Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Cranks Won't Start

I am the proud owner of a 1996 LX, V-6, ATX (one of Fords finer products) that won't start. Has fuel pressure and battery voltage at the coil in the key-on position, but no spark on a timing light during cranking. I think the problem may be A: coil B: crankshaft position sensor C: PCM, but don't know the procedures to test these or if it might be something else. HELP! Stranded was not a good way to spend Easter.

i had the crankshaft position sensor fail in my car. would crank all day, but no ignition. the cps a pretty cheap part at under $20 IIRC.

Thanks for the input. Is there any way to test the Crank Sensor? I tried to locate one today and nobody had one in stock. I also checked the coil wth an ohm meter and I think it is ok, .5 ohm between the +12v terminal and the three input terminals on the primary side, 13.5Kohm between the spark plug terminals on the secondary side. Also there were no shorts to ground. The parts store told me that there is an ignition module but I don't know where it is, I thought the ignition was controlled by the PCM. I just hate to throw parts at the problem if I can help it.

Don't know how much this will help you, but testing procedure of Crankshaft sensor are as follows:

WOW! That's some indepth info! Unfortunately I don't own a break-out box, so I guess I'll have to try harder to find someone with a sensor in stock. In the worste case for $20 it will be a cheap spare. As for the Ignition Module, what's-up with that? Does it exist? Where is it at?

What's a breakout box?