1991 Lumina Euro wont start

[Red_Lumina91]

Hello...This is my first post on the boad and hope you guys can give me a hand.

My brother gave me his 1991 Lumina Euro 3.1 last winter. The car had been his daily driver, used for about 300 miles of driving per day. He couldnt trust it anymore, explaining that he would shut it off and when he tried to start it again, it wouldn't crank over. He would turn the ignition switch over and/or give it a couple of minutes then try it again. It would normally start right up. This went on for a few weeks. He decided to junk the car when it left him sitting in a parking lot. He offered to give it to me if I wanted it. Strangely it started right up and he drove it to my house. It would start without a hitch and I drove it on short trips around town for about 2-3 weeks. I had no problems starting it. Unfortunately, the problem returned and it was the same thing. Sometimes it would crank...then it wouldn't. I parked it and figured that I would just deal with it in the spring. When I tried to crank it over 2-3 months later, it wouldnt start anymore. I charged up the battery. It would now crank but the engine wouldnt fire. I drained down the battery 2-3 times trying to start it this way. I'm now trying to figure out what the problem is. I placed the battery on the charger today and I know that the tank is about half full. I looked at the fuse box on the passenger side of the engine compartment. I pulled out and inspected the colored fuses for the ignition and they are all intact. I also pulled out the large black, square, fuel pump fuse, however I was not sure how to inspect it.

Any idea where I go from here?

[maxwedge]

Welcome to AF, basics are in order here, when the no start occurs do you have fuel pressure at the rail?have a good strong spark at the plugs?

[Red_Lumina91]

Hello Maxwedge...Thanks for the welcome. I let the battery charge up all day so tomorrow morning I'll check for a spark and fuel pressure. I'm familiar with checking for the spark, however I'm not so sure how I go about checking for fuel at the rail. Any pointers on how I go about that?

I'm very familiar with carbs and can work on older muscle cars...but fuel injection and computers is all new to me.

[Red_Lumina91]

With a fully charged battery, I cranked the engine over with out any problem. I sprayed some starter fluid into the air intake but it wouldnt fire at all. Based on this, I removed plug #6 and had my wife crank the engine over while I look for a spark. There wasn't any spark at all. It seems I'm now looking at an ignition, not a fuel delivery problem. I was reading over some of the other posts and from what I have read so far, it seems to point to the ignition module, crank possition sensor or the coil packs.

I really hate to just start part swapping...any suggestioins on where I should go from here?

[maxwedge]

Get the ign module tested at Napa or AZ first, if ok, check the wiring from the cps to the module, if ok replace the cps, check all the ign and pcm fuses of course.

[Red_Lumina91]

I just purchased a replacement module and coils on ebay for about $50 delivered. I figured it was a good deal for the price, so I just grabbed it right away. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that swapping the assembly will do the trick. I checked the fuses and didnt find any problems.

[Red_Lumina91]

Today I installed the replacement module as well as all three of the coils. While doing so I noticed that the oil pressure sending unit was broken off, so I replaced that as well. I put everything back together only to find it still has no spark. I guess my next step will be trying to find the CPS.

[jonsonton]

Have you checked all the fuses?

[Red_Lumina91]

I did and they are all intact.

[Red_Lumina91]

I was able to locate the CPS and swaped it out earlier today. The car now starts right up and runs great. Thanks for the help!!