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94 Eclipse won’t start-no spark

Hi all,

This is my sons car and I?m pulling out what little hair I have left trying to figure this out. He is going back into the Army in the next week so we need to get it fixed. I read similar posts here but none are exactly what my problem and symptoms are.

Some background info. Its a 94 Eclipse 1.8 basic car with 66K miles on it. My ex-girlfriend bought it new and I bought it off her about a year and a half ago. She had the major job done (new timing belt), fuel filter and some other minor stuff and in all the time I?ve known the car its never had any major problems, til now. Right before I bought it its was spittering and sputtering (s&s) when taking off and then it would be ok. She brought it over here and I cleaned out the throttle body where the ISC is and it was ok for a little bit. Then it got worse and she took it to a shop and they put in a used distributor. It has worked ok for the most part til now (a little s&s every now and then). My son was driving and it just died. We towed it home and it is getting no spark. Engine cranks and its getting gas cause I can smell it. No constant clicking, which from what I?ve read here, would indicate a bad ECU. Just one click when enginge is first cranked. I checked voltage to primary of dis coil and getting 12V. I?m leaning towards new distributor. One more thing- for the last 5 or 6 yrs when the A/C is turned on the RPM?s go way low, 3-400 at idle and won?t get to normal, but only at idle. Could that be a bad ISC?

I?m pretty decent working on cars but not real familiar this one, just basic things cause nothing has been a real problem. With the way all the sensors tie in to computer and all, am I missing something in my logical thinking? What all would cause no spark?

I will apprecaite any and all help. I have the Haynes manual. Thanks in advance.

Bill

Reply to
wsnwill
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Sounds like you inherited a headache.

I'm assuming compression is good so you have to examine the spark issue. There are a few reasons for no spark. One is the coil, as you suspect, but the cam angle sensor and the ECU will also do that. Pull the ECU out and physically examine the board. It isn't that hard to do. Look for damage from acid leeched out of a capacitor.

The cam angle sensor is hard to test. I believe that will throw a code. You wont know it is throwing the code because you can't start the car. You can just put it to ACC and connect a scanner to get the code. There is also a way to pull it without a scanner, but I can't remember how (on the web). You really want to be sure you know the ECU is good before chasing codes. If the ECU is bad, it will throw a lot of weird things.

My bet is that it's the cam angle sensor or ECU. Both would cause the sputtering you talked about. Of course, the timing belt could have been done wrong too.

For help on any of this, start at [

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Reply to
Nobody U. Know

"Nobody U. Know" wrote: > Sounds like you inherited a headache. > > I'm assuming compression is good so you have to examine the > spark issue. > There are a few reasons for no spark. One is the coil, as you > suspect, but > the cam angle sensor and the ECU will also do that. Pull the > ECU out and > physically examine the board. It isn't that hard to do. Look > for damage from > acid leeched out of a capacitor. > > The cam angle sensor is hard to test. I believe that will > throw a code. You > wont know it is throwing the code because you can't start the > car. You can > just put it to ACC and connect a scanner to get the code. > There is also a > way to pull it without a scanner, but I can't remember how (on > the web). You > really want to be sure you know the ECU is good before chasing > codes. If the > ECU is bad, it will throw a lot of weird things. > > My bet is that it's the cam angle sensor or ECU. Both would > cause the > sputtering you talked about. Of course, the timing belt could > have been done > wrong too. > > For help on any of this, start at [

formatting link
]. > > -- > Todd Honea

Hi,

Thanks for the reply.The timing belt wsa replaced about 2 1/2 yrs ago. I?ve had the car about 1 1/2 yrs.The ECU is out putting no codes- just a steady pulse from 0-12v (code 1), which according to the book indicated a good ECU. Also according to the book, the cam and crank angle sensors for the 1.8 are located inside the distributor. I haven?t inspected the ECU but I will today. Is there anything else, like a fuse or some sensor (like the TPS or ISC sensors) that would cause this. I would hate it to be something simple after I put a new costly part in. My son was driving, comming to a stop, and it just died. I?m so desparate, I am even wondering if the timing belt broke. It shouldn?t have cause its only got 3k miles on the belt. Its just strange there are no error codes so I?m probably missing something and its going to be something simple.

I am grateful for the reply and help.

Bill

Reply to
wsnwill

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