1991 Chrysler Le Baron Repair Question
Mileage: 85,000 miles.
No spark, fuseable link location
Asked by JbirdAnswer
There's lots of fuse links. They're all by the left strut tower. Have you tried the Hall Effect pickup assembly in the distributor or are you just guessing at what's wrong?
no power going to coil, coil checks good
Have you tried the Hall Effect pickup assembly in the distributor?
How are you checking for voltage at the coil? Ignition switch on? Cranking the engine?
Yes what? Take the time to give me some details. I often type for hours but you have to give me something to go on.
had the coil checked ok but no power going to coil
There will only be voltage to the coil for one second after turning on the ignition switch. The voltage will come back during engine rotation, (cranking or running). If it does not, the automatic shutdown (ASD) relay isn't turning on. I'm guessing you have the 3.0L engine. The Engine Computer needs to see pulses from the distributor before it will turn that relay on. Check if the rotor is turning in the distributor. The pickup assembly in the V-6 distributor has an extremely low failure rate. A broken timing belt is more likely. That would make the distributor stop turning.
The first thing to do is monitor the automatic shutdown (ASD) relay. Use a test light on the ignition coil positive terminal. A digital voltmeter usually won't respond fast enough. The light should turn on for one second after turning on the ignition switch, then go back off. If it never turns on, swap the ASD relay with a different one like it such as the starter relay or possibly the AC compressor relay. You may also need to see if voltage is getting to the relay. I'll find the pin diagram if it comes to that.
If you do get voltage at the coil for one second, that proves the ASD relay and circuit are okay and the computer has control over it. Next, that voltage must come back when you start cranking the engine. If it does not, there is a problem with the distributor or the wiring to it. The 3.0L distributors cause extremely little trouble so I'd expect to find a broken wire or corroded connector terminal first. Check for 8 volts on the orange wire with the ignition switch in the "run" position. The black / light blue is the ground and should have no more than about 0.2 volts. If it's higher, there's a broken wire someplace. If those two voltages are correct, you'll have to measure the other two wires between the distributor and the Engine Computer to see if one is broken.