The car ran perfectly the day before but then the day after it would start. It had battery power so that rules out spark plugs. The starter works because it would turn over but not start.

I am not sure if this is significant but my my car came up with error code 24 which means Throttle Position Sensor (TPS) signal out of range i have looked it up but i am not sure if that is what is causing it. I had been driving it before but some times the power loss light would stay on and the car would idle higher. But it has done that before and ran perfectly fine.

Also sometimes in the morning when it was cold the power loss light would turn on but it ran perfectly fine.

After having someone help me i saw that the coil isn't getting an electrical current but it does for a few seconds when you turn the key on.

i hope this is enough information.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

The car ran perfectly the day before but then the day after it would start. It had battery power so that rules out spark plugs. The starter works because it would turn over but not start.

How does battery power have anything to do with the spark plugs?

I am not sure if this is significant but my my car came up with error code 24 which means Throttle Position Sensor (TPS) signal out of range i have looked it up but i am not sure if that is what is causing it. I had been driving it before but some times the power loss light would stay on and the car would idle higher. But it has done that before and ran perfectly fine.

could be a TPS that has a bad spot (very common) and when a code is tripped it takes 255 key cycles for it to reset. Codes on these cars are active and historical mixed together. When ever someone sets ignition timing by disconnecting the ECT, a code is set even after the sensor is connected

Also sometimes in the morning when it was cold the power loss light would turn on but it ran perfectly fine.

same as above.

After having someone help me i saw that the coil isn't getting an electrical current but it does for a few seconds when you turn the key on.

when you first turn on the key, the ASD relay comes on which powers the coil, injector and fuel pump... then you should hear the fuel pump shut off after a couple seconds, when you crank the engine, the fuel pump comes back on. It needs to see a crank signal from the distributor to energize. (Does this give you any clues of how to test or do I need to spell out the exact procedure?)

i hope this is enough information.

No not enough info

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Your welcome, but I suppose you'll be all kinds of hateful of me because I didn't just give you an exact answer (everyone gets mad at me cuz I want them to try and figure it out. I give a clue or direction and leave the discovery and problem solving up to the person. An analogy of my philosophy is : "if I give you a fish you only eat for a day... if I teach you to fish, you'll eat for a lifetime"... point is if I just say 'replace this part' and it doesn't fix it then I'm called an idiot... if I say 'replace this part' and it fixes it, then all that was learned is if someone wants a problem solved then someone else will do it.) I want you to use some tips I provided to analyze the system to pinpoint the problem... that'll give you more mechanical skills for future problems.

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when you first turn on the key, the ASD relay comes on which powers the coil, injector and fuel pump... then you should hear the fuel pump shut off after a couple seconds, when you crank the engine, the fuel pump comes back on. It needs to see a crank signal from the distributor to energize. (Does this give you any clues of how to test or do I need to spell out the exact procedure?)

could you spell out the exact procedure because i don't do this stuff very often

 

I would start with replacing the TPS, there is a reason that code is being thrown, and from the what you said here:

"I am not sure if this is significant but my my car came up with error code 24 which means Throttle Position Sensor (TPS) signal out of range i have looked it up but i am not sure if that is what is causing it. I had been driving it before but some times the power loss light would stay on and the car would idle higher. But it has done that before and ran perfectly fine."

That would lead me to believe the TPS is causing your trouble, also I would change the plugs, battery power has nothing to do with the plugs working, once the engine is running the alternator takes over, you will also want to check the condition of your cap and rotor, look for corrosion under the cap, then I would check the spark plug wires, this can be done this way, wait till its dark have some one crank the engine and at the same time look for any stray sparks that would indicated a bad wire, Another thing you may want to check is the connections at the starter, battery and the ground, if you have any corrosion at the ground where it attaches to the body you will want to clean it and make sure it has a good connection.

 

I wouldn't replace one single part until you figure out why it won't run. does it have fuel pressure at the injector? does it have spark? just a stupid thought, did you make sure the timing belt didn't break?

 

it doesn't have a spark and there is no electricity to the coil except for a few seconds when i turn the key on

 

how are you testing this?

your first post said " It had battery power so that rules out spark plugs"

maybe you need more battery power?

 

I figured out the problem it was the distributor pickup plate. all i had to do was replace it and now the car starts fine.

 

great job of diagnosis.... I would have never thought of that based on your first post when you said "It had battery power so that rules out spark plugs" which made it sound like you checked and had spark.

 

Greetings group, I have the same issue as ajanfreak, with the exception of my distributor pick up coil was changed and I still have a no spark condition. The mechanic that worked on this car before me changed the wires, rotor and cap as well as the coil. When I spoke to him he mentioned something about a fuse may have been blown. I don't have a wiring schematic to find out what fuse powers the pick up coil if any. I went back over what he did and everthing seems to check out ok.Can someone assist me with further steps.