1991 festiva gl not starting

[David88]

Don't give up yet! Try the ignitor. Its about 1" square and sits beside the coil on '90-'93. On '88-'89 it's inside the distributor. They go bad suddenly sometimes. This causes no spark to the distributor. Sound like what you have going on. Also sounds like you have eliminated alot of other possible causes. Problem is ingintors are between $75 -$120 new. I have about 4 or 5 good used ones. I've tested them on a car by swapping them out and running them. Easy 2 minute swap.
The early style in the distributor is a bit more involved swap. Usually cheaper to get a complete rebuilt distributor for $150 as the ingitor alone can run as high as $185

[PaulLehr]

I'm not located too far from you. I'm in the NW corner of Milwaukee. If you ever need any help working on it or if you decide to sell it let me know

[peace-frog]

well i might be selling it soon and ill pm you if i do

[peace-frog]

OK well i don't want to buy a new ignitor with out knowing if mine works or not. so how would i go about testing my ignitor?

[PaulLehr]

OK so now I own this car. I have tried a different ignitor from a running car and it still will not start. I am going to check tonight to make sure its getting fuel but I don't know what else to look for. it has power to the distributor and coil. Brand new coil, plugs, wires, cap and rotor. The cam is turning but still has no spark :x Where do I go from here? The fuse able links are all good and working properly. I'm running out of ideas and fast. I have a distributor I can take off of my other 91GL if anyone thinks that might be the problem. I want to try to get this thing started tonight so I can move it. Ive had it parked on the same spot on the street since I've bought it and want to get her running before I start piling up parking tickets

[packrat427]

Paul, If it has a new coil , and has power to the coil and power to the disty , and it has no spark still ? It must not be getting a signal from the disty to the coil , since it is a 91 and a external module ,I think the disty sends a sig to the ignitor and fires the coil , ? There is something there it says in the book about a internal electronic module, not serviceable on 90-93 , my book says replace the disty, If you have done everything else .
That is what I would do Paul , Good luck :wink:

[PaulLehr]

I just tried the Dist from my other 91 GL that runs fine and I still have no spark from the coil. I'm about at my wits end already. I have power to the Dist and power to the coil and a known good Dist. I have tried two other ignition modules and don't know what else to check right now. Its kinda hard working on the car when its dark and parked on the street. Are there any grounds to check or anything I can jump to ground to make sure its grounded right before I try again? I have my Factory manual here but my EVTM is about an hour away from me right now.

[Motoxpress]

Hopy-d had a post on page 1 @ the bottom about the coil ground might be broken check out his post it may just be the trick. :idea:

[PaulLehr]

Anyone know which wire in the loom is the ground wire for the coil? Or which wire is the ground for the distributor. I don't have my EVTM manual here.

[Motoxpress]

Paul give me till about Noon EST when I get up. I'll find it in my EV book.

[packrat427]

I talked to him about a hour ago , he said he worked on it off and on all day still no luck , It has to be something simple that is being overlooked,

[Motoxpress]

No joy I checked the EVTM and the service manual and found nothing.
SM showed in a diagram that the wires to the disty do travel over the fan shroud and then into the main harness. My best guess is to trace the wires from disty and try to find a brake. I know it's a pain in the a$$ but it seems to be the only way.
Hopy may be able to tell you the wire color that broke on his this could help locate the problem.
I will keep looking let me know your progress

Good Luck

Will

[PaulLehr]

Well after I got back I checked the wires to the Ignitor. I have a constant voltage to the ignitor but no pulse signal when its cranking just a steady 12 or 13 volts. Anyone have any idea what would cause that? Whatever makes it pulse would be my problem then?

[PaulLehr]

OK so now I've checked the ground to the Dist with a volt meter and it appears to be ok. Would the ECM going bad cause a no spark situation. I'm just about at a loss here with this car

[mechanicaldj]

OK so now I've checked the ground to the Dist with a volt meter and it appears to be ok. Would the ECM going bad cause a no spark situation. I'm just about at a loss here with this car

PM sent!