no friggin spark on n/a automatic

[BOOSTEDSUPRA]

:1zhelp: ok, i guess im a sucker for punishment, lol. heres the poop, since i have pretty much finished my 87t, thank you to all of you and this site, i now have a 87 n/a auto for my gf, it ran (on 4 or 5 cyl at best) when i picked it up in merced calif, and i drove it home to turlock about 40 min away. on the ride home i noticed that when i would let off the gas slightly to slow down, the check engine light would come on, while the light was on, the car died, light goes off...continued running the same.

stopped and put gas in it a mile from home, fired right up again, i floored it leaving the station, that was funny, :nono: when i pulled into my drive with it, it died, and i havent gotten it to even spit a sputter since. now, i read on here that some peeps had the same prob, whether it be a swap from a turbo to an n/a or whatnot, i checked EVERYTHING i have read. heres the rundown, at the coil, nothin, nothin at the ignighter, i have swapped those for shits ang giggles, nothin, timing, good.

i can hear the f pump running, when i crank the car, i can smell gas, so i thoght the ecu was functioning, BUT...i read that this guys idiot light was not coming on.....mine isnt ither, i messed with the fuse box, tried grounding the coil AND ecu.....still nothing. then....i thought....what if i put the ecu in diag mode, turn the caqr to the on possition as if to pull codes, and then i'll start dicking with all the stuff again to see about a short

well....its cold, windy outside, so im taking a break, cause i found nothing. :3d_frown: so, my question is....have i missed something? i even pulled the ecu/ig fuse and the ign fuse, swapped them all around, i even put a wire directly on the batt, and then fed it into the fuse spot for the ign.......(did i do that for the ecu???) which leads me to my nexed question....can i directly hook the ecu to the batt? i.e. bypass the cars feed to it with my own? oh, i also grounded that ecu as well, just cause i guess.....what am i over looking here guys?????????????

 

[shaeff]

Thread moved to proper section, and I broke up your post into paragraphs to make it legible.

 

[BOOSTEDSUPRA]

update, i messed with it some more, and still nothing. does anyone have ANY idea as to what i am over looking?:1zhelp: :wtf:

 

[SupraMaster]

::bhg:: Check your compression.

 

[pogoism9]

check your connections at the ECM. Mine would run on #2, 3, 4, 5 cylinders because of a poor connection to my ECM. I had to take the glove box out and all that but after i snugged it up, it ran fine.

 

[BOOSTEDSUPRA]

check your connections at the ECM. Mine would run on #2, 3, 4, 5 cylinders because of a poor connection to my ECM. I had to take the glove box out and all that but after i snugged it up, it ran fine.

i did take the plugs off the ecu and kinda jerked things around........maybe while its being cranked over i can fidle with stuff? i guess i will take the ecu out and get it checked. does anyone know which wire is the 12volt feed to the ecu? i.e. color/location? i cannot figure out the wiring diagram, lol. i wanna check to see if power is even getting to it. i will check my connectors at the ecu again, thank you!:icon_bigg

oh and i dont know how compression would affect no spark, but i checked and its good all the way around. i think it is a jdm motor, on top of the cam gear cover it has a sticker with all japanese writing, lol. but im not positive.

 

[BOOSTEDSUPRA]

::dead horse:: ok, here is another update, i went back and checked all the same stuff, and still cant get a dang this outta this car. :bigun2: if someone is in the turlock area that has good parts i can swap on there to see if mine are bad i will pay for lunch and gas, lol. im about to say fck u car :madfawk:

my grouchy old neibor is getting crankier by the day, old bag, i at least wanna get this running. i am at my wits end. 2 weeks, everyday, and now its raining, lol.

 

[RazoE]

check the distributor, mine would crank and crank but no start, the distributor had condensation on the contacts, scraped it off with a screw driver and she fired up 1st time. Now it's running good in A-to-the-J's car..

 

[BOOSTEDSUPRA]

check the distributor, mine would crank and crank but no start, the distributor had condensation on the contacts, scraped it off with a screw driver and she fired up 1st time. Now it's running good in A-to-the-J's car..

hmmmm :slap: doh! i never even thought about that. i know, "dumb ass" all my cars ive had for....dang.....the last 10 years or so have been dis, no distributor, lol. i will check when i get home and post tomorrow.

 

[modmonster2008]

have you checked all of the relays regarding ignition? because when i rebuilt my mk3, it would start sometimes then stop, and all it took was a loose harness that wasnt clipped in all the way

 

[benchwarmer]

So you said that you tried to pull the codes, did you get any? Does it turn over and just not start? If you're check engine light does not come on when you turn the key on then either the light is burned out or you have a problem with the ECU. Since it was running poorly before and then stopped I'd say you have a wiring problem to the ECU or a bad ECU.

