Car wont start

I have a 96 Metro 1L that one day decided not to start. I pulled the plugs (they still had spark but it wasn't a nice blue) and there was a good bit of carbon build up. That's an indication of poor ingnition, right? Well, this fall when I got it, I replaced the plugs, wires, rotor and cap. At that time it was getting 38ish MPH, when this problem hit, it's down to 34. Is this a sign the coil is up and going? We even tried some starter fluid to no avail.

Anyway, this car has one of those stupid security ignition interupters. Basically it's the old school security device where you plug in the keyed chip and then start your car as normal. In the past when the chip fell out, and I didn't notice it when I tried to to start the car, it was like having a dead battery, where as it wouldn't turn over at all. After plugging it in, though, all was good. Now though, with my current problem, leaving the key device out, it still turns over????

Should I try and bypass/uninstall the security device. It was made by BOLT security systems.

I would RR the coil in a moment, but they cost $65-70 and I don't feel like dropping that much on it that may not fix the problem.

Basically I want the cheap fix.

OK, so I removed the security device and I'm still in the same bucket. Looking at the GM service manual, it says to measure the resistance of the coil. Primary should be 1.08-1.32, secondary 22.1-29.9K That's all good and fine, but where do you measure from. The coil output and the two leads on the side?
I need a OBD reader, I really don't want to toe it to Autozone for that.

Anyone smart on this?

Help

MSD makes an ignition coil that is just perfect for these little cars. They are called Blaster SS and retail for around 30-40 USD. The car should start even with weak spark. Best bet, pull the coil and have autozone test it for you

If I were to hook a MSD coil, which wires go to where? There are Black/white and brown/white wires coming into the coil from the harness. On the MSD, are the brass luggs the terminals you connect up to?

When Auto Zone tests a coil, how do they do it?

I took the coil off and had Auto zone test it. It fell dead within the manual's limits. So I guess I will go and get a multimeter and start testing everything else.

I have an old Western multimeter that's in a wood case. It's neat to look at, but pretty much that's it. The ohm scale only works on the 10000 scale and the needle is slightly askew.

Anyway, if anybody has any more tips of wisdom, feel free to share.

It sounds like the ignition module went out. A bad module can still send the pulse to the coil but it may be weak. If it has a red/yellow spark and the coil is good, it is the module or a bad connection. also check the pick-up in the distributor. I think the module is intigrated into the computer.

Thanks for the input. I have run the checklist on engine cranks no start and have yet to uncover the problem. The module tested good at oreillys, so I it's time to look else where for the problem.

Thanks to all the fine folks that had replied to my car woes. I desided to go back to the plugs and see what I could do there. They were carboned up a bit and were a bit wet with what looked to be oil. So I got a compression gauge and this I what I got. 165/175 180/190 160/175. Those were the dry/wet values. They are all pretty close to each other, but is the 11psi average jump in values a cause for concern.
These values were also from a cold engine. Afterwards, I cleaned the H out of the plugs, reinstalled and it fired up, kind of idled rough from the small bit oil but it smoothed out.

I took it out on the highway, on accelration, it appeared to smoked a tad, but subsided for the most part when warmed up. To me it looks like the rings are on the way out.

Should I try and get a new motor. I haven't seen any 96 1l JDMs any where. Rebuild kits are astronomical!!

Here is another tid bit of info. In Nov/Dec the motor started knocking. I finally clued into it and checked the oil. It was on the tip of the stick. It had a good leak on the right crank seal. So I changed it out. Basically, it had a little over a quart in there when I caught the problem.

Could this problem be precipitating from the lack of oil speeding wear and tear?

It still sounds like it might have a tad of a knock, but I think it was like that when I got the car. I have only had it since Oct. Reading fromthe others, don't they all knock.

Jake

next time plugs carbon up just replace them, only $1.20 for new ones and its almost impossible to get all the carbon out of the old plug. and since carbon is a excellent conductor of energy thats probably the reason you had bad spark, part of it was leaking down the inside of plug to the body