire. I blew it out before the caught anything else on fire, but couldn't the fire have caused a short somewhere?

HAILERS

So it ran fine until the battery went down and then you jumpered the car to start it. Now it won't run. Starts but just for a moment and you hear it backfire and it dies. How many seconds does it run??????

Is there the smallest chance that while putting the fire out neat the acv, that you disturbed the air flow meters plug????? Accidently knocked it loose? I know its up front of the acv by a couple of feet, but is it possible?

So after the fire, did any fuses blow? Each one of the solenoids on the acv has a 12v source going to it all the time the key is on. Are they shorted out??? Can you see 12v on those solenoid wires????When the key is to ON? How about checking that out. And while at it, go to any of the solenoids on the left side of the engine and see if there is 12v on at least one wire on each plug. Should be a black/white wire on each plug. That should tell us if a fuse is blown etc.

airbrush1

IT RUNS FOR ABOUT 2 OR THREE SECONDS THEN DIES, what does the air fuel meters plug look like(is it on the afm?) we had the intake hose and afm off the car while we were working on it( we were re-wiring the aux ports open, i think that the stuff we used before rubbed the wires bare and caused the fires)

so check the voltage on the actual plug that they attach to? and then look for blown fuses...

thanks for all the help, most people aren't this patient!

HAILERS

The afm electrical plug is on the left side of the afm. Close to the upper radiator hose. A bit below it. Pulls straight off. No screws etc.

Also look to see if you put that approx one inch dia hose back on the inlet duct. The one I talk about is the one that is on the bottom of the inlet duct. About six inches from the throttle body. Goes to a metal tube on the top rear of the engine.

The plug off the afm will give you symptoms like you describe. I've also left a plug off the ECU and it would run for a few seconds. But you have not been messing with that.

Yeah, look a the fuses in the engine bay and then the ones next to the drivers left foot.

Runs for just about three seconds.......hmmmmm...if you know where the fuel pump jumper plug is, I'd jumper that and try starting the car(after you make sure the afm plug is on the afm). That fuel pump jumper plug is a bit in front of the right strut tower. Its a two socket plug. Yellow in color(might have a black rubber boot covering it so that you don't see the yellow at first. Just get a piece of wire and insert the bare ends into each socket. That will make the fuel pump run continuosly when the key is put to ON. We're doing this just in case the normal fuel pump circuit is toast or something.

airbrush1

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! the damn plug on the afm wasn't connected! stupid me, stupid friends! I haven't jumped the car again yet( no one is home with a car to jump it), but do you think that this was the problem? If it was it sure gave me a scare! It always seems to be stupid **** that causes me problems!

HAILERS

That was most likely it. They don't run for flip with the plug off. What it is, is that the circuit for the fuel pump passes thru a micro switch in the afm. So if the plug is off, the pump does not run when the enigine starts.

Initially the fuel pump works on a seperate circuit when you start the car. When you hold the key to the START position, you bypass the fuel pump circuit in the afm, but as soon as you release the key, the car is then depending upon the circuit in the afm. If the plug is off, guess what. The engine starves for fuel and dies.

Really hope that fixed the car.

airbrush1

Hope so too I'll jump it in a few hours!

airbrush1

It lives! plugged the afm plug back in, unflooded the engine, and after a bit of cranking, she started right up, lots of smoke though! died down after the car warmed up though, seems to be runnin fine, no temp problems or anything! still have to get the other solenoid at the junk yard and fix my exhaust leak, but then she'll be good for awhile!

THanks for the help hailers!