no spark...

[DturboSloverM]

Well I'm posting this for a friend of mine. He has a 90 talon tsi awd with a galant vr4 engine in it, and its been sitting in his garage for a while. He is finally putting it on the road but now its not starting. We've found out that there is no spark, and even the mechanic he brought it to could not figure out why. Does anyone have any ideas what could be causing this? Please help.

 

[mitch83]

Is it not getting spakr on any of the cylinders or just a specific one. Although some of these are obvioulsy probably not it I list them anyway. plugs,wires,coils,power transistor.
mitch

 

[luv2rallye]

Well there's hundreds of "no spark" and "won't start" posts in this forum you can search on for answers.

 

[DturboSloverM]

There is no spark in any of the cylinders..

After spending about a half an hour searching through the forums, I've noticed that three main problems are the coil pack, power transistor, and the ecu. Can someone post a pic of where the power transistor is? I want to make sure that I'm not going to be screwing around with something i shouldn't. Thanks

 

[rkn527]

it is right by the tps sensor i believe it has a large plug going into it atleast on the 2g it is

 

[luv2rallye]

Follow the spark plug wires to the coils. The power transistor module on my 2g turbo is just to the left of it behind the fuel rail. It is black with an 8 pin inline connector. Yours should be near the coils also.

 

[1stGENracer]

let me know if you find out what it is. I am having the same problem.

 

[luv2rallye]

No spark can only be a limited number of things: coils, power transistor, ECU, spark plug cables/plugs, cam angle sensor, battery, fuses, fusable links, or bad wiring/connectors. Make sure all these connectors are making good contact (pull off and check - they must not be corroded or full of muck). Also make sure you have 12 volts on the coil primarys with the key on both start and on positions.

 

[clownface]

No spark can only be a limited number of things: coils, power transistor, ECU, spark plug cables/plugs, cam angle sensor, battery, fuses, fusable links, or bad wiring/connectors. Make sure all these connectors are making good contact (pull off and check - they must not be corroded or full of muck). Also make sure you have 12 volts on the coil primarys with the key on both start and on positions.

How do you make sure there are 12v on the primarys???
im having a no spark problem also

 

[luv2rallye]

Pull the 3 pin connector to the coils (follow spark plug wires to find coils). One harness side pin (thicker black/white one) should have 12v on it when key is in the on and start positions.

 

[InjenTalon96]

for anyone thats having this problem the best way to tell if its ur ecu is to turn ur car on acc and see if u hear the fuel pump go on as well if u have a buddy check to see if they spark....if u get none of that its ur ecu...oh ya check and see if it throws numbers, if it dont....better go to a junkyard fast and get one cuz tehy are pretty danm hard to find....took me 5 months....

 

[clownface]

What do you mean by throw numbers, check engine light? What do i need to do to check that since i cant get the car started so i cant get the local autozone. I dont have a check engine at the moment.

 

[InjenTalon96]

What do you mean by throw numbers, check engine light? What do i need to do to check that since i cant get the car started so i cant get the local autozone. I dont have a check engine at the moment.

take the ecu out and bring it to a shop and see if it throws numbers which means if it does ur ecu is still good and sumthin else is broke....if not....then get a new ecu

 

[clownface]

Pull the 3 pin connector to the coils (follow spark plug wires to find coils). One harness side pin (thicker black/white one) should have 12v on it when key is in the on and start positions.

I checked some stuff and i had 12v at the coil primarys. Then i checked to see if it had a signal with a test light i have, i hooked up the test light and cranked the car and it didnt blink so i guess that means i dont have a spark singal or something. I also checked to see if i had 12v at the crank and cam angle sensors......and i didnt have it, they each only had like .5 or soemthing and there each supposed tohave 12v i think. Im starting to think its my ECU, im gonna take it out of the car and try and get it checked tomorrow. Ill post back with what i find out.

 

[clownface]

take the ecu out and bring it to a shop and see if it throws numbers which means if it does ur ecu is still good and sumthin else is broke....if not....then get a new ecu

I called a couple local shops about checking my ECU and both places said you cant check a ECU unless its in the car or something and they want me to tow the car to them...i dont really wanna do that cause its gonna cost money to get it towed and then there gonna want money after they work on the car, more money then just having someone check my computer im sure.......

Can someone explain to me more about taking the ECU out and checking it? and what i should ask a shop to do with it once i take the ECU to them?

 

[InjenTalon96]

well i thought it was my ecu that was toast i took it out and brought it to my shop....i had them plug it in and start reading information out of it....well it didnt do that it just did nothing.....so i get a new (used) one....and everything works fine now

 

[clownface]

Eh?? thats not fare......how come when i asked those to shops to check my ECU when i bring it in they told me its not possible to check a ECU unless its in the car???? , i guess there just dumb shops......maybe ill call around more tomorrow. What exactly do i need to ask them to do for me besides check my ECU...maybe thats to vague or something for people to know what im asking them to do????

 

[clownface]

OKAY im now getting pissed...
Ive called everywhere around where i live...they all want me to bring the car to them cause they cant check the computer out of the car. I called the local mitsu dealers...one of them said the same thing as the local shops and get this...the other dealer said they cant work on the my car at all because its turbo or some crap like that. Only place i got anywhere with was a sorta local performance shop called carl grovers motorsports. They said they knew what i was talking about but didnt have the scan tool for it or something......and said my best bet was to call the local dealers cause they didnt think anyone around here would have the right stuff for it.... I and already said what the dealers told me. I guess my only places left to call are autozone and advance.....ugh


EDIT- just tryed autozone and advance neither one can help me

 

[luv2rallye]

There is no way to test an ECU (other than swapping it with a known good one), there are no testers. What people are telling you is how to read out (scan) the error codes that are stored in it (if any). This is done by connecting a scan tool to the diagnostic connector in your car (so ECU stays in car). The ECU does have some very limited self diagnostics and codes, but if it can't read out the codes or parts of it don't work that it does not check, then you won't see any codes. Most of the codes are for external sensors that aren't working properly, not for the ECU itself.

 

[clownface]

eh...guess i missunderstood then. I think im just gonna start trying to find working replacement parts for it now...i guess the first thing im gonna look for is a 95 eprom or something maybe a coil pack..i dunno....this is so frustrating, .

 

[luv2rallye]

There's one more item I forgot to mention in the limited number of things that can prevent spark: crank angle sensor. (So the list is coils, power transistor, ECU, spark plug cables/plugs, cam angle sensor, crank angle sensor, battery, fuses, fusable links, or bad wiring/connectors.)

 

[clownface]

you should come over and check all that stuff for me

 

[luv2rallye]

Sure when's a good time? I'm taking 2 week vacation in 1 week but anytime after that. You are paying for round trip airfare (from Mpls., Mn.), lodging, food, entertainment, party after I fix it, right?