96 avenger won't start
 

new to this site thanks in advance.
Just bought my son his first car 96 Avenger engine 2.0 auto trans.Test drove the car ran fine went back to pick it up and had to jump start it ran fine on the way home.Took the battery out tryed to charge it it would not charge picked up a new battery installed it. The car turns over but won't start.Checked all the fuses and fusable links they are all good.Went and got a manual and have been thru all the trouble shooting processes car still won't start.The fuel pump will not come on and there is no spark.I checked the relays on the fire wall with an ohm meter they appear to be good.It appears some one has changed the coil and had to cut the orginal plug off and put a new plug on and onyl taped the wires to gather i would like to solder them but i want to make sure they connected right first so if some has done this let me know what wire go's to where the plug is different than the wires coming from the cars. I also bought a new fuel pump but this did not help either. Is there a way to check the crank sensor and the cam postion sensor without buying new ones. also everthing works lights horn blower for the heater,radio. But the check engine light do's not come on when you turn the key on.Only the air bag light oil pressure and door light come on.
Sorry for the long post just trying to cover everthing first. I read thru the form first also sound like common problem with no clear answer.

RE: 96 avenger won't start
 

Hi there toolman and welcome to DF.
Thank you for putting up the detailed info. It paints a good picture for us to help you troubleshoot:)
Ok, where to start......Fuel, you said that the fuel pump does not come on when you start the car, so that means that you don't hear it make a "whirring or humming" noise. Just to make sure, turn the ignition to the ON position, but don't start the car. If you still don't hear it and you've already changed the pump, I would still suspect the relays on the firewall. They are tricky to diagnose because the contacts are open when there's no power applied, you need to power them up to make sure that they are making contact inside. Those relays are very inexpensive to replace, Radio Shack carries 12volt relays and those are what most of us use when replacing all 2 or 4 of them.

The Check Engine Light should come on. It's a self check for the cluster, just like the other lights. This leads me to believe that the bulb is either blown or has been pulled. That one is an easy fix if either of the two. Just unscrew the black bezel, unscrew the instrument cluster (it's tricky to get out because you have to move it around a bit), and look for missing bulbs. The CEL should be on the left hand side while looking at the cluster.

I don't know of any way to check the sensors though.

I would replace the CEL bulb first. The reason I say that is so that you can do the key dance and you may be able to get some two digit codes off the ECU, though generic, the codes can help narrow down the issue(s). I would also suspect the relays on the fire for you starting issues. I'm guessing that you have 3 relays? One being the ASD relay (towards the passenger side), fuel pump relay, and EATX or the tranny relay. If you do have a fourth, there's no need to worry about that one, nobody really knows too much about that relay and I don't even think that it was stated in the book, unless I just missed it. I don't believe the I4 has the common CPS issue that the V6 has either...lucky for you, lol.

Which coil are you referring to? The coilpack for the spark plugs? Starter coil? Since you mentioned no spark, I am assuming the coilpack, but I want to make sure before I start looking for info for the wiring.

RE: 96 avenger won't start
 

Thanks for the reply
The fuel pump dose not come on when we turn the key on or turn the key to the start position no noise at all.I got new relays from radio shack that did not help either.I decided to jump the fuel pump from the terminal block where the relay plugs in the fuel pump came on I have fuel pressure gauged hook up brought it right to 50psi.

The CEL worked before i put the new battery in not to say it may be the bulb now I will have to check.

The coil pack that the plug wires go to.But Im talking about the primary wires that bring the 12 volt's to the coil pack.

I took the cam shaft position sensor off and cleaned it reinstalled it .Tryed to remove the crankshaft sensor and broke it got the piece out of the block will have to pick up a new one before we can continue.

The manual (Haynes) i have does not have any test procedure for these sensors if you know of any please let me know.

I'm starting to think the PCM is bad is there any way to test it. A second thought is maybe the ignition switch is not doing it's job.

RE: 96 avenger won't start
 

Have you had the alternator tested? On the alternator and batteries fusible links, do both sides read battery voltage with the key in the ON position? Do you get battery voltage on the power wire on the alternator also? If the car was running, you should get around 15 volts on the alternators fusible link at idle. Check a plug, is it soaked with fuel?
I'm starting to think it to be the PCM too. There's no real way to check the PCM or sensors unless you have friends at a dealership and even then I don't know if they have the computers to check them. You could always ask though, they may just do it for you. You could also take a trip out to a junk yard and nab a PCM from an Avenger or Sebring of the same trim and year. That may save a bit of money.
I don't know about the ignition switch, I would think that some of the lighting and such wouldn't come on since it's basically a on/off switch that closes the circuit and goes to a distribution block of sorts then to individual items.

It kinda stinks that you bought the car with it running good enough for a test drive, but then when you pick it up, it just goes..blah!

RE: 96 avenger won't start
 

No have not checked the alternator but I will. The car ran fine when we picked it up but we had to jump it to get it started when we got home i checked the battery and it was bad so I took the battery out got a new battery the next day after work put it in and the darn thing turns over but won.t start. I have pulled all the plugs and ran comperssion test it is really good the plug were dry it looked like the engine is to lean. Thats why i thought the fuel pump was bad. I,m going to pick up the crank sensor another 80.00 bucks I still need to make sure this coil is wired right. I Should still get 12 volts to one of the three wires going to the primary side of the coil as of now nothing to any of them.

Yes it really stinks. we have spent all weekend working and putting money it to it my son is really upset it is his first car maybe a good lesson some where in all of this

thanks
Tim

RE: 96 avenger won't start
 

I'm now sure (as I can be) the PCM took a dump for some reason. I checked the CEL bulb it is good.I got wiring diagram from Autozones web site . We traced the wires from the ASD relay and the fuel pump relay.Every wire is doing what is suppose to execpt the wires going to the PCM. So we traced them back to the plug on the PCM number 67 and 74 and there is contiuity up to the relay plugs so we figure some thing has died in the PCM. I will try to find one and let eveyone know if it works.

Thanks
Tim

RE: 96 avenger won't start
 

Fingers crossed...

RE: 96 avenger won't start
 

Well the PCM worked the car is back running.

I just wish we new what happened I've worked on hunders of different cars and trucks and have never seen any thing like this.

I took the old PCM back off and can not see any thing burnt so who knows.

Thanks for your input
Tim the toolman
Yes I have tools to fix tools so I'm told

RE: 96 avenger won't start
 

Good news! Glad that worked for you.

RE: 96 avenger won't start / idles high
 

We got the car to run but now it idles high when you first start it it tach's about 2 grand and slowly come's down to 12 / 13 hundered and stays ther until you put it in gear then go's down to about 1000. Checked for vaccum leaks none fuel pressure is 42 with the key on 51 psi with the engine running. It has new plugs & plug wires.I was thinking TPS read my Haynes manual it says if I change the sensor you need to take it to the dealer to be calibrated with a scan tool is this true if so maybe because the PCM was unhooked I need to have this done. So I did the key dance and got a weird code 1255 this not in my book. Just to make sure I'm reading it right it was one flash pause two flashes pause five flashes pause and five more flashes.

Thanks
Tim