Cougar

Ok Connie, take a break. When you are rested come on back and be ready to do some hunting. The Cat did some tracking on this and is ready to pounce. Here is the results of what my info says. The red fusible link that you pulled out ties to the alternator and to fuse 3 in the dash on the white wire you mentioned. That fusible link you pulled out is the one that I mentioned in my last post. Part of its job is to protect the alternator circuit. The white wire not only goes to the back side of the alternator but it also ties to the main output wire of the alternator. Just like Edrach has been saying, the problem may be with the alternator and a blocking diode may be shorted inside the alternator. There is a simple thing that you can do to see if this is the case. Remove the fusible link you saw the low resistance on and set up your meter again to read the resistance like you did before. You should see the low reading again on you meter. Remove the large white wire going to the alternator and make sure the free end doesn't touch anything (Normally that wire is always hot to the battery so a short to ground would not be good. You have removed the fusible link connection to the battery though so it should not be tied to the battery now. Just a heads up for the future). Now hopefully your meter is now reading 1.00. Which means the resistance has exceeded the range scale you are using (a good thing). If that is the case then you have caught the gremlin and the hunt is over. You will need to replace the alternator. If the reading stays at the same low resistance reading then pull fuse 3 in the fuse panel and tell us what you read on your meter then. If it goes high, then the trouble is down the line through that fuse.

Sorry to hear that Patrick and welcome back. That is a pretty sad story alright. I don't know how your finances are but if you can handle new car payments the dealers are giving some good deals on new Soobs and some good finance rates also. You will then have a car that is covered in a warranty and will last you a long time.

You are correct about the insulating washer Backwoodsboy but also remember that the main output wire is always hot to the battery. Sparks would have flown as soon as that wire was connected if that washer was missing. The connection is protected by one of the fusible links in case something like that happens. Connie, In post 57 you stated that the .003 reading was taken on the middle red fusible link connection. With the alternator disconnected, does that reading now show 1.00 (which means over the range limit BTW) ? If it does then something is going on inside the alternator. You also talked about the ignition not shutting the engine down normally like it should. You do indeed have a problem there and it may not have anything to do with the battery drain trouble, but it might. It sounds to me that the ignition switch is turning off the fuel pump but not the ignition system. You turn the ignition OFF and the fuel then runs out and that kills the engine. Now if the ignition is still tied to power this could be where the drain is coming from. One simple thing you could do to see if that is true is measure the voltage on the plus side of the ignition coil while everything is connected like it should be and a good charge on the battery and the ignition switch is OFF. If you have voltage on that wire you have to fix the ignition wiring. It's not connected properly. If that is the case, Edrach has the drawings and can lead you through any rough spots if you have them.

Some wires are better quality than others and the better ones let the spark plugs work better. Through trial and error, most here feel that OEM parts are the best way to go and give the least trouble. NGK rules.

Howard, You might be able to clear the clog using a small strand of wire and pushing it into the hole. Using some compressed air may work also.

Connie, Here is some info for you and don't worry about understanding it right away if it doesn't come to you. I'm also very glad to see you are going to find this trouble and fix it, and not let it defeat you. The horseshoe symbol is the Greek symbol Omega and way back when I called it a horseshoe also because I didn't know what else to call it. This symbol stands for resistance in the electrical world. You are using your meter to measure resistance and the units you measure resistance in is called ohms. The more ohms a device measures means it has more resistance and LESS current will flow through it. All things have some sort of resistance so there are insulators and conductors. A good conductor (like a copper wire) has very little resistance and conducts electricity very well. So we make wires out of copper and insulate them with plastic to keep the wire isolated from other things. The plastic has a very high resistance so basically no current flows though it and any current flow in the wire 'channel' stays inside the wire. That is all I will say right now to keep it simple. One other thing I did notice in your previous post. You set your meter to read ohms and also selected the 2M range scale position. That letter M stands for Mega and that means 'millions', so your meter will measure resistances up to 2 million ohms in that range scale. When you use that range you are usually looking for something with a very high resistance. You on the other hand, are looking for a moderately low resistance that is drawing current from the battery. It would be better to set you meter to a lower range, something like the 2k scale. 'k' is the symbol for kilo which stands for 'thousands'. So the 2k scale will display up to 2 thousand ohms. The lower the scale you can use the more resolution you will see in the reading. You can even go lower if the resistance is lower. If you have a 200 ohm scale that should work for you. If the resistance is beyond the scale you have selected the meter display should show something like 'OL' for over limit and you select the next higher scale to see if that will work. Hope this info helps you out. Class dismissed for now.

