xnvb

Ok, so here's the issue. I'm about ready to just push this car into a river. Fed up with it breaking all the damn time.

D16Z6 - I got stuck in the snow the other night on the way home from work. Somehow, during trying to get unstuck, one of the connection nodes on the distributor cap blew up and melted causing the car to run on 3 cylinders. I had it towed home when I figured that out instead of trying to drive it out. I cleaned everything up and replaced the distributor cap and the wires, and it ran fine for 3 days.

Just went to the family's house for thanksgiving, and upon trying to leave, the car won't start. No warning signs at all, just straight won't start. It cranks and sounds like it wants to, but whatever it needs to fire up isn't happening. What can I look for to figure out the source of this problem? What parts may be at fault, and how can I test it? Any help you guys offer is greatly appreciated.

Former User

1) When you turn the key to ON(II), does the fuel pump prime for 2 seconds and does the CEL turn on and then OFF after 2 seconds?

2) Is there spark at the plugs? Click the spark link in my signature.

If the fuel pump primes but there's no spark at the plugs, then test the coil inside the distributor. A bad coil is my guess because it may have been blown when the distributor cap failed. Also take the igniter unit to an auto parts store for testing.

xnvb

Awesome information my friend, thanks a ton. I'll get to work on checking all of that stuff out and reply here if I still run into trouble.

Much appreciated.

xnvb

Ok, I tested the spark in the car via your guide and all 4 cylinders are getting correct spark. The fuel pump primes and the CEL isn't tossing any codes. The next step is testing the igniter unit and coil? Does somewhere like AutoZone test both of those?

Former User

If spark is bright white at the plugs (not orange or blue), then check the mechanical timing to see whether the timing belt slipped.

xnvb

Ok, sorry for the delay in reporting results, but I had to work all week. Car is in the middle of nowhere and I had no chance to come check it.

Checked the timing belt, it's fine. No slipping. Replaced the internals of the distributor, ICM, rotor, coil - still not starting. I checked, it's not throwing any codes, no CEL at all.

Is there anything else I can check? It seems to be getting spark, the fuel pump seems to be working. I'm at a loss.

Former User

Compression test the cylinder. Click link in my signature.

xnvb

Ok. I'll do that next. Based on the results, where should I go from there, as kind of a preemptive question? If compression is good across all cylinders, what's the next step? If it's bad in any of them, what then?

Just trying to get a sequence of troubleshooting down.

Appreciate all the info so far.

delsolintegra

How about fuel filter?

xnvb

Ok, update on this problem. Been a while, holidays kind of made everything crazy and I haven't had time until recently.

The car randomly started up one day last weekend. Pulled off all the wires and the distributor, inspected everything, put it back on and it started up. Ran for a few hours, and then completely died. It was like an instant power drain, best I can describe it. The lights dimmed rapidly, all power stopped working, and it just died.

Checked all the fuses, checked the main relay, everything there is fine. Compression check was fine too.

So given the previous test results from various systems, what would the next step be?

Project H

Check your terminals on your battery and see if theres any loose connections or anything

lazlong

Sounds like your alternator is bad.

xnvb

Battery terminals are fine, no issues there.


Alternator is brand new. Purchased and installed probably no more than two months ago. Plus the battery will generally power the car on the charge contained within it and run for a bit before gradually dying if the alternator is bad. The car almost instantaneously lost power and died this time.

lazlong

Check for bad connections and grounds. Might have fried the ECU.