please help. everyone here is stumped

[littlekebb05]

ok i wasnt there when this happend but i think he is telling the truth. my bro borrowed my dads 323 it is a 1.6l sohc with auto tranny. it is all stock except we had to put a new motor in it a while ago. he said that ha started it up to go to work and went back inside while it was warming up. he came back out and it wasnt rnning so he tryed and tryed to start it and it never did and still hasnt started and it has been like this for about a year. i finaly was able to mess with it. we have tryed 3 dif. computors and alot of sensors and a remanufactured distributor. someone said that if the comp sits for a while it looses it memory. i have tryed alot trying to get it to start. there is power going to the coil but it isne sparking. if i shif tit to nutral it will not even turn over. it has to be in park. he replaced most of the sensors on the firewall. it ran for a while with the dif. motor in it. it was sopost to be a 88 motor just like that one that came out of it. any help would be appreciated or any book or things that would help fix the problem.
thanks
joel

[amac209]

check to see if the distributor is turning when it's cranking. does it crank unusually fast??? i'd bet money the timing belt snaped. the comp should be fine. check all the fuses too. sounds like the neutral start switch is shot too. good luck if this doesn't turn out to be the problem i'll give you some more suggestions.

[littlekebb05]

the distributor does move when cranking it, and we have checked the fuses. there is power going to the computor and the coil but it isnt making the coil spark. used a volt meter on the second wire going to the coil while cranking. got codes once that was no signal from distributor.
thanks
joel

[amac209]

in that case check the distributor pick up(stator assembly) check all the distributor wiring for good conections and check the ignition module. if you put a test light on the coil(-) and ground the other end it should blink when cranking.

[thepolishmafia1337]

dude did you check the resistance on the primary widings of the coil? coil could be getting 12v but it is not inducing it into the secondary windings if the circut is open. that would have been the first place to go.

[littlekebb05]

it does not blink or change voltage. the coil is still good, on both of the terminals. i have checked all the conections and cleaned every one i could find. we have tryed the old one and the remanufactured one. the onlything i am wondering about is the ignitor thingy that is black on the side of the distributor. i ckeck both of them and they gave dif. readings of ohms. the coil is getting the same as the battery.
thanks
joel

[tbolivar]

Hi Joel

I have a similar problem with my 323. I just posted a message at the top of the thread. My nickname is "tbolivar". Did you check the fuel system and the pump? I had mine checked and it was pumping fuel, and I've replaced the Battery, Alternator, Coil, Distributor, Rotor, Dist Cap, in the car. I had replaced the ignition switch and Starter Igniter, about 5 years ago.

Did you ever find out what was causing the problem? Please post a reply on my thread or yours if you have a solution. Much appreciated.

Thanks

Tony

[littlekebb05]

i still havnt found the problem. i even tryed to put starting fluid in it and nothing. i think need a new wireing harness. probley would fix it but dont know.
thanks
joel

[amac209]

if you don't get spark it won't start, obviously. because the light doesn't blink the problem lies somewhere in the ignition system before the coil. get a wiring diagram and start tracing stuff down. most likely it's a bad ignition module or maybe the pickup coil. do you get voltage to the positive side of the coil when the key is on?? if not check the fuses, fusable links, and ignition switch.

[littlekebb05]

ok there is voltage to the coil. when turn the key to crank it drops to 9 volts and that is with my really big deep cycle battery. or it is the other side to the coil show a constant 9 volts. i cant remember. i went through the whole engine wire and made sure everything was good. and cleaned all the grounds and fix wires that were broke.
thanks
joel

[amac209]

you should get a wiring diagram of the ignition system. you can get one from your library they usually have a lot of service manuals. the negative side of the coil needs to be pulsed by the ignition module to fire the plugs since the test light didn't blink the pulse is missing. the ignition module needs a signal from the pick up in the distributor. so i'd say either the module is shot or the pickup is shot.

[tbolivar]

Hi Joel

I found some online wiring diagrams you can print or download. Here's the link.

http://www1.autozone.com/servlet/UiB...Parameters=010

Have a look.

I'm going to try diagnosing his thing myself.

Talk to you later.

Tony

[littlekebb05]

i have a haynes book that has that but is for the wrong year and a chiltons that is for my car. didnt really help me.
thanks
joel

[catfish]

my GTX had a similar problem that left it sitting a month. i repolished every ground in the car, and one of them did it. check all grounds and go ahead and file/grind the connections to bare steel. make sure the coil is grounded to the airbo/meter and the airbox/meter to the subframe. check the grounds at the clutch fluid resorvoir, and the small wire running from the valve cover (or block) to the subframe. <-- people always forget this after an install make sure any ground connections to bolts in the engine have long enough bolts, as well. they may not reach the block.
mine was a ground. a friends GTX had a simialr problem for a few months, as well. his was a ground.

mine would purr and not turn over. no spark at all past the coil. run direct grounds to everything and put the battery in the back like me.

good luck! -c

[littlekebb05]

the thing is though that the car wasnt just sitting. my bro drove it for about 2 month or something like that and it was in constant use. i will keep trying to find grounds and cleaning them and maybe put more onto the motor and things like that.
thanks
joel