 

[BOOSTEDSUPRA]

So you said that you tried to pull the codes, did you get any? Does it turn over and just not start? If you're check engine light does not come on when you turn the key on then either the light is burned out or you have a problem with the ECU. Since it was running poorly before and then stopped I'd say you have a wiring problem to the ECU or a bad ECU.

i did try and pull codes, but the light isnt even coming on, jumped and not jumped. and it did work cause it came on when i would let off the gas when i was driving it home. i have checked every single connection that i can think of, that was what was wrong with my 87t, lots of loose connections.

as far as ecu being bad, i am looking at that possibility, but i want to check it first, i.e. directly jump it to the batt, to see if it is even getting power. when it does crank over, i can smell gas, and hear things "powering up" i.e. the isc clicking and the fuel pump buzzing. but so far no one has offered the knowledge on how to do that! :1zhelp:

i picked up another n/a. a burgandy 88 automatic for my g/f. 300 bucks and i drove it home! lol. suposidly it has a blown h/g but there was no steam from the tail pipe and it ran awsome all the way home. bout 100 miles. pics will be coming soon. i am thinking of putting this ecu in to see if thats the prob, but im hesatant with the fear of frying this ecu if theres a prob! lol. thanks for the suggestions guys, keep em comin, i know we can resurect this beast. :stickpoke

 

[BOOSTEDSUPRA]

:rant: ok, :wtf:, here is an update on my progress with this cursed piece of crap!

to recap i have a 87n/a automatic that i am getting no spark. it ran when i got it, pulled in my driveway and it died. i have since then bought another 88 n/a auto that run fine, a little gutless but i think it has a plugging cat. i have switch parts back and forth from the two cars as follow's,


i pulled the ignighter and coil assembly off both cars and switched them. the car that ran fired up fine. the other did not. it is not the coil and ignighter. i put them back on the cars they came off of. now i switched back and forth a few times and one of those times i did get a little cough out of it.....and that was it. i tried pushing gently twisting the wires thinking its a short at the connection...nothin.

i switched computers, again the car that ran fired right up, the other did not. it is not the computer. now i did notice that my check engin light is still not on, my other car that runs does come on..........:dunno:

i took the cap and rotor off the car that does not run and cleaned the contacts in the distibutor like someone sugjested, i still got nothin. the fuel pump is running, it cranks fine, im at the end of my rope here ::hang::

anyone think they got the brain to figure this out.....lets do it, cause im to the point of :madfawk::wuteva:

 

[liftedtoy97]

I just got through going through the exact same problem for 3 weeks. I had no spark, or check engine light like my ecu was bad. I almost bought another one until I was given some advice that nailed it on the head. Go out and unplug your mass airflow sensor, your throttle position sensor, and temp sensor, if your check engine light comes on one of those sensors is shorted out. Mine was the mass airflow sensor, it was shorted, once I got it fixed my ecu and cel came to life.

 

[BOOSTEDSUPRA]

I just got through going through the exact same problem for 3 weeks. I had no spark, or check engine light like my ecu was bad. I almost bought another one until I was given some advice that nailed it on the head. Go out and unplug your mass airflow sensor, your throttle position sensor, and temp sensor, if your check engine light comes on one of those sensors is shorted out. Mine was the mass airflow sensor, it was shorted, once I got it fixed my ecu and cel came to life.

::w00t:: holy bucket batman, WTF!!! that worked, im gonna be honest...i read that and said to myself, "this guys smokin somethin" lol, it didnt start cause that battery's dead, but the light came on.

i unplugged the tps and the maf sensor. the tps looks to have some corrosion on the contacts. i will post results when i get the pig fired up! thanks a million!!!!! :fart:

 

[BOOSTEDSUPRA]

::w00t:: holy bucket batman, WTF!!! that worked, im gonna be honest...i read that and said to myself, "this guys smokin somethin" lol, it didnt start cause that battery's dead, but the light came on.

i unplugged the tps and the maf sensor. the tps looks to have some corrosion on the contacts. i will post results when i get the pig fired up! thanks a million!!!!! :fart:

well...it fired! cannot understand how that can keep it from having spark....i'll have to look into this i guess. thanks a million to the people who took the time to help! u rock!:werd:

 

[liftedtoy97]

well...it fired! cannot understand how that can keep it from having spark....i'll have to look into this i guess. thanks a million to the people who took the time to help! u rock!:werd:

Haha glad I could help. That probably would have been that absolute last thing I would have ever thought of it being as well...now we know.