help please. here is what happens. the car will crank but won't run but about a second. if you turn the key off and back on fuel will pump and it will start again but won't run. if you don't turn the key off and try to start again it won't even start. ( i.e. no fuel). i've verified battery is good. replaced the spark igniter ($87 bucks ouch). repalced the spark plugs and wires. verified the coil is good, 26K ohms on both sides. adn replaced the fuel filter (very tough job). it will start and run very well at times for no reason and it doesn't seem to be temperature related. then at other times it won't start. i did bench test the main relay and it passed but the car was starting at the time i tested it. in fact it starts every time after i've tested the main relay. i removed the fuel rail test port bolt and fuel gushes out as soon as the key is turned. any help i'd appreciate it.

 

have you checked the distributor, cap and rotor?

 

sounds to m34 like you got a bad electrical portion of ignition switch.........
start car and hold key slightly off starting position see if car stays running

 

yep cap and rotor are good to go. but since they are cheap items compared to anytihing else i think i'll replace both the rotor and cap.

 

i'll try it . this afternoon. but that seems like it would just cause the starter motor to run continously.

 

yo rv unless you are a rich guy i would try to diagnose the problem before i'd spend more money uneeded,,, man you have already spent 0ver $ 150 with no luck,, ignitor, plugs, wires. now you want to spend more on cap and rotor ......did you chk if you are getting a good spark?? if you are ,cap + rotor is not ur problem ,,, did you take main relay apart and chk for cracked sodering???
does car die as soon as you let go of key?? if so it is ignition switch problem

 

I’m getting a good spark and intuitively I knew that the ignitor was not bad but I purchased it from rock-auto and went ahead an installed it out of frustration. Of course it didn’t start. I will be messing with the main relay tonight. I know how to solder and will disassemble the whole thing and put it back together. Reason is I found one on ebay for 10 bucks and when it comes in i can use it in case I destroy the one in the car now. I agree with you there is probably nothing wrong with the rotor and cap since when it does start in runs like a new car, gets up to 80 mph in nothing flat.

 

cost so far 40 on the wires. 12 for plugs, 89 for the igniter 48 for the filter including labor i had to get it on a lift to install it from the bottom. so that's 189 dollars so far and it's still unreliable.

 

new data i've replaced the main power relay and problems still there. it worked for about half a day but it fails when it wants to.

 

poor guy here, you may want to say screw it and take it to the dealer, sounds very intricate

 

when car cranks does it crank faster than normal??? if so you might have cylinder wash , take plugs out and put a bit of atf in cylinder crank it over with no plugs first, put a bit more atf put plugs in and try starting it,,,, have you chk cam timing???

 

dealer, never ever. i'll replace every part on the car first. that's all they do anyway. it seems temprature related so i'm going to try just disconnecting and rec connecting connectors on cables associated with ignition. also chcnk / tighten all ground wires that i can locate that have anything to do with ignition.

 

cranking is the same all the time as far as speed is concerned. there is no timing problem. but thanks. with each test or part replacment i learn something .... so far i know what it's not. in the past on other cars that i've repaired when something like this happens it is almost always something very simple. unsual maybe, but always very simple.

 

i would double chk the ignitor wires make sure they are connected to proper place

 

it's not the fuel pump. a neighbor was asking me about checking his air conditioner and wouldn't you know the high side fitting is an exact match to the fuel rail test port. i hooked it up and it read 35psi. so there is no fuel pump problem. also be careful not to loose the washer under the jam nut on the test port. it's a special washer and nothing in your tool box will work.

ignitor wires crossed? are you making stuff up?

 

its the alternator

 

of course i am not making stuff up why the hell would i do that ???????why would you even think of such absurdity man .. chk the last 2 wires on the right side of igniter make sure they are not switched

 

i'll look at them but remember this car starts and runs great every day. just not during the heat of the day. in early morning or late afternoon it starts and runs fine. if those two wires you suggest were crossed it would never start. i'm thinking about applying a heat gun to electrical boxes under the dash when it's running to induce the failure. otherwise this could go on all summer.

 

i don't see how but there is an on car test for the alternator that is very easy to do. remove the negative terminal while the car is running and if it dies the alternator is bad. will let you know what happens tomorrow afternoon.

 

alternator is fine

 

found the fix! it was the coil after all. the coil passed the ohm meter test even though it's not working at load. what happened is it finally got so bad the check engine light came on and code 15 was reported by the ecm. code 15 leads to the coil or the ecm itself as bad parts. it's been working for a while now. will confess if it does fail again. it's important to note that the coil passes the ohmmeter test even when it's bad in this case. it seems that it was failing only under load. well..... i got a great tune up out of all this. special thanks to deserthonda

 

i would agree that the ignition switch is the problem. this year and make actually has a recall on the ignition switch for this very reason. replace the ignition switch first i think.

 

well it went about a month but it did fail again. this time for good. the second thing that would register code 15 is the ecm itself. i found an ecm at
car-parts.com for $25. it's been in the car for a month and no failures since i put it in. so thanks everyone for your help. hope no one has this kind of problem.

 

igniter? should run about $80 at the dealer. oh, and possibly main relay

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by phateless &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">igniter? should run about $80 at the dealer. oh, and possibly main relay</TD></TR></TABLE>