why is my damn car not going (again!)

[zarnah]

ok got car back from the mechanics the other day after having new cambelt, waterpump and my shiny new alloy radiator installed, car has been going fine all weekend except it does still have a small water leak somewhere that needs some attention, anyhow drove it to oamaru (2 1/2 hours) and back yesterday and went to chch this morning and was nearly home when the exhaust temp light came on and the car just died as if it had no spark, anyhow let it cool down for ages and the exhaust temp light just stays on and it wont fire at all, turns over but theres no spark (checked coils and no spark) checked for codes and nothing. anyone tell me whats going on here?

[Guest boostcut]

have you got a catylitic convertor still installed

[Swindog]

Sounds like its in limp mode.

[zarnah]

nope no cat, siamese into 2 1/2 straight through. If its in limp mode it should still start shouldnt it? I just went out and swapped the ecu for my spare one and still no spark, i dont see how it was just cruising along at 110kmh and just stops....

[BC5RA]

 Swindog said:

Sounds like its in limp mode.

None of what he has described are symptoms of limp mode, at least not in a GEN 1.

Try checking/swapping your ignitor, theres not many sensors that can stop the car but the crank angle sensor is one of them, if thats stuffed then you can crank it all you want but it won't start.

[zarnah]

Where do i find the ignitor? i was thinking along those lines and tried to trace the wiring from the coils but all four just seem to disapear into the rest of the loom. dont think its an ecu related problem as it is the same even when i tried my spare ecu. also i tried checking codes again and cant even get a check engine light to appear at all now, strange

[BC5RA]

 zarnah said:

Where do i find the ignitor? i was thinking along those lines and tried to trace the wiring from the coils but all four just seem to disapear into the rest of the loom. dont think its an ecu related problem as it is the same even when i tried my spare ecu. also i tried checking codes again and cant even get a check engine light to appear at all now, strange

It's attached to the driver side strut tower behind the bracket that has the boost controller, pressure exchange solenoid and MAP sensor on it.

[zarnah]

Really? that tiny little box tucked up under the bracket? wat a dinky little ignitor lol will check it out in the morning, now i know what it is i know i have a couple spare in the 'dunno what these items are but they may come in handy' box

[DRFVDR]

also could it be a fuel issue

[Pappu1]

when u switch it on, does the fuel pump prime (u can hear it whirring away at ignition)

my mates v5 did the same thing and turns out the pump had died

[zarnah]

actually no it doesnt prime up, but I have a aftermarket fuel pressure reg and its still holding pressure so obviously no gas is going into engine or it would lose pressure, and i have no spark grrrrrr swapped the ignitor with two different spare one4s and still no go

[DRFVDR]

is it alarmed

[gotasuby]

if you are not getting a check engine light and no prime the ecu is not getting power, check the battery terminals and the plugs into the ecu

[zarnah]

yea i was just thinking maybe the imobiliser has something to do with it so I went and unplugged the alarm brains and that made it even worse turn the key and the dash lights dont even come on, also if it was the imobiliser why the hell did it just decide to switch off when i was driving along at 110kmh and had been for the last two hours?

[zarnah]

also all other dash lights seem to be going jsut not the engine check light? same happens no matter what ecu I plug into it

[gotasuby]

also if its alarmed the imobilisers could be playing up. you will need to short out the wires to disable the imobiliser. unplugging it will make it worse as you said. electrics will just die at random points

[gotasuby]

if you have a multimeter check there in +12v into the ecu

[zarnah]

what wires do I have to short out to disable the imobiliser?

[gotasuby]

what alarm have you got?

[Flash]

Check battery volts & if it cranks check for charging.

Sounds like it might be a Ignition Relay?

or even a bad earth?

Do the ign lights come on?

Does it crank?

Have you removed the fuel line & checked for any fuel flow?

You can bridge it out to check.

-start with checking for fuel & spark.

If you have done that & you think its the spark.

-start at battery,ecu fuse, ign fuse, ecu power & earth, relay power & earth, ignition mod etc

work your way though each item.

Alarms can be a pain especially on new cars with canbus systems!

but normally they are just budget installs on the ign & start or may be fuel pump. If the ign lights go & it cranks then it most likly wont be that depands how its been installed. Thats why you need to check each item!

I hope that may help good luck!

[Swindog]

Airflow sensor?

[Flash]

I believe that would bring up a fault code & he's got no fault codes.

Correct me if I am wrong.

[zarnah]

no fault codes in fact it wont even bring up the engine check light at all, if it was the alarm I dont understand how it just stops all of a sudden after 2 hours of constant driving...

[zarnah]

did the checks you mentioned, ignition lights go and car cranks, however fuel pump doesnt start up and no spark, maybe this ones a job for an auto sparky?

[log1call]

Have you checked the relay? Fuses?

The ecu gets power into about four different places when it's turned on and one or two even switched off. You need to check for power to all the pins that are meant to have them according to the manual. If you don't have the manual or don't want to do that you could try checking the fuses and try replacing the main relay with a known good one.

If the crank or cam sensors were out they should set a code.

The fuel pump won't go unless the ecu tells it to, and the ecu can't do that if it's got no power.

If the power is getting to the ecu, pull a plug off the engine controls while the ignition is on and see if the code is set. If there is no code, or if other codes are set, or if the symptoms seem to be changing, I'd pull the ecu and look inside it with a magnifying glass. It could have either a leaking capacitor, burnt resistor, cracked circuit board, water damage or an exploded transistor. Compared to following all the procedures to diagnose everything, pulling the ecu and inspecting it is simple, and in older vehicles it is quite often a factor.