Cougar

Thanks for the info there Skip. Since I haven't had to replace one of these in the past I wasn't real sure how it was designed. After seeing your picture I assume that you have to replace the whole bracket and there is a connector included also that allows connection up to the wire hareness in the car.

If you listen carefully you should be able to hear the fuel pump run for a couple of seconds when you turn the key from OFF to RUN. If you do hear it then at least power is getting to it. The pump circuit may be controlled by a switched ground connection through the ECU. The circuit can go bad in the ECU. There is a fuel pump relay also that should be checked if the pump isn't getting voltage to it.

The main problem you are having does sound like a parasitic draw from something. Have the current draw on the battery checked while the car is parked. With nothing turned on, the current draw should normally be around 25 milliamps. If you have more than say 60 milliamps start pulling fuses to see if you can pin down the path of the extra draw. The alternator is a suspect also. The alternator output voltage does seem a little low but the most important thing is how much current will it produce at that voltage. Have it load tested and see if it will produce the rated current at that voltage.

Since another alternator did the same thing you would have to conclude that the real problem is within the wiring to the alternator. Try to measure the voltage on the wires on the back side of the alternator while the trouble is occuring. There should be 12 volts on each one while the engine is running. If one is low then that is the lead with the fault on it.

I don't think you have to cut any wires to replace the amplifier. I think it is in a socket. Check for some screws that hold it in on each side. Skip, Isn't the amp basically like a TO-3 transistor package, with a screw on each side to hold it in the socket?

Skip, Thanks for the good info on the ignition amplifier and the picture of the CAS. Glen

The crank angle sensor tells the ECU where the position of the crank is via a photo sensor. There should be voltage on the minus side of the coil but to fire the plugs that voltage needs to be tied to ground briefly. The ignitor provides the ground switching to the coil. The ignitor is what you are seeing under the coil I think. Testing it is a little tricky. You could try checking the voltage on the leads but since it switches quickly it isn't real easy to pick up on the meter. Try replacing it.

You should check the resistance between the two leads of the temperature sensor for the ECU. Remove the connector from the ECU when you do this. I'm not sure what the resistance should be at normal operating temperature but I think it may be around 50 ohms. The cold resistance may be around 2,500 ohms.

I would check for bad connections causing both of the error codes. The coolant temp sensor is different from the gauge sensor. The one for the ECU has two leads running to it. The temperature error code is for an electrical problem not the coolant.

It may be the ignitor also. Pretty unlikely it is the ECU. They usually have a different problem if there is something wrong with it.

Well apparently the turn signal path is ok and the short is on another leg. Since the 4WD selector isn't working then that may be the path the short is on. If you have an ohmmeter I would suggest you measure between the protected side of fuse #10 and ground and see what the resistance is. It will most likely be less than 1 ohm. Disconnect connectors at suspected trouble areas and see if the resistance goes up a little bit. The path to the fault should be on the last connector you disconnected.

Looking at the fuse box in the dash you should have three rows with 8 fuse positions. Fuse #5 is on the top row, five fuses from the left side of the panel.The ignition relay may be faulty so check for power on pins 29,41 (white) and 49 (red/blue) of the ECU. Also, does the CEL light work?

Ok, that wasn't clear to me in your first post. When I read it, it sounded to me that the whine stopped with the engine shutoff. So since the engine was shut off the sounds you heard weren't really any mechanical sounds, just sounds due to the high pressure of the coolant. I guess my first thought of the stuck thermostat is what I have to go with and it appears others think that may be the case also.

Since you found the items I suspected possibly may have caused the belt to come loose are ok then perhaps something else may have caused the trouble, maybe the power steering pump. Or perhaps the belt was loose from the beginning. In your first post about this, in the original thread, you stated that you heard a loud whining sound. I suspect the sound may have been from either the loose belt trying to drive the pulleys or it was from one of the devices the belt is driving. The only thing I can think of to find out if there is still a problem is to tighten the belt and see what happens. If the noise comes back try to pin down the source of it. If it doesn't return then the belt was most likely just loose to begin with. On a different thought about this, if the thermostat did get stuck perhaps the pump wasn't getting any coolant, which acts as a lubricant for the shaft, and the noise came from there.

The lack of the water pump not turning as it should will certainly cause the engine to overheat. I would say the most likely senario is the water pump shaft may have seized up or has something else went wrong with the pulley system, like the idler pulley.

Well it wasn't cheap but at least you got it fixed. Thanks for the update Howard.

I had another thought about this issue. If there is an ignition relay in the circuit it should be checked also.

Well it looks like we can literally be on the 'same page' with the manuals as I have the same one as you. If I am following your last post correctly you stated that pin 10(?) of connector F65 seems to be the wire path the problem is on. If that is correct check out page 81 of the same section and look what the wire ties to, the power to the turn signal & hazard unit and the hazard switch. Try disconnecting the turn siganal & hazard unit and see if that clears the short when things are connected as they should be.

The most likely cause of the trouble is a bad CAS in the disty. Make sure there is voltage on the minus side of the coil while the ignition is on. Make sure fuse #5 is good.

Since you have replaced the disty you need to place the probe tip of a test light probe on the minus side of the coil and make sure power is getting to that point while the ignition is on. You should see pulsing flashes there when the ignition is working and cranking the engine. If the ignitor is seperate from the disty then that may be the problem.

Hopefully you will check things out to see what happened. I still think the T-stat just stuck closed and caused this to happen. Perhaps there isn't any real damage done.

You're welcome for the help Vtsuby. Glad you got it going and thanks for the feedback. Drive on!

Maybe someone can drive you back and wait for you as you try to get it going. I liked your idea of jumping the coil but since that didn't work I suggested the previous things to check. Unfortunately, if one of them is bad you are stuck, for awhile at least. One other thought, if you are sure it is an ignition problem. You can remove the wiring to the minus side of the coil and then place a wire on the minus connection. Turn on the ignition and then briefly touch and remove the other end of the jumper wire to ground (be sure not to touch the bare end with your fingers though). The coil wire should spark then when it is near a ground point. This will prove out the coil circuit at least and point to the pick up or ignitor as the trouble.

One other possibility is a defective battery cable to the starter. If you verify that there is at least 10 volts getting to the end of the cable at the solenoid while the starter is supposed to be running then the fault is within the starter/solenoid unit and the cable is ok. If the voltage is under 10 volts then the cable is the trouble; or the battery may have an internal connection problem. Checking the voltage at the posts will resolve that question.

If you are sure the ignition is failing then I would guess the pick up could be the problem here. I don't know if there is an ignitor or not not but if so that could be the trouble. Check for bad connections also.