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Got a no start situation here. I have my own ideas of what it is...let's see what the helpful people on the board come up with. I'm sure your advice will help me out. Here goes!
The car: '90 245 with M47 (manual), 165K, Northeast car. LH 2.4 fuel injection. Fuel filter and intank prepump have under 3k miles on them. Tuneup done within last 7k miles; timing belt, water pump with less than 6K miles on them. Two weeks ago, a hit and run took out the front corner of my left fender. I replaced the fender...minor flesh wound. I check the self diagnostic regularly, and there have never been any codes other than 1-1-1. ***the amplifier core (for ignition system) in that left corner (under said fender) did not seem damaged. Car has been running like a CHAMP for last two weeks. My wife drove the car Saturday about 100miles on highway. Drove perfectly, no lights or problems (my wife has replaced her own rotors, pads, and has done a timing belt before. She's very mechanically inclined and adept). Then, on Sunday morning...
She (the car) didn't start, though she turned over just fine. My wife checked the codes, and though the LED lit up, no codes, not even a 1-1-1, showed up. I checked out the car, but I only had a couple of hours to spend on it. Here's what I found:
-I immediately swapped in a new fuel pump/main relay. The car didn't start...then on next try it fired up and revved perfectly fine. I thought I fixed it, so I shut her down. Went to fire it up again...no start. However, the self diagnostics came back 1-1-1 and the injectors and throttle control tests were good (after pressing button three times with probe in #2 socket). When the car was running, the fuel pump sounded perfect. I checked the impedance at the ignition coil...it was perfect. There were no wires in the engine compartment that looked frayed, the RPM sensor looked good. I checked the various voltage and continuity values at the ECU unit (as per the Bentley manual). I found that 86/2 contact going to Main fuel pump relay did not go to ground with ignition ON...as per Bentley, this indicates faulty connection to or from the ECU. I also found that the voltage values between contact 10 and 20 on the ECU harness were different from Spec...as per Bentley this indicates a problem with the RPM/Crank position sensor. All other Bentley tests at the ECU harness were fine (ie. there was good voltage powering the system, etc.) I wasn't able to check the voltage across the amplifier in the front left fender.
I did not check for spark...I didn't have a spare spark plug, so I pulled the #1 spark plug and checked for spark to the engine block while starting ignition. No spark, though I only checked super briefly. There was an odor of gas in the engine compartment...I suspect from the fuel system working properly and the fuel not combusting.
I know this is long-winded...I just want to adequately describe the situation. Any insight or ideas would be much appreciated. It's always fun to play around with these situations. While we're perseverating on this, my wife will probably fix it. Thanks, Charlie.
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