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First thing, when an engine is sprayed with coolant you must rinse it off with water or there will be a residue. This is most important down in the plug holes, and the plug wires will arc if not washed off. If coolant has dried you may need some soap before rinsing.




Rinsed the engine off the next morning. (This had happened during the night. After walking several miles to parts store and cobbling a patch section in to hose to get home I was beat!) Everything was still pretty wet with coolant and rinsed off easily, then sprayed some Zep orange cleaner on and used a sponge to get everything as clean as possible, then rinsed again. I'm thinking that the hosing off might have made things worse than otherwise, especialy given the state of my wiring! Today I pulled all the plug wires, blew out plug holes w/ compressed air and removed plugs. Plugs showed normal wear for 20k miles, nice tan/grey color, no deposits. Cleaned threads, taper seat and gave a fresh coat of nuclear grade antiseize B4 installing with torque wrench. Used dielectric (tune up) grease on boots. Also pulled coil pack leads, blew out w/ air and gave a little spritz of Caig DeOxit D5 into sockets and blew again with compressed air. Spread the terminals out a little for good connection, dielectric greased the terminal boots and reinstalled. Cleaned all the coil pack connections while I was at it, including the resistor and ground strap.

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The ECT reads high when cold. This code means it is out of normal range. They are sealed so if the wiring is OK just replace it. You are probably flooding since the ECU thinks the engine is very cold. You can also check the output on the center pin with a meter.




Replaced ECT about a month ago during my cooling fan debacle. Output from the PCM (ECU) to the ECT was about 4.7 VDC as I recall. I don't think flooding is problem, I'm leaning more towards lack of fuel!

1.I pulled the plugs after a "no start" go around and they were dry.

2. If I cycle the ignition on/off about 5 times and then try to start, car will run (poorly)for a minute B4 dying. The "5 Time" procedure is used to reprime/pressurize fuel system after fuel system work like replacing fuel pump.

3. If I remove air intake tube at throttle body and spray starting fluid in, engine runs for a few seconds, so I'm getting spark.

I'm thinking there may be something to those 542 and 543 codes after all. Tomorow I'm going to Pep Boys and see if I can borrow/rent a fuel pressure gauge, hook to the fuel rail and run a pressure/ pump/ regulator test. If nescessary, I'll make a jumper assembly, bypass the pump wiring and run the fuel pump continuosly, as if it where in "limp home mode". That should verify if its the pump itself or the wiring/ control system to it. (Unless of course the fuel filter or sock is clogged!)

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The PIP is a signal from the EDIS module to the ECU used to sync ignition timing. If this signal is missing ignition timing will revert to a base timing of 10 degrees BTDC. The EDIS module will continue to fire the coils so this is not killing the engine. It's possible that weak or erratic signals from the crank and cam sensors are causing this, or it may be other wiring or a connector that leads to the ECU.



OK, time for me to learn something else new! What is an "EDIS module"? Haven't run across that one B4 and it's not in Haynes manual or the CEG abbreviation FAQ. I guess I'll be testing the Crank sensor tomorrow too. (I wanted to that today, but it's such a PIA to get at! Guess I'll remove the wheel and the splah panel!

Any other thoughts? Anyone?

Former, now returned CEG'er! 95SE MTX, (AKA "The Road Rat"). Stock except for:TH fix, B.A.T. big brake kit, tranny cocktail and lots of re-insulated wiring! May yet be a 3.0! "Speed doesn't kill, stupidity does!"