Another no start thread...

[Kevin Traegner]

So my SHO is dead. On a couple of occasions before it actually died, while accelerating soon after starting it the car would buck pretty violently, but wouldn't actually stall. It would throw a check engine light while doing this, but would then resume normal operation after a couple of seconds. It also threw a CE light once while accelerating quickly, which is only notable because until a couple of weeks ago the car had never given me a CE light in the 2 years that I've owned it. Apparently it never stored any of these, as it isn't giving up any codes. It finally just died the other day while doing that same bucking thing, but simply stalled and wouldn't start up again. The tach works and it cranks just fine, but won't turn over. My mechanic and I thought it was a fuel pump, as there was no fuel pressure at the rails, so he replaced that. Now there's pressure at the rails, but only when you jump the connector for the fuel pump. Just turning the ignition won't result in fuel pressure. I'm not sure if he tried jumping the connector before replacing it, so take that with a grain of salt. Also notable is there is oil in the plug wells. At first I thought it was a CPS, but before we start throwing parts at it I was hoping for a couple of ideas or at least some reassurance. Any help would be appreciated. BTW, the car is a 93 MTX.

 

[Kevin Traegner]

Bump for desperation.

We're stumped. The fuel pump will not turn on when the ignition is turned on. The car will not start when the fuel pump is jumped either, though we're really not sure if that's even possible. So basically what we're looking for is something that can keep the fuel pump from starting with the ignition. He replaced IRCM's with another Taurus, though he really didn't think it was bad and there was no effect. I did a search, but haven't really found anything to match my symptoms. Is there anything obvious that can be causing this? Bad grounds? I'm really getting desperate here, so any help would be appreciated!

 

[inverse1216]

well from what youve described it sounds just like what my car was doing when the cps went. thats odd that its not throwing any codes. sorry i cant be much more help.

 

[Kevin Traegner]

Would a CPS allow there to be spark? I got the impression that a failed CPS would **** both spark and fuel. Thanks for the suggestion though.

 

[TYSHO]

So basically what we're looking for is something that can keep the fuel pump from starting with the ignition.

- CCRM
- Inertia Switch
- PCM
- 30A EEC Relay Fuse
- 10A Ignition Coil Fuse

Both fuses are located in the Power Distribution Box, located behind the drivers side strut tower in the engine compartment.

 

[Kevin Traegner]

Well we swapped CCRM's with another Taurus-no change. I checked all of the fuses myself, which were fine. We reset the inertia switch, and there was no change. I then tried to run the KOEO test, and it wouldn't do anything-the CE light just stayed on when I turned on the ignition like it normally would. I half expected that though as it wouldn't give up any codes before either. Strangely, the CE light is very dim compared to the rest of the instrumentation lights. During his testing, my mechanic found that there was no injector pulse. What should I be looking for when checking the PCM? This thing has been dead for a week-I am at my wits end...

 

[TYSHO]

What should I be looking for when checking the PCM?

Pull the harness from the firewall and look for damaged pins, like being loose or coming out with the harness.

 

[hawkeye18]

Sounds almost like you lost a ground wire somewhere. A dim CE light screams grounding issue. The most likely culprit is the wee little black wire that comes off the battery negative post and screws into the side fender well just forward of the passenger strut tower. Another possible suspect is the large grounding strap that attaches to the big bolt on the rear side of the intake. Just find every black wire you can and make sure it's securely attached to something metal... and clean them too, corrosion can play havoc with grounds.

-edit- if the tach works, it's not the CPS.