Cascade Crew

IROCDave · Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 9:31 pm Post subject: New problem...

My brother came over last night and we tried to reset the AIC again. The battery died so I plugged in the charger. AFter 10 minutes it was barely turning over. I un plugged the charger and jumped it with my truck. What I didnt know was that my brother hooked the charger back up also. When the car started I held the rpm's at about 2500. After a couple of minutes I rapped the throttle a couple of times. It backfired through the intake then died. It will turn over but wont fire up again. I checked all of the fuses in the panel and they were fine.

Any suggestions on what to check next?

Twilightoptics · Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 9:38 am Post subject:

Alternator?

iansane · Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 3:09 pm Post subject:

MAF car? You toast the filament? Do you have spark still? Flooded?

IROCDave · Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 6:28 pm Post subject:

It could be either one. I was so disgusted with it that we pushed it back into tha garage and called it a night.

I would say MAF, but the way it died was like the ignition gave up the ghost, then while the RPM's came down it back fired. When it cranks over it sounds like some of the cylinders are trying to fire but the timing is way off. There is also a strong fuel smell so maybe it is the MAF?

Can the MAF be taken out by to much voltage to the computer?

Twilightoptics · Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 6:59 pm Post subject:

If your battery is consistantly dying, it sounds like alternator.

A bad alt can do all kinds of weird things to the electrical system. I'd start there. Make sure the battery is fully charged and try again. Verify alt is putting out proper voltage.

If you suspect the maf, unplug it and run the engine. If it runs better, it could be the maf.

iansane · Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 9:15 pm Post subject:

I second voltage causing funky problems...

Whiskeychick · Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 9:13 am Post subject:

dunno if its the same but my cars MAF died all of a sudden like, and the car wouldnt restart just kept cranking.

I pulled the maf out and tried restarting, started first try, then just rehooked the MAF up and limped her around for a couple days till I got the new MAF.

IROCDave · Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 8:03 pm Post subject:

Like everything else on my car, it's not as simple as unplugging the MAF. See my post from a couple of years ago talking about an extreme rich condition.

The reason the battery keeps dying is becuase the car is rarely driven. It sits for months on end, gets pulled out of the garage maybe 2 times every month and is driven maybe 5 times a year. I put a new battery in the convertible last year and it's died a couple of times.

I'll take a look at it again next week when we get back from camping.

IROCDave · Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 3:40 pm Post subject:

So far I have unhooked the battery for a couple of days and trickle charged it, checked the filiment wire on the MAF (not broken) and verified that there is no spark while cranking it over. The tach needle bounces from zero to 500rpm on what seems like every 2nd revolution and on intitial attempt to start there is a slight "wuffle" like one cylinder fired once then nothing.

Any suggestions as to what to check next and how to check it? Ignition module, MSD 6 AL, ECM, relay etc?

Twilightoptics · Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 3:50 pm Post subject:

Check pickup coil function. I know Brandon has explained it many times. I forget the process.

IROCDave · Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 4:30 pm Post subject:

Any tips on the pickup coil testing procedure would be great.

chevymad · Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 4:53 pm Post subject:

Hook a test light between coil negative and ground. Key on light should light. Cranking the light should flash. If it flashes but you have no spark you have a dead coil. If it does not flash disconnect the timing connector and try again. This leaves only the pickup and module in the circuit to create spark. Still no flash, 90% of the time it will be the module. Otherwise its the pickup coil. If the pickup looks nasty, or has no continuity when you measure between the 2 wires then it needs to be replaced.

The distributor has to be disassembled to replace the pickup coil. It's not hard, but at this point you need to decide if you should just buy a complete distributor. A reman will come with both the pickup coil and the module.

Another reason to replace the distributor.. The actual pointed trigger wheel that signals the pickup is known to crack. When it does that creates an extra signal to the coil and computer every time the crack goes by. A new shaft is required to replace the trigger wheel. The shaft costs more then a reman distributor. You usually can't see the cracks until you pull the shaft from the distributor and look at it from teh bottom.. or sometimes you even need to bead blast the wheel for them to show up.

Anyway, thats how you diagnose a no-spark condition on most cars.

OH> I see you have an msd box.. this test is to be used without it connected. With it connected the coil see's 500volts. Basically diagnose the ignition without the box.. then if everything else is good you know its the box.

IROCDave · Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 5:08 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the information! Man, I hope it's a dead coil. I cant afford to spend another 300.00 + to replace the MSD pro billet distributor.

chevymad · Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 5:16 pm Post subject:

Ah.. fancy dizzy allready. I'd just replace parts then. The previous info about trigger wheels etc has more to do with the stocker.

aaron_sK · Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 5:22 pm Post subject:

I may be all wet here, but I believe the MSD Pro-Billet stuff uses the Ford Duraspark style pickup which is much less failure prone than the GM unit.

chevymad · Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 5:27 pm Post subject:

No pickup is all that prone to failure.. it's simply a coil of wire afterall. Modules on the other hand..

Twilightoptics · Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 6:11 pm Post subject:

Other things to try:

Unplug the EST and see if it fires off. If it does, it's prob the module.

Verify the ECU has power/grounds.

How are you checking for spark? Check it at the coil itself.

Make sure coil has bat voltage +

MSD dizzy... does that have a regular ignition module or are you using it with an MSD box?

chevymad · Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 6:14 pm Post subject:

He says he has both paul.. so he needs to disconnect that box.. and not check for power at the coil until he does so.

Twilightoptics · Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 6:16 pm Post subject:

Ahh I read that above.

Needs to follow the the procedure for checking the MSD box in the troubleshooting section. It's pretty straight forward.

When I had a coil/msd problem... I had to eliminate the msd box from the system, which he can't do because the MSD Dizzy is just a trigger, not a module and wont fire the coil right on it's own.

chevymad · Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 6:37 pm Post subject:

Isnt a module still required to trigger his ecm properly?