'97 Ply. Breeze starting problem

Tiny
GIZMOGUY
  • MEMBER
  • 1997 PLYMOUTH BREEZE
  • 4 CYL
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 200,000 MILES
'97 Plymouth Breeze, 2.0L 4-cyl. Engine with almost 200,000 miles, ingnition often fails to fire, but always on cold start (even in hot weather). Car has new battery, new coil pack, new plugs. Computer error codes are always P0351 and P0352 (concerning ngnition coil primary and secondary circuit). What could be wrong?
Wednesday, May 11th, 2011 AT 6:10 PM

5 Replies

Tiny
JDL
  • MECHANIC
  • 16,098 POSTS
At the coil pack, check voltage and ground, engine cranking. # 2 in the diagram is voltage, engine cranking, anything? Use a voltage tester. #1 and #3 are grounds, grounded by computer.
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Wednesday, May 11th, 2011 AT 7:55 PM
Tiny
GIZMOGUY
  • MEMBER
  • 56 POSTS
Thanks for the circuit pictorial. I verified the circuit from the rear connector on the PCM (powertrain control module), pins 2 and 3, to the two outside wires on the connector that goes to the coil pack. Then, with the coil connector disconnected, I connected a voltmeter from ground (battery jumper terminal under hood) to the middle wire that would be going to the coil pack, if connected (which it wasn't) -- the wire with orange on it. I never saw any voltage on that wire terminal, even while cranking. Doesn't that voltage feed come from the ASD (automatic shutdown) relay contacts? The only error code I get now is P0351, identified (by the code reader) as coil B primary/secondary circuit. By the way, P0351 is not even listed in the codes on this website!
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Thursday, May 12th, 2011 AT 1:58 AM
Tiny
JDL
  • MECHANIC
  • 16,098 POSTS
Yes, that voltage comes from the asd relay. I don't know what the site shows? Our database does show a p0351.

Is the asd relay energizing?
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Saturday, May 21st, 2011 AT 9:18 PM
Tiny
GIZMOGUY
  • MEMBER
  • 56 POSTS
Thank you for your help on this issue. The problem turned out to be a thermal intermittent coil connection in the ASD relay. That was the first time I had ever seen that in an ASD relay circuit. Swapping the ASD relay with the low speed fan relay cured the problem with starting! Now all I have to do is find a replacement for the low speed fan relay, that does not cost a fortune.
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Sunday, June 5th, 2011 AT 1:55 PM
Tiny
JDL
  • MECHANIC
  • 16,098 POSTS
Good job. A relay shouldn't cost that much. Five or six dollars.
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Sunday, June 5th, 2011 AT 4:37 PM

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