Can anyone tell me? On my 88' dak 3.9, is it the pickup coil (halls effect) that sends the necessary signal to the SMEC to fire the negative signal to the ignition coil?

Here's why; no 12v neg signal is going to my ignition coil via the lead that comes directly from the 14pin connector at my SMEC. I replaced the wire in its entirety just to be sure it was not the actual wire itself. I then read about how to test proper pick up coil operation by jumping the 2 & 3 position connectors at the distributor main plug. Apparently this should have created a spark for me off the coil. No spark upon running test HOWEVER it does wet the throttle body with fuel. So I'm left wondering, is the pickup coil bad or not??? It's obviously sending a signal if I'm receiving fuel to the TB every time I jump it. But I still have no spark. Think maybe SMEC is bad? Not sure. But my reasoning is if the pickup coil is what sends signal to call for negative pulse, then possibly it's bad if no spark. I'm starting to talk and think in circles. Any thoughts?

Yes I jumped the ASD relay as well.

 

Yes it can cause no running situation, since the sensor signal can't be viewed by the PCM to provide ignition timing to to the engine.

 

Ok. Well, I replaced the pick up coil last night, cleaned out the connectors at the brain box, and rechecked for corroded wires/connections... Still the same situation :-/ all I can figure is it must be the SMEC. I can't think of any other reason for it. Anything else you can think of tht I might try? I tried to find the SMEC at the salvage yard yesterday, but to no avail. Apparently 88 is exclusive to itself for the lack of interchangeability with the SMEC on other years.

 

I know it has been about month, was wondering if you were able to solve the problem. If not I have a few ideas, if so what was the issue? Thanks

 

It did end up being the computer. Ordered a new one, started up great. Thanks for the help