1990 VETTE NOT GETTING ANY SPARK

[90 corvette]

I JUST BOUGHT A 1990 CONVERTIBLE WITH 117000 A WEEK AGO THE GUY TOLD ME HE COULDNT GET IT TO START BUT HE DIDNT KNOW WHY, SO I GAVE HIM $400 NOT A BAD DEAL....BUT ANY WAYS I STARTED MESSING AROUND WITH THE CAR AND ITS NOT GETTING ANY SPARK AT ALL, I CHECKED A FEW DIFFERENT PLUGS TO MAKE SURE THE PLUG WASNT BAD STILL NOTHING SO I GOT NEW WIRES, COIL,CAP,ROTOR AND IGNITION CONTROL MODULE STILL NOTHING AT ALL. SO I PULLED THE PLUGS THINKING I MIGHT BE ABLE TO FEEL SOME FIRE COMING THROUGH THE PLUG WITH MY HAND........NOTHING

SO WHAT ELSE COULD IT BE? THE DISTRIBUTOR OR IS THERE SOME KIND OF RELAY THAT COULD HAVE WENT BAD? i WOULD RATHER NOT PAY FOR A DISTRIBUTOR IF IT IS SOMETHING ELSE.

IF ANY ONE HAS SOME INFO IT WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED
THANKS CASEY​

 

[grumpyvette]

theres several potential reasons but the first thing Id do is pull the trouble codes, then replace the oil pressure sensor on the back of the block near the distrib, after making sure theres a good battery and the cars engine spins freely

read thru this it will help isolate the problem

http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/tech/howto/idx.php/0/016/article/

 

[90 corvette]

IS THERE ANY WAY I CAN PULL THE CODES WITHOUT HAVING TO TOW IT ANY WHERE?
AND WOULD IT BE OBD 1? CAN THE OIL PRESSURE SENSOR REALLY EFFECT SPARK IS IT LIKE A SAFETY OR SOMETHING?

 

[grumpyvette]

http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/tech/howto/idx.php/0/016/article/

you OBVIOUSLY did not read thru the link info, if the oil pressure fails to trip the sensor OR THE SENSORS DEFFECTIVE...NO SPARK

youll -need this sooner or later

http://www.helminc.com/helm/Result....dule=&mscsid=BJUVXMALDJKB9GQ0THUFJ5LAKTTP9VS4


here how you pull codes

http://sethirdgen.org/dtc.htm

 

[90 corvette]

YA I JUST FOUND THE LINK A LITTLE WHILE AGO, I FOUND THE OIL PRESSURE SWITCHES AT PARTSAMERICA.COM THERE LIKE 12-15 BUCKS ILL GO GET ONE SATURDAY ABD SEE IF IT WORKS. THANKS FOR ALL THE INFO

 

[XtremeVette]

some more things to check out....

I owned my 1990 for 8 years and learned a lot about it. I too had conditions that led to this problem. For me it was the lower pickup coil. This is in the distributor and you can't get to it unless you remove the distributor from the car. If its too much trouble to replace and your uncertain of the condition of the distributor itself I would say to replace the whole thing.

The wires get brittle when old and the lower pickup coil screen gets clogged and full of junk over time leading to a breakdown.

My car had no start conditions intermittent for over 2 years and it was this the whole time. I too replaced out all the stuff you did and it never went away until I learned about he lower coil.

Just letting you know.


Also one other note: the wires the push into the drivers side bottom of the distributor (3 different clips)....make sure you have good solid conditions and that the clips aren't broken. I had a broken clip on my battery wire that caused the connector to fall out enough to prevent the car from starting.

By the way....none of these will throw any codes. Codes are only thrown when a sensor reads something out of range.

If you need any other help, just email me
Jeff
xtremevette@hotmail.com

 

[90 corvette]

I TOOK THE DISTRIBUTOR CAP AND ROTOR OFF AND THE SCREEN IS PRETTY DIRTY AND WHERE IS THE LOWER COIL LOCATED? IS IT REPLACEABLE OR DO YOU HAVE TO BUY A NEW DISTRIBUTOR? IS IT DIFFICULT TO SET THE TIMING ON THE DISTRIBUTOR ONCE YOU TAKE IT OUT AND PUT IT BACK?

THANKS CASEY

 

[XtremeVette]

the lower coil is directly under the cap and rotor. You need to remove the distributor out of the car to replace it. Search the forum for information how to do this procedure. Yes you can replace just the lower coil. You will have to remove a pin from the shaft in order to do this and you have to mark the orientation to where the distributor is when in the car. This way when you drop in back in, you won't be off on the teeth alignment. When you place it back in and fire it up, timing is the normal procedure for a standard HEI car. Only difference, you have to disconnect the timing wire that is connected from the distributor to the computer. Again do a search on what this wire looks like and where to find it. There are pictures out there. Its a single wire with harnass and is brown in color. Once you disconnect that, use your timing light on it going by a manual to find the timing mark that will be on the frame of the motor near the water pump. Once again there are pictures out there...Ive seen em all lol.

need anything else Casey just let me know

 

[90 corvette]

YUP, IT WAS LOWER PICKUP COIL I CHANGED IT OUT AND THE CAR FIRED RIGHT UP NO PROBLEMS. AFTER I PUT EVERYTHING BACK TOGETHER I CHECKED THE TIMING AND I BELIEVE IM AT 6 DEGREES BTDC IM NOT REALLY SURE WHAT IT IS SUPOSE BE AT.........DOES ANY BODY KNOW WHAT THE FACTORY TIMING DEGREE IS......AND HOW DO THE NUMBERS GO ON THE TIMING TAB......EX. LIKE EACH POINT EQUALS WHAT? AND EACH INDENT EQUALS WHAT?


THANKS FOR ALL THE INFO IT WAS VERRY HELPFULL..........AND ANOTHER WAY TO CHECK THE PICKUP COIL TO SEE IF IT IS BAD OR NOT IS TO UNPLUG THE PICKUP COIL AND WITH A MULTIMETER CHECK THE RESISTANCE BETWEEN THE TWO WIRES ON THE PLUG YOU SHOULD GET A READING FROM 500 TO 1500 OHMS IF IT READS OUT OF THESE RANGES OR 0 IT NEEDS TO BE REPLACED.

 

[eddie20875]

when i replaced the module in mine (approx same mileage) plastic on the connectors were cracking. dealers couldn't get parts but went to ecklers and the had both. one was 19.99 and the other 79.99 (the one that goes to the ecm). on ecklers site they said these should be changed every 75,000 miles