What might this be?

[stevemainian]

I noticed today that this was unplugged. I plugged it in, and it seemed really sluggish and didnt want to go anywhere under WOT.

Unplugged it again, and she ran like a beast.

What is this connector for, and is it suppose to be unplugged? (Just had a valve gasket replacement done, spark plugs and wires changed, so I figured the mechanic forgot to plug it back in.)

But when it was plugged in, it ran like total crap, and even stalled.

 

[Off Road SHO]

Follow the one at the bottom of the pic and tell us what it's attached to. My guess is the condenser that is attached to the bottom of the coil pack bracket. If nothing else give us the color of the wire and year of your SHO.

Tom

 

[stevemainian]

94 ATX, and its to dark to follow it right now, I guess Ill have to do it tommorow. The top half goes to the distributer. Bottom half = ?

All i know is that plugging them together makes it go to crap.

 

[Off Road SHO]

If by distributor you mean where all the spark plug wires are tied down, that's the coil pack, SHO don't use distributors. They use a Distributorless Ignition System ( DIS ) with a pack of coils.

That single wire goes to a little round cylinder attached to the frame of the coil pack bracketry. It's a capacitor or condenser and on modern motors that use them, they hardly ever wear out, but sometimes they do. I don't know how to test for capacitance on a capacitor, but maybe Steve or Scott or one of the other resident smart guys can post more on the subject. It might be shorted to its' casing.

Tom

 

[40BelowSummer]

or what are the wire colors?

 

[Off Road SHO]

Okay, got the book out. If the color of the wire that goes into the wiring harnes is Red with a light green stripe, that is the connection for the capacitor. It is used to supress ignition frequencies that interfere with AM/FM/CB frequencies.

My guess is that if it's bad and shorted out from the lead wire to the cylinder case, it is grounding out your ignition coils. Check for continuity between the wire and the case. If you have continuity, the condensor is bad. Should be a 7 dollar part at CSK or AZ.

Good luck.

Tom

 

[stevemainian]

If thats the case, is it hurting anything being unplugged?

 

[DHMag]

If thats the case, is it hurting anything being unplugged?

just your ears from the engine whine you hear from the radio.

 

[Art5]

Guys, sorry to continue with this topic, but my condensor wire was pulled out by mechanic out of main harness and i wanted to know if should try to connect it back in, or I could connect it to something else?
Car starts, but sometimes when i stall parking my car at night in my driveway, it takes a while to start it back up, have to hold gas and hold the key in start position until it catches up.

 

[Shoaz]

Condensers like that dry out over time and fail, often as a short circuit. As Tom said, they're very inexpensive parts and replacing it should cure the problem.

Won't hurt much to leave it disconnected.

 

[Art5]

Condensers like that dry out over time and fail, often as a short circuit. As Tom said, they're very inexpensive parts and replacing it should cure the problem.

Won't hurt much to leave it disconnected.

you see, i have remote starter in my car and sometimes it won't start. I have to get dressed and go get in the car and do that hard start process manually. I just don't know if i repair it, would it get rid of this little problem?

I trust you guys know all these little things more than anybody else, so tell me what you think.

 

[Shoaz]

you see, i have remote starter in my car and sometimes it won't start. I have to get dressed and go get in the car and do that hard start process manually. I just don't know if i repair it, would it get rid of this little problem?

Unlikely. The condenser is intended to supress electrical noise from the ignition system. If the car isn't running, there isn't any noise being generated by the ignition system.

I trust you guys know all these little things more than anybody else, so tell me what you think.

I think your trust is misplaced.

 

[Art5]

Unlikely. The condenser is intended to supress electrical noise from the ignition system. If the car isn't running, there isn't any noise being generated by the ignition system.



I think your trust is misplaced.

ok, so , i don't get it; could condenser be the problem or it could be something else?

 

[shonuffmine]

Lets clarify the air some, the condenser has no effect on the starting process of the engine,your problem lays elsewhere. The condenser ONLY SUPPRESSES ENGINE NOISE! My 95ATX never starts on the first turn of the key,i bump it for a half a second release then bump it and she starts every time as soon as i let loose of the key

 

[Art5]

alright, got you, thanks though.

 

[jmpSHO]

you see, i have remote starter in my car and sometimes it won't start. I have to get dressed and go get in the car and do that hard start process manually. I just don't know if i repair it, would it get rid of this little problem?

I trust you guys know all these little things more than anybody else, so tell me what you think.

What kind of remore start do you have? Some have to be programmed to crank longer to start a car.

 

[Art5]

What kind of remore start do you have? Some have to be programmed to crank longer to start a car.

I don't really know, i bought this car with it.