Cougar

The solenoid may be on the left side of the throttle body. Be very careful when you are working on them. They break very easily with any side torque on them. Here is a link from DaveT that may help you find it. http://home.comcast.net/~davidtief/solenoid.html

I have repaired a few ECUs from models like yours in the past. A couple of them needed new pre-driver transistors (TO-92 style) to get the fuel pump circuit running. The second unit had the same trouble so it took less time to repair and the first one didn't take very long to locate the bad transistor. The fuel pump circuit won't turn on unless the ECU sees pluses from the distributor CAS circuit. You can check the fuel pump circuit by listening for the pump when you turn the key to the RUN position. It should run briefly. If you don't hear it at first try cranking the engine briefly and then try it again. If you still don't hear it then something is wrong. Since the error light is working hopefully you are getting a code 13 which would indicate a problem with the CAS sensor in the disty.

Your statement about the jumper wire getting too hot to touch may be a indication that the starter solenoid is drawing too much current and could be the reason you are having trouble now. I'm not sure how much the solenoid should draw but I would think it would be around a few amps.

You're welcome for the reply L,P. Glad you got it working correctly without much pain to the pocketbook. Thanks for the feedback.

Check for a bad connection to the injector. The wire to the injector should be brown and if you have a 2.2L engine it goes to pin 4 on the ECU and if you have a 2.5L it goes to pin 26.

Since the car starts with a jump I would have the battery cables checked for a problem along with having the battery and alternator checked.

My info shows that the module is behind the dash on the left side. One thing you could do to prove the connector is correct is to pull fuse #15 (10 amp) and the red/black wire going to the connector on pin #14 should drop power.

The output circuit is basically just a switched transistor output with the output pin (47) tied to the collector of the transistor. When the transistor is off and no current flows, the output pin that is also tied to the supply voltage goes to that level (12 volts). When the transistor switch is on and current flows, the transistor acts about like a normal switch with the other end tied to ground so the pin then goes to ground potential. While a normal switch doesn't need to be tied to a power supply, a transistor used as a switch does.

My info says the module is behind the left side of the dash and the alarm horn is in the right fender behind the headlight. The alarm indicator is in the dash.

You're welcome Matt. Glad you hung in there on this problem.

This product may help get your compression back up on the weak cylinders. If the rings are fouled up due to sludge this may fix it up. I think it would be worth a try at least before tearing the engine down. http://www.auto-rx.com/

Thanks for the update RJ. Glad you got it fixed. I assume the fuel pump relay is under the hood area for it to get damaged like that. My info says it's in the joint box where ever that is.

Having the lights flash like that is wierd. This is a first for me at least. The trouble may be due to a bad ground in the engine area. It may also be due to something in the wiring causing a short to the linkage.

If I remember correctly there were more things to deal with on this problem than just the disty wires. Lets have some more bananas........ :banana: :banana: .

Well congratulations! Hurray!!!! :banana: :banana: Thanks for getting those voltages for me Matt. I really appreciate it a lot. I didn't think about the position of the rotor before but the light could be showing or be blocked depending on the position, so good thinking on your part. I will see if I can find out any info on the fuel lines for you.

Thanks for the nice picture Skip.

My info doesn't show anything about a MAP sensor for either a '95 or a '97 model. The sensor is used to check the atmospheric pressure so the air/fuel ratios are adjusted properly. My info does mention a MAF sensor for the '97 model year. I assume you are using a ECU for a '95 2.2 liter.

Finding a burned alternator output connection is pretty common. This just shows how important it is to have clean and correctly tighened connections at the alternator and the battery. A lot of current passes though the connections and any resistance between the connections will make things heat up due to the high current passing through. The other posters covered this problem well. I will just add that one quick way to see how well made your connections are is to measure the voltage across them while the system is running. By placing the voltmeter leads across the alternator output lead and the positive battery post you should see close to zero volts if things are good. If there is more than 0.1 volts across the wiring with a good load on the system then connections should be looked at. Using your meter to measure across each connection will show up the bad spot. The main battery ground lead should be looked at also doing the same procedure on it. One other thing mentioned by the OP is about the AC voltage the meter showed. Since the alternator was forced to run at max output the DC ripple will be higher. You should see different results now after things are fixed. You may also have a meter that doesn't seperate the DC component in the AC mode. If you measure a battery in the AC mode and you show something close to the battery voltage then you need to remember that characteristic with that meter. You can eliminate the DC by place a capacitor in series with one of the probe leads, if you need to.

Absolutely it is the problem. Since it appears the disty side of the wiring is correct (the disty works in another car) you need to exchange the white and green wires on the ECU (body) side of the connection. No wonder we were having so much trouble finding the fault with this. Edit: Matt, would you do me a favor and measure the DC voltages on each of disty wires with reference to ground when this is fixed? Measure the voltage on each wire while the ignition is ON and the engine is NOT running. I would like to write the results down for future reference in my manual. I would appreciate it a lot. Thanks, Glen

Daeron, The engine doesn't have to be warm, just running normally at idle. All we are trying to do is see how much AC voltage is on the CAS signal wire of the disty. It may be a white wire on your car, I'm not sure. There should be a couple of wires that have around 5 volts DC on them, with reference to ground, and it should be one of those wires that will have the AC signal on it. Thanks for your help, Glen

Hopefully you didn't damage anything when you did that. I like Nipper's idea of disconnecting the battery though by clearing the codes you should be doing the same thing. My test unit has me look at the codes by connecting the unit to the socket and then turn on the tester. I have cleared the codes in some of my friends vehicles but I didn't realize at the time that when you do that it not only erases the codes but also the memory along with the monitors. The monitors can take some time before they are set again. I will no longer clear the codes unless it is really necessary to do so. The ECU has to relearn the engine operation. There may be a procedure that needs to be followed for the ECU to relearn the engine parameters. This may be part of your problem now at least.

If you do work on the alternator be sure to remove the ground lead of the battery first, before doing any work. The output of the alternator is hot to the battery.

I haven't worked on the newer models but I don't think you should have much trouble removing it or need any special tools for the job.

"Using the USMB board to save you time and money,... priceless!"

The coolant sensor will have no affect on the pump action but ignition pulses do and you have that so you are good there. The next best bet if voltage is not getting to the pump is the fuel pump relay. To see if voltage is getting to the pump properly you can place a voltmeter across the pump leads and measure it. If the voltage is ok then the problem may be with the pump itself. Check the fuel pressure if the voltage is ok. The other possible problem may be the injector. Edit After rereading the posts on this again I see you did replace the pump but make no mention of the fuel filter being replaced. If you didn't do that then I recommend you get a new one and install it. This kind of trouble has been resolved a number of times with just installing a new filter.