Not starting issue

Hi DP3T,

You said nothing happens but does that mean the engine doesn't crank? I am just trying to clarify because you also said you have spark to the distributor but not to the plugs. Normally you are only checking for spark when you have crank no start, not a no crank no start.

Let me know and we can go from there. Thanks

Okay. I need to back up a little bit. So when you turn the key the starter does not turn the engine over? You have to jump it in order to get it to turn?

You are correct that the issue seems to be one of those mentioned.

As you will see in the description attached, we need to know if the engine "begins to turn" or not. The fact that you are getting power to the coil is good, as you should get this at key on. But if the starter does not turn the engine then that is either the ignition switch or one of the inhibitor switch or relay. At this point we will need to figure out what is preventing the starter from turning.

If you are getting all the power to the coil and the starter is turning the engine over then you are correct that the issue may be the distributor because it has the pick up/crank sensor in it.

The fork in the road is to determine if the starter is turning the engine when you turn the key.

Have you ensured your inhibitor relay is okay? This is the neutral safety switch. Basically this does not allow power to the starter if it does not see you are in park or neutral.

Okay. So when you jump the starter, it will crank but only if you jump it? Also, if you are not getting spark to the distributor but not to the plugs, then the cap/rotor or distributor are not delivering it. The distributor has the crank sensor in it. Basically, this is a sensor with windows that allows the distributor to send the spark to each plug at the correct time.

So if you are getting spark to the coil and from the coil to the distributor then the ECM has already delivered the proper signal to the coil for it to generate the high voltage spark, so the distributor is all that is left. Because the voltage is delivered to the coil as low current and then the coil changes it to high voltage and delivers it to the distributor.

I am thinking you have two issues. That is good that the relay and fuse are good with the inhibitor but the switch itself could be an issue which is on the transmission. Have you tried putting it in Neutral and trying to start? I included a little more modern wiring diagram that shows the power flow a little better. The inhibitor switch can prevent the starter from engaging but I don't think it will prevent the distributor from delivering the spark.

If you look at the last diagram, you will see the crank angle sensor has four wires coming from it. All four lead back to the ECM. They are not labeled but I am sure they are power, ground, reference, and signal. However, I again don't know how this would prevent the engine to crank which is why I think you may have two issues.

However, let's try to figure out why the distributor is not delivering the spark when you jump the starter and then we can circle back and figure out the starter issue.

The last possible issue is the ECM itself. However, based on what I am seeing I don't think this is the issue.