96 Achieva - IPC dark / stalls immediately

[HanlonsRazor]

Hi,
My wife's 1996 Olds Achieva was exhibiting strange symptoms - If you put the key in, and turned it to the ON position, sometimes the instrument panel would come to life (gauges snap to attention, light test start), and other times, it would remain inactive for a few seconds, or even minutes. Regardless, if you listened carefully, you could hear the fuel pump spring to life briefly to bring the fuel pressure up. If you were patient, and waited until the IPC sprang to life before continuing on to START, it'd crank and run great. If you didn't wait, it'd crank, catch, and stall immediately.
We now look back upon those days as "the good old days", because now the intermittant problem has become a persistent one. Now, when you put the key in and go to ON, the fuel pump still runs, the radio comes on, and the accessories all work, but no amount of waiting will get you the dash lights / gauges -- and there's no way to get the engine to run more than a second.
I've checked every fuse in in both the interior panel and in the box in the engine compartment next to the battery. I've checked the battery. I've looked for loose connectors / visibly damaged wires under the dash. I've removed the steering column covers and cleaned the ignition switch, and now I've even disassembled the dash and removed the IPC.
Is there any way with a multimeter, or some other tool I can pick up at a local auto parts store, that I can tell which of these stupid things is the culprit? Are there any pinouts for the connectors that I could use to be sure the IPC is even getting power? Is there an easy way to rule out the ignition switch? Could I "force" the IPC into the light test mode, so if it worked, I'd know the ignition switch was faulty? Is there something else that could be the problem?
I found a shop that will repair the IPC, if that's the problem, but including ship time, it'll take a week and a few hundred bucks. I've found an ignition switch at a decent price. But I'm not sure which way to go with this . I'd rather not waste the time (and money) on fixing the wrong thing. Any help would be much appreciated. I'd be happy to provide any additional details, pictures, or a list of the angry things I've yelled at it.

Thanks in advance,
Russ (a.k.a Hanlon's Razor)

P.S. The run-for-an-instant-and-stall sounded a lot like the PASSLOCK problems I read about here, of course I figure a completely dead IPC can't send the "go" code to unlock the fuel pump, either.

[HanlonsRazor]

Just found this guy from the forums a ways back with an extremely similar story - makes me lean more toward the IPC. Still would appreciate any other input, though. Signed up for alldatadiy so I'm at least armed with a schematic.

[HanlonsRazor]

I didn't mention it earlier, but this is a 1996 Olds Achieva SC, 2.4L "Twin Cam" 4-cyl engine.

Armed with the AllDataDIY pinouts and my trusty multimeter, I found:

At the fuse panel in the interior:
INST fuse is getting power, and the fuse is good.

On the IPC connector (C1 in the diagrams):
1) C7 (BLK) is open in LOCK,OFF,RUN, and closes to GND in BULB TEST & START (good)
2) C10 (BLK) is GND all the time (good)
3) C11 (PNK) is hot (~12.3v) in OFF, RUN, BULB TEST & START (good)
4) C14 (ORN) is hot (~12.3v) all the time (good)
5) C15 (BLK/WHT) is GND all the time (good)

Based on this, I'm concluding the IPC is the bad part. If it's getting power, I think I should see SOME signs of life if it's working right. Instead, I see nothing. No lights, no gauge movement. Can't start the ball rolling on fixing it today (seems very few used parts places and repair shops are open on Easter Sunday, go figure!), so I'm stuck until tomorrow.

Any thoughts on used vs repairing? I have a $150 quote for repair (plus shipping to them), and I'd rather have the odo show the true mileage, but if I could pick up a used one in a day for less, I could probably live with a "not true mileage" statement. My wife loves this thing, we're probably going to be the only owners of it until it rolls into that final parking lot.

[HanlonsRazor]

Originally Posted by HanlonsRazor

... I'm concluding the IPC is the bad part. If it's getting power, I think I should see SOME signs of life if it's working right. Instead, I see nothing. No lights, no gauge movement. ... Any thoughts on used vs repairing? I have a $150 quote for repair (plus shipping to them), and I'd rather have the odo show the true mileage, but if I could pick up a used one in a day for less, I could probably live with a "not true mileage" statement. My wife loves this thing, we're probably going to be the only owners of it until it rolls into that final parking lot.

Update: Well, I decided to go used, in the hopes of saving time. Unfortunately, due to a shipping mistake, it still took over a week. The used IPC finally got here, and I put it in today. An immediate improvement. All the warning lights came on like they're supposed to. After going through the relearning process, it started up great. Cost: $150 + tax.

[xeroinfinity]

Yeah HanlonsRazor , a lot of the 95-96 N Bodies have issues with the ICP going out, luckily someone is repairing them and selling for a decent price.

Glad you solved your issues and Welcome to AF.