Ok so here is the story:

I purchased a 96 Cirrus from a government auction here in New jersey. The story on the car I got was vague at the lot I picked it up at. The car had been sitting for about 2 years and the battery was stone dead. When I looked under the hood. There was an extra distributor cap and crank sensor. sitting on the air filter. I checked and there was a distributor cap and crank sensor installed on the vehicle. The one not installed had a Mitsubisi symbol on it, I assume it was the original.

Since starting work on it I have checked with a regular obdii scanner for codes or extended codes. there are non. Ive tried to crank it over more times then I can think of what happens is the following.

Right now I have the plug from cylinder 4 out and connected to the wire so I can see if there is spark. There is non. The cylinder does spit fuel out when I try to crank. When I crank for a long time occasionally I will see the message no bus appear where the mileage should be, if I stop cranking for a second and start again it goes away. I dont know if its related but usually the door is open at this time. Also the battery is very low the car has not had a regular driving cycle in about 2 years. The mileage by the way is 96K.

The distributor, Cap, rotor, crank sensor, wires and plugs have all been changed.

Where do I go from here. I need to pinpoint this problem before I spend any more money. I do not have specialized diag just a standard obdii and a voltmeter. I checked the ground wire that is connected to the head. It was broken at one time and a pig tailed wire was added and grounded to the body at the strut tower. I removed that and connected the ground to the other flat shoe lace looking wire that is on the same bolt where the ground is supposed to be. Today I was going to go out and crimp on a new connector and reground it to the proper location.

What is the next logical step to pinpoint the issue. Also if the rotor is in the wrong position or if the distributor was put on in the wrong position will it still spark and just have bad timing or will that prevent spark. I read there is only one way the dist. will go on but it looks more like 2 ways. It looks like there is a notch in the camshaft end that the bar on the dist side fits into.

Last question is the upper intake gasket a reusable one? When I changed the back plugs I just cleaned it all off and used copper silicone and the old gasket. Should I replace that gasket? I know it probably have nothing to do with spark.

I could also use a good joke at this point as this car has me so frustrated its not funny. I never had so much trouble figuring out spark on any vehicle. Is there a way to jump the PCM to cause a reset?

 

crank sensor and distributor assembly

 

I replaced both of those items.

 

Well I still have a $70 core to return to advanced so I'll trade that for another good sensor and take the engine down to the intake again today and see how it goes. Is there anything to look for when putting the new distributor on. I am concerned it is not in the right position or something. Is there anything to look for when installing the new crank sensor? from what I read it is just a matter of pushing it all the way in till it cant go anymore. really need to get this car started this weekend. This is the first Chrysler I have had with a stubborn issue. Had a 300M great car and a grand Cherokee still my second favorite vehicle of all time.

 

I checked and there was a distributor cap and crank sensor installed on the vehicle

that is the cap not the distributor assembly

 

Yes correct. I purchased and replaced the distributor assembly. Ill go over again what I purchased and replaced and what I believe was replaced prior to my ownership.

I found the original Crank sensor and distributor cap in the engine compartment. I also found a distributor cap and crank sensor installed. In addition the 40 amp horn fuse was removed due to I believe an alarm issue. I too had the issue but was able to stop the alarm by turning the drivers key to lock - unlock - lock - unlock.

I purchased new wires. and a new distributor.

Today I am going for my own crank sensor and 6 new plugs. I did not feel that no spark on all six plugs would be something caused by bad plugs but then again I am a computer guy so what do I know. I will reassemble and test.

If still no spark I will try going back to the original cap.

If Still no spark I will be lost. It would be great to have some sort of troubleshooting guide to pinpoint the issue with out just throwing parts at the thing.

 

Still no start. What next? I really need help on this.

 

get a wire diagram and see if U have power and ground to the cam sensor then check for the asd relay is it clicking and giving power to all its items?

 

Ok I'll do that. Also it sat for a long time couple years I think and the gas gauge reads full. It started one time and revved all the way to like 4000 RPM and I shut it down. Another time it gave me a brief stumble. Other then that just cranking and spitting fuel. Is it possible that the fuel is bad? Is there like an expiration.

 

yeah put fuel saver in it use a spark tester to see if infact u are getting spark at the wires.