Hey Guys, I'm new to this forum. I spend 99 pecent of my time over at motorgeek because I am honestly an audi guy. But my lady friend owns a 1993 Del Sol and I have kept up on the maint for her. I have put a crap ton of work into this car for her. Anyways some dumb ricer/stoner owned it before she did and they hammered it. But on the bright side it has 93k on it and it really isn't a bad lil ride at all with the work that has been put into it.

But I guess on to my question. About a week ago I was merging onto the freeway and it dies. No sputter, just an instant die. So at first thought I was thinking T-belt, (which I reaplaced about 7 to 8k ago) but pull the dist cap and it' spins when you crank, and no internal noises. So next I go onto the fuses, and I find that the ECM 15A fuse is blown. So I replace it and it blows right away. Then start inspecting wires for a short, and I can't seem to find one. I checked all the way up to the ecu, and up to the main relay that it's power wire ties into. So I dissconnect the batt, and then unplug the ecu and kick the power on and the fuse still blows, so I don't the it's the computer itself. SO I unplug the "master" relay (under drivers side dash) that the ecu ties into and the fuse doesn't blow.

So what am I missing here? Is there any common issues with this happening? I am kinda at a loss. Help would be GREATLY appreciated!!! Thanks!!!

Btw: here is a picture of the car soon after she got it:

 

try a new main relay or try this...
http://techauto.awardspace.com/mainrelay.html

if the ecu fuse goes out it will cut off the fuel.,
iv had shorts before and i couldnt find them sometimes...use a multimeter on each bin in the plugs.

 

this happened to me once before and i couldnt figure it out then one day it just randomly stopped blowing every time i started the car and it hasnt given me a problem since then

 

Yeah it's weird and it sucks bleh. HAHA. I dispise trouble shooting electrical. I will try the solding trick. I may hit up the local parts yard and try that too. Thanks for the input. I am welcoming more too

 

did you thouroghly check the cu. take the lid off both sides and check for burns or corrosion. try a dif ecu and a new fuse.. at least that will cancel that out.

 

Yeah I pulled both sides off. No burns, nothing. Just nice clean circuit board. Also for kicks while the ecm was out I replaced the fuse, turned the key to the running position and it still blew the fuse, so I am pretty sure the it's not the the ecm.

 

dang...that sux.
chasing wires is a pain.
did you try taking out the engine harness and lookign it over outside of the car.
after age alot of that wire sleeving does fall off
ok il shut up now. GL n GB

 

haha ok. xD Thanks for the help. I am going to check the relay, then removal of the harness for inspection is my only choice.

 

The ECU fuse also supplies power to the fuel injectors. Make sure that that whole harness is okay too. With an ohm meter measure the fused side of the fuse to ground and see what kind of resistance you have.

 

^i said that

 

ok sweet! how many ohms should I read?

 

It hould read infinity or "OL". There should be no or very high resistance to ground.

 

It should be noted that there is a big difference between 0 ohms and OL. OL is good, 0 would be bad (short) It may very well be something in between, like several hundred ohms, which would prolly be ok.

Eric

 

Awesome thanks for the help guys