what's the major malfunction?!?!

ok, so I changed the ICM on my attention whore and that didn't solve my problems. so what the car is doing now is this - it idles great at cool temps, but the minute the fan on the driver's side kicks in, my rpm's drop and in idle, the engine wants to die, I have to shift it into neutral before stopping or I will die. It seems that the problem is in direct correlation with the fan. The fan on the passenger side of the car does not seem to be turning on at all. On top of that, I put ANOTHER new ignition coil in it and THE NEW ONE IS SPARKING, TOO. I replaced the spark plug wires and about 20 minutes after running the car, checked on it, and it looks like a neon light show under the hood. This is the 3rd coil I've had in there, the second set of wires. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!!!!!!!!
:banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :mad: :banghead: :mad: :banghead:

damn well i have no idea whats goin on mabye your wole dizzy assembly and ignition are all shot?? just a thought

Depending on what year the car is. It sounds like you may have a bad Coolant temperature sensor. This is what sends the message to the computer as far as the vitals of your coolatn preassure/temperature. If this sensor is bad it can sometimes make the car run horribly.
Jake

I had a problem with my new high performance coil (accel) i put in my 85 camaro, sparked to. What i did was buy some electrical cleaner, sprayed all the electrical connections, and the new coil. This solved the problem of the spark jump from the coil.
If that don't work, check your secondary module next to your coil.
Your fan problem sounds like your idle speed is retarded. Check your timing and see what its running at, more likely has to be advanced. The passenger fan not kicking in, might be just a fuse check your fusebox, then check your electrical connections running from your fan to your control module, when you have a positive send to your drivers side fan, your passenger side should to. Use a test light for this.

The rpm dropage is normal when your fan kicks in depending on how many other accessories you have running. If your pulling alot of volts with a stereo system (for example), this will cause your engine to drop in idle, but it should build back up to approx. 600 - 800rpm while sitting still (idle)

The coolent temperature sensor won't make to much of a difference in "badly running". If this sensor is faulty your fans will be turning on and off irradically, or even not turning on at all causing an overheating problem.

I think the passenger side fan comes on when your using the AC only usually. Mine doesnt work at all and I havent bothered replacing it because the car doesnt run hot and my AC doesnt work anyways.

well, the passenger side fan came on beofre all this crap started happening and my a/c doesn't work. the formeer owner told me that one fan kicks on for block temp and one kicks on for water temp. of course he might be drunk or retarded, that's still up in the air ;)

well, the passenger side fan came on beofre all this crap started happening and my a/c doesn't work. the formeer owner told me that one fan kicks on for block temp and one kicks on for water temp. of course he might be drunk or retarded, that's still up in the air ;)

Let's think about this a moment. The coil produces High Voltage to the spark plugs so if the coil is producing too high of a voltage, arcing will occur. My best guess is something wrong with the voltage regulator supplying too high a input voltage to the coil causing the coil to arc. Take a voltage measurement off the regulator to make sure it is O.K. Remember the alternator puts out about 16 volts and this has to be regulated down to 12 volts, although its only 4 volts difference , to a coil thats a lot.
Robert

I put ANOTHER new ignition coil in it and THE NEW ONE IS SPARKING, TOO. I replaced the spark plug wires and about 20 minutes after running the car, checked on it, and it looks like a neon light show under the hood. This is the 3rd coil I've had in there, the second set of wires. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!!!!!!!!
:banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :mad: :banghead: :mad: :banghead:


Try pullin all your wires off (one at a time) and cleanin them with electrical parts cleaner, and then using die electric grease when re-attaching them.. it should stop your wires from leaking..

you guys are the best.

yeah.. thats what they tell me! :)

who is they? your'e parents? they don't count. lol I'm just playin with ya. :)

ever figure out what the problem was?

they dont?? well.. that sucks

well I'll say you're in the top 10%. does that make you feel better? :)

ever figure out what the problem was?

not yet. My father is trying to convince me to just take it to a mechanic. I might because I am getting really frustrated with it right now.

did you use die-electric grease when you put all your wires back on??

i did it last night and didn't use anygrease. but that can stop the wires from sparking if they are already doing it? anyway, i haven't been able to put any of the good advice to use yet.

yeah it should stop the wires from sparking.. Providing the wires arent cut or melted anywhere.. where are the sparks coming from
and what type of wires are you using

the wires that i just took off were bosch, the ones I just put back on are old, not sure what they are, I only know they arent' melted

is it sparking from anywhere particular?

