I guess I may as well put on the high performance Accel distributor cap, rotor and plugs I’ve got here tomorrow but I’ve got serious doubts that a bad cap, rotor or plugs are causing it to just die or not start randomly. Especially when it runs perfectly smooth when it does run. Back in the 70’s & 80’s & 90’s if you had a bad cap or rotor or wires or plugs they just ran rough and like ship, misfiring and stuff. Mine is not doing that but maybe these newer computerized vehicles computers shut the ignition or spark down before they start to run rough and misfire 🤔🤔
Thanks again Hey You and Moparite 🙏🏻
Oh shoot I’m Sorry I meant to ask one more thing….🙏🏻.
if it was a weak fuel pump and it just died and I started to crank it over again and it didn’t start…… ( I should still see spark on the plugs right )
or will the computer shut off the power to the coil if it doesn’t see fuel pressure ??
I really appreciate your patience and help. 🙏🏻🙏🏻

 

Think I would pull the column covers, and have a look in there too..... The whole 'sometimes good spark, sometimes not' thinks could be a failing crank sensor..... but, them fellers ain't exactly inexpensive for a 'maybe'..... Do NOT use an aftermarket sensor there, gotta be genuine mopar sensor. The trucks just don't like the aftermarket fellers.

Of course, could be the coil too...... or half a dozen other things..... Yeah, that's a lotta help eh?

 

Not sure what kind of "tool" you have there. Timing lights clamp on one of the wires and you pull the trigger on it. Did you verify this "tool" works on a good running vehicle? You can test the coil by reading the resistance between the terminals. The correct readings are in the service manual. If they are not within speck the coil could be bad. If it's a crank/cam sensor intermittently not working you need high end scanner to monitor them to determine if they are failing. There is a way of using a meter but not as easy as a scanner.


timing light

 

I have my abs, brake and check engine light on, read that abs module was bad so I replaced it, read codes again and said loss of communication from speed sensors but module code not there, dtc's don't clear,I have no speedometer and now somehow it's affecting the power when I come to a stop battery level goes down I had battery and alternator checked and both fine, I've replaced all three speed sensors the one in the rear end and input and output as well, I'm stuck!! Help anyone

 

I have used my timing light also.
The timing light lights up when it’s running (obviously) but not when it does not.
This is the tool (if I can figure out how to share a picture here) that I used. You just hold it against one of the plug wires.. The thing is sometimes it would lite up the whole window by the lightning bolt and then on the next spark on that plug it would only light up half way up the glass window.
It seems the spark intensity is varying a lot. But when the engine dies there’s no spark at all.
I called an old friend of mine today that was really into engine diagnosis back 30yrs ago when I was not really into it as much as him and he thinks fuel pump because I told him “the fuel pump doesn’t cut in every single time I turn the key on

You just hold the tip up against the plug wire. Sometimes lit up the whole window and sometimes only half way. Btw I think someone asked about the coil.. I just replaced it 3 years ago with a brand new one but it could have been made in China or Mexico on a Friday night shift. I guess my next step is to check if power is still going to the coil after it dies. Thanks Again 🙏🏻
(sometimes only minutes in between) trying to start it..
but he says it should cut in every time I turn the key even if it is 20 seconds apart.
But I don’t understand why it’s losing spark. If it was an intermittent problem with the fuel pump should I not still see spark at the plugs ?
I thank you and everyone for your help..

 

You may want to start your own thread and not hijack this one!

 

I made the mistake of putting an Accell coil on mine, A little over a year and it died leaving me stranded. Since that episode i carry a spare just in case. As i said you need the check the coil! The asd relay supplies power to the coil, 02's and injectors so i doubt that's the problem. If you suspect the asd relay swap it out with the horn relay. The pcm will shut off the off the asd relay after a short period if the engine is not running. Check the coil resistance readings to what is says in the factory manual. If they check out then you need to see if you are losing a signal from the crank/cam sensor.

 

When I mentioned Accel in a previous message I was referring to the gold plated or brass plated cap and rotor that I bought around 3 years ago and just haven’t installed them yet.
My cap and rotor are probably 9 yrs old (But I drive less than 5000Klm’s a year) so I bought the Acell stuff online but haven’t gotten around to doing it yet.
It runs as smoothly as brand new off the lot when it does run.
At close to 60 I’m dreading having to lay ontop of the engine and rad for 4-5 hours trying to even reach the screws in the distributor because it’s basically so far back I should probably pull my radio out of my dash and sawzall a hole in the firewall to get at it.
The coil that I replaced was the factory original one and I thought because it looked pretty bad I would just replace it as preventative measure.
The new coil i installed 3-4 years ago is a “Delphi” which I thought was what the factory used on the assembly line.
The old one looked really bad and I was afraid it would leave me stranded somewhere one day.
Here is the old one and a picture of the box the new one came in.. thanks so much 🙏🏻 And yes when I can find someone to turn the key for me my next step is check output and input on the coil. I’m a single old guy living in a city where I do not know many ppl and have few friends or not much family or nobody to help me unfortunately.
But I’ll ask my neighbor if he can turn the key for me. Since he moved in next door 2 years ago I’ve fixed his vehicle 4-5 times for free 👍 so hopefully he will at least turn the key for me 🙏🏻
Thanks so much for your help 🙏🏻

 

It’s a cool and damp night here. So I just thought I’d go give the old girl a try.
She fired up for around 30 seconds and then just shut off.
I turned off the key then plugged in my scanner and turned the key back on and while the Scanner was doing its thing the Odometer started flashing on and off and then came up No-buS
hmmmm. Does that mean the computer is ducked or it just doesn’t want to communicate with my scanner anymore for whatever reason..
is there a chance this ground is causing all this trouble ?
I’m so great full for all the help. 🙏🏻

 

It’s a cool and damp night here. So I just thought I’d go give the old girl a try.
She fired up for around 30 seconds and then just shut off.
I turned off the key then plugged in my scanner and turned the key back on and while the Scanner was doing its thing the Odometer started flashing on and off and then came up No-buS
hmmmm. Does that mean the computer is ducked or it just doesn’t want to communicate with my scanner anymore for whatever reason..
is there a chance this ground is causing all this trouble ?
I’m so great full for all the help. 🙏🏻