Cougar

Welcome to the 3,000 club Daeron. Good writeup on the TPS sensor. "Obi-Wan has taught you well", young Jedi of the Soob.

Check to see if the coil is getting excessively hot after running for a while. You may need to install a current limiting resistor in the ignition power side of the coil. Another tidbit of info on the capacitor. Along with suppressing noise in the electrical system it also helps protect the ignition circuit. When the ignition module opens the coil circuit to create the spark there is a "inductive kickback" in the circuit that creates a fairly large voltage spike. The capacitor reacts to the spike by shunting most of that energy to ground. The voltage spike has a lot of high frequency noise in it and that is what can cause trouble with the radio. Capacitors normally block DC current due to the way they are constructed (two conductive materials seperated by a insulator), but if the capacitor has a internal short it will pass DC current, and in this case, to ground. You can use you ohmmeter to check the capacitor for a DC fault. As always, when taking resistance readings, remove power to the circuit and isolate the device being measured from the circuit. If a cap is good the ohmmeter will just show a reading climbing up to infinity. A shorted cap will have a steady low resistance. Normally they are very reliable unless they take an excessive voltage hit. Make sure your capacitor isn't shorted as it may be the reason the coil went bad.

I don't understand how you can just pull the "star", it is called the reluctor really, piece out by just pulling on it. Is it just set in there? I thought it may be connected to the shaft somehow so the shaft would need to be removed. I have never done this repair before obviously, but it would be nice to understand how it is pieced together.

You have pinned down the trouble correctly to the module in the disty. The module is shorted and that is why you get the spark when you connect it to the coil. I would like to help you to get into the disty repair but I haven't worked on one, so I will have to just standby and learn also. Edit: Here is some info from a '83 manual for a Hitachi system. It may be close you yours. The info states you need to remove the vacuum unit by loosening the screws for it. You will need to pull the disty but before you do that I would use a marker pen and mark the position of the shaft so you get it back right. Once you get the disty out then there should be a pin in the gear that needs to be removed so you can then slide the shaft out and get at the module. Mark the top plate position also before removing it.

If you would like to put the stereo in the glove box there are IR devices you can buy that will pass the IR signal from the outside of the box to the inside.

Now that you have your meter working lets see if you can measure any noise on the system with it that could cause this trouble. Set it to the AC volts mode and then see what the meter reads at the battery with the engine at idle and then around 2,000 RPM. If there is more than 0.1 volts of AC then the alternator is the source of the problem.

If you have a place nearby that sells bearings you may be able to just take your old one there and they could try matching it up with a new one.

It may be under the hood, near the firewall, on the driver's side.

Thanks for keeping me straight about the firing order guys. More cobwebs in the memory banks again. Let's see...where did I leave that can of air spray duster at?

I don't know if there is a ignition amp for this model but I think the voltage is low because it is being loaded down by a fault in the ignition circuit. If the coil gets hot when the ignition is on this is clue to excessive current flowing through the coil.

The float may be stuck closed or the fuel input may be clogged up. You may have to overhaul the carb.

Going by what you stated in your last post it sounds like something is seriously out of place. The binding probably caused the belt teeth to strip. Maybe there is a bent valve causing this or something is wrong with the cam bearings. Not good, whatever it is.

The problem does sound like it is with the circuit in the disty like Turbone stated. I'm not sure what kind of pickup this uses. It may be a magnetic type. One easy thing you can do to check it is get a test light probe and place the tip on the negative side of the coil and the clip lead end to ground. Then try turning the engine over and see if the light flashes. If the light just glows steady then the problem would be in the disty.

It sounds like the crankshaft needed to be turned once more around. The crank turns twice for each turn of the disty. You are 180 out on the disty. Since the firing order is 1-3-4-2, by moving the crank one more turn you should line up on #1.

Try spraying some starter fluid into the intake to see if that will help get it going. If it dosen't then check the spark by removing one of the plugs and set it on a good metal ground of the engine. Then have someone crank the engine so you can watch the spark on the plug. Also check the plug condition looking for signs of wear and fouling. Check the compression of each cylinder to see if there is a problem in that area.

The only thing that I can think of that possibly could connect the alternator with turning on the CEL is if the alternator had some bad diodes or brushes that caused a high amount of noise on the power buss. Then the noise causing a problem with one of the sensor signals.

I think 86's way of doing this is better. Just let the system turn the light out. If everyting is ok it will go out after a number of drive cycles. Some codes will go out immediately if the problem has cleared. By removing the battery, the car will have to relearn conditions of the engine but this isn't a bid deal unless you need to have an IM test done very soon. The monitors will need to relearn also and will take some time to do that normally. If there aren't enough monitors set the testing will stop and you will have to drive longer to allow the computer to set more monitors. This info is more related to OBD2 type systems than type 1.

The alternator really doesn't have any direct connection to the CEL light that I know of. I suggest you check the ignition relay and see if that may have an intermittent problem.

Check the power distribution panel under the hood also.

Great. You're welcome for the help on this. Enjoy the fun ride.

Just in case you didn't know, hearing a relay click doesn't necessarily mean it is working as it should. The closed contacts can be bad and the connection will be a problem.

It sounds like you may have verified the ECU is bad. I would go ahead and try the new one along with a new ignitor.

Before you condemn the ECU check for voltage getting to it. Check the yel/red wires particularly. The ignition relay may be about 1.5 inches square. Here is a link that shows some pictures of what relays look like. They can be round also. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showpost.php?p=598608&postcount=1

The problem you describe is not really a short. It is the opposite of a short, it's an open connection. A short would cause high current flow and blow a fuse. An open connection doesn't allow current to flow in the circuit. Ok, enough of basic electricity and on to your real trouble. A common trouble spot for this kind of thing is the fusible links. There may be a loose connection. They are in a small box mounted on the coolant reservoir. Open the lid and make sure the links are making a good tight connection. If they are okay then move on to the ignition relay which is under the dash. Tapping on it may make it work temporarily. Another spot to check is the connector for the ignition switch. Sometimes the main terminal in the connector goes bad and burns the contact terminal.

The plug gap isn't going to cause this kind of thing. I recommend you check for spark when this happens again. If you think there may be a fuel problem spray some starter fluid into the intake to see if that helps get the engine fired up. The engine code(s) may be due to a loose gas cap. Check the code numbers in the ECU to see what it says.