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New guy tracing electrical gremlins 03 MCS *help*

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Old 10-16-2020 | 07:59 PM
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New guy tracing electrical gremlins 03 MCS *help*


The Car started and ran fine. Pulled out into driveway, hour later wont start. Fully charged battery, no codes, turns over. I started at the coil, no spark. Checked the coil connector wire, no power. Just checked wire to ECM, no power. (With key on)
When cranking the motor the RPMs go up, so not crank sensor.
key still locks and unlocks door.. so its not immobilizer right? Thanks for the help.
 
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Old 10-20-2020 | 03:28 PM
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I don't know much about your issues, but I want to zero in on the coil connector wire. You said you checked it, no power. Have you checked the condition of the 3 wires leading away from the coil pack?

Reason I ask is I just fixed a problem I was having with only 2 cylinders firing. I traced the wire away from the connector and found a wire issue buried inside the conduit. Here are 2 short threads for reference. I hope yours is a simple problem too. Good luck.

Mine: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...lp-please.html
Another one: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...tor-issue.html
 
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Old 10-20-2020 | 03:52 PM
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Thank you! I will check it out tonight! I hope it is an easy fix.
 
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Old 10-20-2020 | 08:27 PM
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I checked the 3 wires leading to coil. No issues. I did find that there is continuity between all 3 tabs on the coil that those wires connect to.
 
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Old 10-20-2020 | 09:52 PM
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From: Expat Aussie in Navarre, FL
Originally Posted by Frankenstuff
I checked the 3 wires leading to coil. No issues. I did find that there is continuity between all 3 tabs on the coil that those wires connect to.
Yes you should get somewhere around 0.5 ohms to 1.5 ohms across those 3 pins; I think the center one is common. And somewhere over 10 megohms across 1 & 4 terminals and 2 & 3 terminals. Here's a great video for reference:

The connector on my coil pack looked perfect in every way. With that video, I did the test for voltage coming out of the connector to the ignition coil when the ignition is switched on. If you look at that video, you'll see the guy got the pulsing signal in one portion of that test. I never got the pulsing signal and didn't pursue why I didn't, but the rest of the test was the same so I was baffled at that point. I don't know if there will be a pulsing signal now that it's fixed, but I could probably test it tomorrow and report back.

Anyway, a few more days of my Mini sitting cold and alone in the driveway passed, and I saw that other thread and thought I'd give it a shot, so I stripped down about 12 inches of the conduit the wire was in and saw a repair in what seems to be the exact same place as that other guy's on that other thread. It looks like it is a tight run and with the engine straining under load, I suppose it puts physical stress on those wires.

So what you know is, it cranks but there's no spark at any of the out pins on the coil pack. I imagine you checked all 4 out pins for spark. There are about 6 or 8 fuses that could possibly be involved and they are all over the place - the engine bay fuse box, and both the kick panel fuse boxes inside (one on each footwell). I removed and tested each one, I think they were the 5A ones.

From what I'm learning, since I'm new at this too, I believe a vast number of these electrical problems are the result of damaged wiring or poor connections at junction boxes.
 
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