j par
Well-hung Member
I told you the master here has already said it's not a fuel problem...
Percolation? Heat soak? Don't drive during summer??
- Thread starter DentalDart
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j par
Well-hung Member
One thing for sure you can't find a cheaper tack than that one... The only way to go is up from there...
Ok good. I am glad you were able to do that. I could not find my spare ECU. Many apologies. I just knew I still had it. I guess Kitty was right. again. lol
Well yes a ground goes to the ground to help ground something out..... lol..but this black ground wire doesn't reach the ground.. so im assuming it grounds something in the engine bay
The green, ground wire, that goes to the tach is supposed to go to the negative terminal of the coil though. So Im assuming its supposed to make the ignition coil fire until I start cranking the car over and at that point it stops..
Phreakish
Well-Known Member
You should have EITHER the green or the brown connected. The green should go to coil negative and to the tach ONLY. If it was grounded to the firewall, that's no good.
If that green lead was connected to the coil and the firewall, I bet the coil(s) is(are) now damaged from excessive current.
You see, the coil gets power from the ignition switch. The ground on the coil goes to the ecm. The ecm switches the ground on/off as needed to make a spark. I'm willing to bet that if the green wire was grounded, the wire inside is burned and making a very slight connection causing the buzzing with the key on. Basically, your coil is "always on" before the engine is running. I'm surprised it can make a good enough spark, but if the green wire is now high resistance from being cooked (probably cooked while you were originally trying to get the engine started after the R&R) then the drop in primary voltage is probably still enough to get mostly reliable ignition. But... The coil is probably still seeing excessive current and overheating.
I say keep the tach completely disconnected for now and go drive some. See if it quits again.. Also, keep your spare coil and the tools to swap in the car with you for now. I bet that coil is on its last legs.
Wives are always right... just ask mine, she will tell you... and even if us husbands think/know we are right, we better be wrong or we will be sleeping on the couch.... with an empty belly
The green is not the tach ground. Red is power, black is ground, green is negative side of coil and white or yellow is the light for the tach. Some tachs use blue for the coil negative but yours used green. It's even in the diagram you posted. So it was hooked up right. That is unless the green was also grounded, in which case that was incorrect. Green is negative side of the coil ONLY.
Phreakish
Well-Known Member
The black wire is an engine/Chassis ground. I'd bolt it under one of the coil bracket bolts, but am not sure where the factory connected it.
That green wire - you put it under the black wire now, but it wasn't there before right? I'd trace that green wire back and I bet it has a chafed spot in the insulation. I'd pull it all the way into the cab and check every inch of that wire before thinking of hooking it up again.
Correct. Its hooked up and set to the coil to be able to get the correct reading of the RPM's... I believe that's what the instructions are saying when I read them. It is indeed what causes the coil to start firing before cranki g the engine over.
Was it also grounded? If so, that was not correct.
Funny guy. He's right in the fact that At some point I do need to run a return fuel line. Its on the honey do list for the purple car... after solving this dying problem... then fixing the ac. Speaking of ac, I never noticed this cool sticker before.
Well, I didnt buy it but yes it is a cheaper one. Works good enough for my 4-500 miles last year though.... Its sad thinking this car barely got any miles on it. We did have a bunch of fun driving it... when it wasn't all taken apart lol.
Yes it is also grounded on the body... the instructions give 3 options for tachometer signal hookup and option #1 is to connect the wire directly to the negative post on the coil... it doesnt mention anything about taking the ground off the body if hooking the signal wire there though.. other options are for a brown wire with an inductive pickup either on the coil wire or spark plug wire... i don't have a brown wire connected.
Maybe I'm reading or understanding something wrong though.
Product Manuals
You are. REMOVE the green wire from ground.
Boo, its a brand new coil with barely any miles or drives on it lol.
How do you know your rpms if you have no tach?
Phreakish
Well-Known Member
If you're driving an auto in D, does it matter? LOL
Until you can figure out whether the wire is damaged or shorted, I'd just as soon leave it disconnected to rule it out. The tach should never alter the behavior of the of the ignition - I have a tach, and my ignition does not fire at rest with the key on.
Hopefully your coil is OK, but I doubt it. Excessive current has a way of roasting electronics. It may work for now, but I definitely wouldn't drive cross town without a spare on hand!
Phreakish
Well-Known Member
Do you own a multimeter? Know how to use one? You can get them cheap and they're invaluable.
Using the resistance measuring setting you could easily test the green wire for a short to ground, for example.
Using the resistance measuring setting you could easily test the green wire for a short to ground, for example.
ok. So I will remove the tach, and take it for a drive around the neighborhood tomorrow... hope for it to die on me and replace more things 1 part at a time. 
Do not own one and do not know how to use one... are they easier to use than finding a 10mm socket? Lol
ok. So I will remove the tach, and take it for a drive around the neighborhood tomorrow... hope for it to die on me and replace more things 1 part at a time.
Holly **** you do NOT listen! Red to power, black to ground, white or yellow for light and green to coil negative. You do NOT have to remove the tach. Just wire it up right. REMOVE the green from ground. That's all you need to do. You'll still have the tach and that will FIX your coil problem....although it probably is damaged. That's like cuttin your leg off because you stump your toe.
Phreakish
Well-Known Member
I would say yes. Once you get taught how to check certain things, you'll get the hang of it and be able to make good use pretty quickly.
The easiest are resistance and voltage reading. Checking current is different and comes with the risk of breaking the meter (usually there's a fuse inside that pops).
The one I use is a cheap unit from Napa or autozone or similar. I prefer auto ranging meters, but manual select meters work fine too (and mine is manual). You want to make sure it can measure ac and DC voltage, resistance, current (typically 10A or less), other modes like diode tests or frequency or thermocouples are available but usually add cost quickly and have limited uses for shadetree guys.
Ok I think things were being misinterpreted. My apologies, because its probably my fault.
Currently how the tach was/is wired up was like you just said. Red to power. Black to ground. Yellow to light. Green to negative terminal on coil.
When it is wired like that though it is causing the coil to fire when the key is in the on position before crankiit over. After taking the green wire off the negative terminal of the coil, the ignition coil no longer starts to fire before cranking the engine over.
Phreakish
Well-Known Member
He said it wasn't grounded. He just stuck the green wire under the ground to get it out of the way. The green wire is likely damaged or rubbing somewhere. Until he figures out where, best to keep it disconnected or removed (I agree removal is overkill, but it's up to doc).
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I'll probably just remove the wire from the coil right now to do like you said figure out where the problem is.
Phreakish
Well-Known Member
ok. So I will remove the tach, and take it for a drive around the neighborhood tomorrow... hope for it to die on me and replace more things 1 part at a time.
Hopefully it doesn't die anymore and you can just work on figuring out how to fix the green wire ;)
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