1991 festiva gl not starting

[miami man]

not starting

this may be a long shot but in the junkyard they ran an motor without the key by unplugging the combination switch and finding the right wires to attach a hot wire to to get the motor running. i tied it but only got the wipers to work i guess it takes someone with experience to do this.

[PaulLehr]

Ok a little update. Ive been working on the car here and there when I have time but still no spark. The ignitor, coil and dist. are all known good. I have power to them all but from what I can tell I'm not getting a pulse signal at the ignitor. The ECU is known good and I checked the continuity of all the wires and grounds to and from it. All checked out ok. I have yet to locate a white wire in the ignition switch wiring. That's what they list as a "common" in the EVTM. Other than that I think I'm getting really close to parting it out

[PaulLehr]

Ok last night i re tested a bunch of things. it has power to all the ignition components but still no spark when cranking. I have a known good Dist. and am not getting the pulse signal to my ignition. I checked the wires from the ECU to all the ignition components and they all show good continuity. I cant seem to figure out where I'm losing the pulse signal. Everything else on the car works I just have no spark at all. My only other though was maybe the ECU isn't getting power. I thought about that after I got pissed and gave up last night. Anyone else have any suggestions?

[eye_of_ra93]

I had alot of probs when my distibuter came loose and backed out a few millimeters loosing contact. It fried electronics for Computer to the distributer since the distributer couldnt discharge. I had no spark probs bigtime for weeks!!! I would reccomend getting a different computer from a used car, coil and control module. Also check the distibuter. Lastly check crankshaft sensor. I had all of em go on me, but at salvage yards got my parts all cheap. I would maybe check wiring to the crank shaft sensor and check that sensor, from there check comp, control module, coil pack,and distributer. And check your ground.

Truly goodluck, I know electrical probs are a pain. :cry: Hang in there and get er fixed, dont loose hope.

[PaulLehr]

I have tested all the ignition parts on the car as well as the spares I have. They are all good and my daily driver festiva runs fine with all of them. I have 3 coils 3 ignition modules 2 of the little square things that bolt to the coil mount and 2 Distributors. I have tried them all on my daily driver and they all work fine. I even took the computer out of my other running car to try it with no luck. All the fuses and fuse-able links are good. I have checked them visually as well as with a volt/ohm meter. I have power and a good ground at the Dist. as well as the coil. The only thing I don't have is the pulse signal to the ignitor. I cant seem to figure out where I'm loosing it. I have the factory assembly manual as well as the Haynes manual and the factory EVTM. I checked all the grounds for the ECU for continuity and there good. I didn't check for power to the ECU yet which is where I'm going to start next time I try to get this thing running

[eye_of_ra93]

Have you checked that crank sensor too and its wiring? What kind of distributer is it? Has timing been checked? You may have jumped a tooth.

[PaulLehr]

The crank sensor is an internal part of the Dist and I have checked all that wiring as well. I haven't checked the timing or anything yet since I have no spark what so ever from the coil or Dist.

[emot]

i had a similar experience, and it was the wiring harness that gave me the truoble, also did you change the igniter? the small black box next to your coil on the drivers side shock tower, that controls when you get power to you your coil wich then sends power to your cap/rotor.... just a thought.

[PaulLehr]

Ive tested the wires between the Dist. and the ECU along with the rest of the wires between the ECU and the ignition components. Last night I tested the power inputs to the ECU and all checked OK. I tested all the grounds for the ignition components and all seem to be OK as well. The ignitor is good as well as the extras I have. I tested them on my daily driver and they work fine. The Dist. came off another running car and should work fine as well. I cam completely stumped right now and very close to giving up and parting it out. :evil:

[takeone51]

hey paul i hope you didn't get rid of the car yet, i had the same exact problem and its an easier fix then we electronic minded would like it to be.. im not sure why this happens maybe a lightning storm but all i had to do to get my car running was replace the 3 relays located near and behind the radiator overflow bottle. 1st the one that bolts to the bracket the bottle is on, then the two that are inside a rubber boot like thingy,they both have black tops but different bottom colors. one is blue and the other if my memory serves me correctly is yellow..but those two relays if you can find them i say this because they are kinda hidden in those boots up in the fender.. but that should solve your problem, i was ready to junk my car too but to my dismay such and easy fix totally immobilized my fester.. :lol:

[eye_of_ra93]

I agree with previous post about those 3 relays, they get rusted in there sometimes, check em for rust and corossion. I say too check the timing, make sure you didnt jump a tooth with a bad belt, are you getting anything to the plugs? Have you also replaced that resistor next to the coil pack, it has to wires to it and I think it runs a ground. It has a little nut thats attatches it to the car right next to the coil, you may have overloaded it and toasted it. It attatches right there where the coil attatches to the car. Do you know what part im talking about? Have all engine main fuses been replaced? Is computer grounded correctly? You can fry em easy.

[PaulLehr]

I haven't given up on her just yet. I will stop today and grab the relays out of my other 91GL and see if they help solve the problem. I gotta say between the 3 manuals I have for my car, none of the wiring diagrams are very complete or accurate.

[PaulLehr]

OK tried replacing all 3 relays on the car with known good ones from my running car. Still no luck. I have it narrowed down I think to there being no pulse signal being sent to the Ignitor. Now I just cant figure out where or how the signal is getting lost. :evil:

[PaulLehr]

Ok I just got back to working on this poor little car. Ive begun unraveling the wire harnesses trying to figure out what went bad and where. Wish me luck