Onikage Posted June 28, 2011 Report Share Posted June 28, 2011 A Mate's AE93 SX with the factory Redtop 4AGE motor is refusing to start, and we are not sure where to look atm. The car's motor cut out while travelling at highway speed, and was not able to be restart. It does crank over, but that is as far as it will go. Fuel system appears ok, so we have narrowed it down to a spark issue. We have replaced the Ignitor and Coil with no luck... Could it be the dizzy that has died? The rotor button still spins though. It also may be worth noting that the car has an aftermarket immobilisers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KENut Posted June 28, 2011 Report Share Posted June 28, 2011 (edited) If its cranking but theres no spark even after you changed the coil and ignitor then the ecu probably isnt getting power or dizzy rpm signal You should check if the injectors are pulsing, this will tell you if the ecu is on etc Edited June 28, 2011 by KENut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ke70dave Posted June 28, 2011 Report Share Posted June 28, 2011 well i think the first port of call would be to investigate that imobiliser. who knows how that has been wired in. can you hear the injectors ticking? there is a chunky main orange (i think orange...) in the loom that supplies +12V to the coil, dizzy and injectors. if the injectors are ticking, then this wire is powered up, and thus you *should* get spark and fuel. if there is no power to this nothing goes, which may be the wire that your immobiliser uses. if the injectors are ticking, then after you figure out that imobiliser, look at either the distributer, ignitor leads.....anything ignition related. distributers don't usually "die" as such, not alot in them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onikage Posted June 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2011 Thanks for the suggestions. Immobiliser has been removed, with no effect. We've decided to get a mechanic onto the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TroysRollaSX Posted June 30, 2011 Report Share Posted June 30, 2011 It's my car we're talking about, and I just got he call from the mechanic to say that they got it running again. It turns out it was the sensor within the distributor that had died, replacement dizzy fitted and she fired up. Here's what happened, from start to finish. I was on my way from Naracoorte, South Australia (where I now live) to Melbourne to pick up a few things and sort out a few loose ends. I had driven 375kms, when driving between Ballarat and Melbourne on the freeway at 110km/h (legal limit on that stretch of road), and all of a sudden the engine revs dropped to 0. I pushed the clutch pedal and tried to re-start the engine with the starter, nothing. I then tried roll-starting it (seeing as I was now doing about 95km/h), and that didn't help either. So I put it into neutral, put the hazards on, and rolled to a halt at the side of the road. Called a good friend of mine who came up and between the two of us we tried to diagnose the problem - neither of us being particularly familiar with the 4A-GE. We checked all the fuses, which all seemed good, and the relays seemed to be ok too. We had the gregories manual, so we bridged the diagnostic pins and checked for a code, and got code 12 - engine RPM. We determined that there was no spark, and tried to jury rig a falcon coil, thinking the coil might have died. That didn't work, still no spark, so we went and hired a tandem trailer and towed it to a friends place in Melton South, then I went and stayed where I was planning on staying that night anyway. The next day, Onikage and I went and got a replacement coil and igniter module, fitted those, still no difference. Starter motor turned over the engine, but it wouldn't fire. Tested for spark, still no spark. We went back to Melbourne. The 3rd day, another friend of mine and I went up and totally removed the immobilizer so we could rule that out as an issue, and it still wouldn't start. We chased up a replacement distributor, and went and got that, but by the time we got back it was dark and neither of us felt comfortable with replacing the dizzy in the dark. My friend couldn't have the car there much longer, and I needed to get back home (only had enough medication which I need to live on me for another 18 hours or so), so when my brother suggested I join the RAA (well, RACV in Victoria), I decided it would be a good idea. The RACV mechanic came around, asked us what we'd already tried, and agreed it was probably the dizzy, which he couldn't change there, so he got it towed to a workshop. And I went back to where I was staying and organised for me to get the train and bus back home the next day (yesterday). Just before I caught the train, I got a phone call from the mechanic, they said they'd done diagnostics and determined that it was the hall effect sensor in the distributor, and asked my permission to replace the dizzy with the replacement I had purchased. They were sure it would start after that was done, so I told them to go ahead. I then got on the train and bus back home, just in time, because I needed my medication and it was only about an hour late when my girlfriend picked me up from Mt Gambier. Then this morning, they called to let me know they had replaced the distributor and the car had started, they had taken it on a test drive and it was running again, but the drive belt was cracked and they wouldn't trust it to make it back to SA, but it was up to me, also there is a leak from one of the cam cover gaskets and the oil needs a top up. Oil and cam cover gaskets I can do myself, but I decided to let them do the drive belt so I don't have to do that and don't have to worry about that for a while. So now I have a spare igniter module and coil, and if it does it again after swapping both of those for the spares, I'll know it'll be the dizzy, because it could only possibly be the dizzy, wiring or ECU if spark fails again like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saki Posted August 1, 2011 Report Share Posted August 1, 2011 are the points still good, not too mega corroded ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hiro Protagonist Posted August 1, 2011 Report Share Posted August 1, 2011 are the points still good, not too mega corroded ? Points? 4AGEs have electronic distributors, no such thing as points....unless you mean the carbon buttons in the distributor cap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saki Posted August 1, 2011 Report Share Posted August 1, 2011 Points? 4AGEs have electronic distributors, no such thing as points....unless you mean the carbon buttons in the distributor cap. haha true, yes that is what i ment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TroysRollaSX Posted August 3, 2011 Report Share Posted August 3, 2011 are the points still good, not too mega corroded ? Points? 4AGEs have electronic distributors, no such thing as points....unless you mean the carbon buttons in the distributor cap. haha true, yes that is what i ment entire distributor has been replaced, anyway we checked for spark from the coil and there was none, so the carbon buttons in the dizzy cap were't getting anything to work with. Car is now running and I'll be picking it up in a few days... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.