I'm seeing a common theme with these cars, I changed the relays 1st cuz it was cheapest. I noticed that they werent mounted to the firewall so I'm assuming the previous owner did the same. The cps is new and could tell it had been replaced recently. I am having the no spark issue that everyone has. when i first got this car it would run okay (slight miss) untill the temp guage reached normal operating temp. then it would run terrible the check engine lite would flash with the motor sputter almost like I had cut the key off and on rapidly. the previous owner had ran straight power to the fans so i figured a cooling problem. the temp sensor seemed to work but i replaced it to be safe...no change, hooked the fans back up the way they were supposed to be...no change. after all this drove to work same thing acts up at normal operating temp. then bam won't start and now no spark. i also noticed that the pcm (cpu) was not mounted and had a make shift ground wire. i drilled out the broken bolts from fender well and retapped, put in new bolts and removed make shift ground.....anyhow. how should i check for voltage at distributor? and is there a way to check the pcm? if it is the pcm and i understand they are expensive could i get 1 from the junk yard or are they vin specific.

 

fuel pump cycles for like a second or so. got constant 12 then 12 with key on at relay. I pulled the dist cap off and it looked like straight dog turds. the cap in the middle (button) was wore down to nada. I just went up and got another and changed the plugs in the back (what an easy thing to do...not) looked like the plugs were the original. anyhow got it all back together and same thing, just turns over. pulled a plug wire put it near ground and no spark.

 

okay, now I've found a schematic (thanks autozone) and I found that with out the battery installed I have continuity from the 2 prong harness on the distributor to battery. with battery connected I have voltage to the mulitprong (5 I think) on the distributor, so if I have voltage going in and nothing going out I assume it's the distributor. I have found one here locally at a junk yard for about 30 bucks. I'm gonna try to get that 2morrow.

 

found a newer distributor in a 98 seebring, that was a pain in the rear compared to the avenger to get to. anyhow got it home put it in and instantly fired up.