Cougar

Before you throw in the towel on the engine I would make sure that the timing belt was set up correctly on the head that is reading low. If the pressures are reading about the same for both cylinders on that side then my guess is the cam for the valves wasn't set correctly and could be a couple of teeth off. If you do get a used engine here is a link to a site that seemed good to me. http://www.jsamotors.com/ContactUs.aspx

This car may qualify for a warranty repair on the headgaskets. You might want to check that out if that interests you.

That's pretty cool. It looks like you found the place where Soobs go after they meet their demise on the road.

You are correct in thinking that the larger wire will be better since it will carry more current and have less voltage drop than a smaller wire. The 16 gauge will work for doing both the switch/relay control and power to the lights though I would tend to use 14 ga. for the power to the lights. The 10 gauge will also work but that is a lot of overkill. Whatever you choose to use for this just be sure to protect the wiring with about a 15 amp fuse placed close to the power source.

I suspect your old alternator was putting out a lot AC voltage due to bad diodes and that caused havac with things.

Skip, the picture you put up of the snow boarder looks like it was taken at Alyeska.

There has been a lot of posts here dealing with the Loyale model crank angle sensor (CAS) and trying to determine if there is trouble with it. I have been curious to know if by using a digital voltmeter, in the AC volts mode, if it will show the pulses from the CAS. Since I don't have a Loyale model anymore to check this out myself others have offered to check this out so it may help others later on. My hope is that just using a common digital voltmeter it will be sufficient to make the test with. I know a scope will work but since not many folks own one of them I wanted to try the test this way so more folks would be able to use the test. There are four wires going between the CAS and the ECU. The color of the wires will vary depending on which model you have so just keep that in mind. Checking the DC voltage on the wires, I believe one will have 12 volts on it, another will be ground, and two of the wires will have about 5 volts DC on them. These are the wires of interest for the test. I think one of the 5 volt wires is a reference and may not change at all. The other wire will carry the pulses from the opto-coupler in the disty and this is what I am trying to measure. Here is what I suggest for the test procedure: First find out what two wires have the 5 volts DC on them by checking the voltage on each one with reference to ground. Set the meter to read AC volts. Whatever meter is used it needs to be able to block and DC voltage in the AC mode. Most digitals will do this. Next, place the probes across both of the wires that had the 5 volts DC on them and while cranking the engine take the meter reading and see what it is. Another check would be to measure one of wires at a time and use ground as a reference for each one. Again, while cranking the engine. The results may vary between meters that can read true RMS and those that can't. If someone could post the results of this test from a working engine it would be great.

Thanks for the offer Daeron. To help avoid confusion, instead of using this thread to work from on this I will start a new one called "Checking CAS Voltage" and let you know what to do. It is very easy.

Have you checked to see if the engine is getting spark? The ECU needs to ignition pulses before it will turn on the pump. The fact that you are not getting at least the positive side to the pump is a concern. You need to check the fusible links and the fuses for any problem there. Then move on to the relay if they are good. The ignition relay may be in the circuit also.

You are most likely correct about that Nipper. I only meant that there isn't much output at 1,000 RPM or below that. I generally use 2,000 RPM as a speed to check for a good output.

One thing the OP didn't state was what the engine RPM was when the voltage reading was taken. I assume it was at idle and even a good alternator will not have much output below 1,000 RPM.

The previous posters are correct about changing the alternator and possibly the battery also if it is the original one. Have it checked at least. The reason those other warning lights come on when the alternator has a problem is because they are in series with the field lead to the alternator.

I think just water will be fine.

Welcome to the board RU OK. Lots of good help available here. The fuel gauge problem is pretty common and is usually due to dirty contacts on the sensor(s), there may be two, in the tank. It could be a broken wire so the sensor also. If the fuses are ok for the dash lighting then you have a problem with the dimmer control. You may just have to replace the seatbelt retractor due to age.

I am curious Skip if you will be able to feel the heat of the thermistor with your hand or not, while it is just surrounded by air.

One thing I was curious about is if the light itselt was a 12 volt bulb. Assuming you applied power to it without it being tied to the thermistor, and it didn't blow out, it seems that the bulb is a 12 volt bulb. I think that when the fuel level goes below the thermistor case mounted near the bottom of the tank, the thermistor heats up due to the current running through it and will cause the resistance to go down and turn on the light. It is just a simple series circuit with the bulb and thermistor tied in series between power and grounded through the thermistor case.

Thanks for your efforts Skip. I really appreciate it. I don't have my GL-10 anymore to do that test myself.

I tend to think the problem is with the fuel delivery though I may be wrong. If you haven't changed the fuel filter yet I suggest you do that and if that dosen't help you may try the fuel pump. May car had symptoms like you describe and a new pump did the trick.

From what you state about this trouble it seems to me there is a headgasket problem , sorry to say. Like Skip said, I suggest you have the coolant sniffed for emissions in it. I think that will confirm the trouble.

If both cylinders are reading low and around the same pressure then I would suspect that the valve timing wasn't set right for that head. That will make the pressure read low.

Thanks for the update GD. Glad you got it fixed.

Skip, I have a request for you that I think would be of help in these cases. One thing I have wanted to know is if a DVM could pickup the pulses on the lines coming from the CAS sensor in the disty. I have wanted to see if testing the signal lines with the meter in the AC volts mode will pick up the pluses while cranking the engine. The lines have around 5 volts DC on them with the ignition on. I'm not sure what is the best way to hook up to the leads. It may be just across the two leads or one at a time with reference to ground. Could you check that out for me please. I'm sure a scope would show these pulses but most people just have a meter to use for testing so if a meter will work that would be a big help.

Fuse #11 provides power to the coil and fuel pump relay. You stated you had power getting to the coil fine. If you are sure that the ECU is getting voltage at all the pins I asked you to check previously then I would suspect the ignition amp is bad. Also be sure that the coil has a good case ground.

Thanks for info Skip.

Have you checked the voltages on the wires to the disty yet? I forgot to mention in my last post that the ignition needs to be ON when you do that.