I can't see the physical spark, it's like flashes of light inside the #1, 6, & 8 wires.

hey what bout me??
http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/500/209056mycar.jpg
lol

hmm.... this is a tough one. id give ya some advice, but really, this is a job i would charge time and materials for, and just start testing circuits and components one at a time, ruling everything out rather than trying to decide what the problem was to begin with.

that's what I thought. :(

surry darlin :( ill do some brainstorming though, and see if i cant be more helpful.

well, we are getting together to see if we can cough up the cash for a pro to do the job.....wish me luck....

check your battery grounds, the negative cable should split into three cables, one to the frame, one to the body, and one to the engine. seeing as the ignition system grounds through the plugs into the engine block, and there is about 45,000 volts grounding thought them, so if that ground isnt properly tightend it has to try and find another place to go, hence the sparking and flashing, its a shot in the dark, but its an idea :)

ok, thank you for being so helpul. :)

well, somewhat helpful anyway

well, you're trying and that's what matters. :D

i do what i can ;)

I can't see the physical spark, it's like flashes of light inside the #1, 6, & 8 wires.

Check the plugs.. A lot of times when you put them in, a slight tap or twist of the socket can crack the ceramic housing on the spark plug.. it happenes quite often.. Its a shot in the dark

hmmmmm, it is possible. we were having tool issues when replacing them.

This probably isn't the problem but ya never know.... When you changed your coil did you make sure to use both grounds cause there are two. I know the first time I did the coil on my friend's 3rd Gen I messed that up and I know it's a common mistake.

?
all I know is that there are two plugs that fit together and slide into the outlet (thingy :) lol), is that what you're talking about?

Nopo hold on and I will find a pic of it somewhere. Nice Sig Pic btw :boink:

thanks :)

ok, so I changed the ICM on my attention whore and that didn't solve my problems. so what the car is doing now is this - it idles great at cool temps, but the minute the fan on the driver's side kicks in, my rpm's drop and in idle, the engine wants to die, I have to shift it into neutral before stopping or I will die. It seems that the problem is in direct correlation with the fan. The fan on the passenger side of the car does not seem to be turning on at all. On top of that, I put ANOTHER new ignition coil in it and THE NEW ONE IS SPARKING, TOO. I replaced the spark plug wires and about 20 minutes after running the car, checked on it, and it looks like a neon light show under the hood. This is the 3rd coil I've had in there, the second set of wires. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!!!!!!!!
:banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :mad: :banghead: :mad: :banghead:


ok having the one fan come on is normal. One is a low speed fan (Has a resitor in the wiring) used to maintain temp/ comes on with the AC to keep air flowing across your condensor and raidiator and the other is high speed fan used to quickly cool down your coolant when you are close/at/or above the set temp in the chip. When your fans come on, check what the current draw is. That will tell you if something if wrong with the fan circuit. Another thought is that one of your fan motors is seized, making a HUGE current drain. As for your coil, is everything in the distribuitor ok?

I just replaced the distributor cap and rotor cap....as far as I know everything is ok there. I think the seizing is a feasable issue, my battery has been floating around 9 when I'm idling. It's usually at 13.

do a charging system test as well. Low voltage can produce large ammount of current draw from the ignition system. I think your altinator is weak.

I JUST replaced the F*CKING alternator, please don't tell me that's what it might be. If it is, this will be the 3rd alternator I've replaced. arrrrrgh!