You stated that the dash was basically dead when this happened. If the key was in the RUN position and the dash was dead then either the ignition switch had a connection problem or there is a faulty connection in the main power bus to the accessories. Also make sure the battery cables are snug, not over tight though. Tapping on suspected trouble spots with a screwdriver handle may show something up.

I don't see how the noise could be related to anything electrically Connie. What you hear may be some leakage from one of the cylinders under compression. We're ready to start testing when you are.

The codes also mean there could be a fault in the circuit to them. Have you checked to see if 12 volts is getting to the solenoids or checked the resistances of the coils to see if they are open? If the coil resistances are ok then you may have a circuit fault to these solenoids. You may have to place the ECU in the test mode to check the voltage too them as I don't think they are on all the time.

Well I hope they did a test for AC. Most places may not think of doing that test and only check the DC voltage. If there is AC present it will damage your new battery if it goes on too long.

Another good success story. Thanks for the feedback.

Ya, you moved the crank and didn't watch the rotor position and are 180 out. Move the plug wires like I stated earlier and you'll be on your way down the road.

Connie, You stated you don't know anything about electricity and that is ok because a number of us here do understand it and can guide you to a solution to the trouble. All we need is information from you and for you to just follow some simple test procedures. You don't have to understand the reason why but you might just learn some things from doing them. If you are up to it, so are we.

Subex, You stated you didn't move the disty but at anytime did you move the crankshaft? If you did move it and didn't keep track of the rotor position then I believe you will find moving the plug wires to the opposite positions in the cap will get you going. Since you stated that the disty wasn't moved then I would not touch it. The only way the timing can change without moving the disty is to have a timing belt slip.

Something appears to be wrong with the battery that is causing the acid to come out. Either there is a crack in the case or possibly there is AC voltage getting to it from the alternator. Have the shop test the alternator again with the engine running and then check the battery for AC voltage across it. There should be less than .1 volts. If there is AC voltage present you need to replace the alternator.

Thanks for the link Edrach. Some good info on that site. I may get one of those myself.

After going over this again I think I now know what went wrong. You stated, "I lined them up at the "0" mark and put #1 plug were the disty button was pointing." Well, that '0' mark can still mean the disty rotor position is 180 degrees out from where it should be. Connect the plug wires in the opposite holes of the cap and start the engine.

Have you checked to see you have the plugwires in the correct positions? I think the firing order is 1-3-2-4. Number 1 plug is in front on the passenger side and number 3 is behind it. Number 2 is in front on the driver side and 4 behind it. I would say the problem is that or you have a broken timing belt. Have you checked compression?

I also think you should suspect the alternator if that came with the motor. It may be back feeding to something on the engine. If you have a test light probe you can wire it in series between the negative ground lead and the negative battery post. If the light glows bright due to a good current draw then disconnect the small connector to the back of the alternator and see if that changes the light. If it goes out or very dim then you have found the trouble inside the alternator. You may also have to disconnect the output lead of the alternator but if you do remember that it is tied to the battery so don't touch the lead to anything. Keep it isolated. If the alternator isn't the trouble then you can pull fuses and see which one turns off the light.

Welcome to the forum. I assume you have checked all the fuses under the dash already. I would check to see if the dimmer control is getting voltage next.

If you are getting spark to the plugs then I can only think that you must have placed the wires in the wrong positions when you replaced the cap.

There may be some hints to the trouble if you check for codes in the ECU. If a sensor is bad there should be a code for it. From what you stated about how the engine died it sounds to me that either a sensor has gone bad or the ECU may have some trouble internally. Possibly not turning on the injectors. I like the advice that Gloyale gave you in the last post so check the things he said to do. One other thing, if you haven't checked the fuses and fusible links for a bad one then I suggest you do that. There are also some connections to the ECU that are providing power to it through a relay and that is another possible trouble spot.

If the only thing you did was replace the disty then I would say you either don't have the timing rights or you didn't get the plug wires connected correctly. I assume you checked the wires to make sure they are correct and are set in the correct positions. I think the rotor moves counter clock wise. Another thing you can do to see if the timing is slightly off is first mark the disty position relative to a fixed point and then loosen the adjustment for it. Then while someone is cranking the engine move the disty position one way or the other and see if you can get the engine to fire. You may be a tooth off on the position.

Have you verified the voltage is ok? New batteries can still need a charge to get them to full capacity.

I am just assuming the relay that Gloyale mentioned is under the dash somewhere, I don't know that for sure. The service data will show you where it is. The problem you are having is due to an intermittent connection that appears to be somewhere before the starter solenoid. Like I said before, if you can make the solenoid work by applying 12 volts to the solenoid contact that is normally tied to the ignition switch then the solenoid is ok and the trouble is before that point.