94 Excel Suddenly died

  • Thread starter Thread starter Silverfoot
  • Start date Start date
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Silverfoot

I have a 94 excel which died on me about a month ago with no warning.
The car will crank with lots of juice but has no spark. I am some what
mechanically inclined but am completely stumped when it comes to
electrical and ignition systems on vehicles.

So far I have replaced the distributor cap, rotor and the coil. None of
these have fixed the problem. I think I might be looking in the wrong
place. I have seen the post on similar problems but am in need of a
little bit of help. I figured if I could get the car to spit out codes
I might be able to narrow down the problem. I have not been able to get
any codes using a light meter. I think I have located the place in the
fuse box where to connect it, but I could be wrong. Do I need to have
the key on when performing these tests? Does the ground for my light
meter need to connected to one of the terminals in the fuse box or
simply grounded to the car?

Any help with getting this car running would be a very much
appreciated.
 
Silverfoot said:
I have a 94 excel which died on me about a month ago with no warning.
The car will crank with lots of juice but has no spark. I am some what
mechanically inclined but am completely stumped when it comes to
electrical and ignition systems on vehicles.

So far I have replaced the distributor cap, rotor and the coil. None of
these have fixed the problem. I think I might be looking in the wrong
place. I have seen the post on similar problems but am in need of a
little bit of help. I figured if I could get the car to spit out codes
I might be able to narrow down the problem. I have not been able to get
any codes using a light meter. I think I have located the place in the
fuse box where to connect it, but I could be wrong. Do I need to have
the key on when performing these tests? Does the ground for my light
meter need to connected to one of the terminals in the fuse box or
simply grounded to the car?

Any help with getting this car running would be a very much
appreciated.
Click to expand...
It may be the crank position sensor. You can get the codes read at
Autozone, VIP and other parts/service stores at no charge, or you can
buy a code reader there. I managed to get codes from my '94 Excel using
a voltmeter. IIRC, the access panel is under the dash on the left side,
but I don't remember the entire procedure.
 
Thanks for the replys - I kinda thought it was either the computer or
the crank position sensor. I have read alot posts about the sensor. Is
it possible to use a light meter as opposed to a voltmeter? Is the
access panel the access to the fuse box? Does anybody now where the
crank position sensor is located? What is the sensor worth?
 
Silverfoot said:
Thanks for the replys - I kinda thought it was either the computer or
the crank position sensor. I have read alot posts about the sensor. Is
it possible to use a light meter as opposed to a voltmeter?
Click to expand...

I doubt it, as the signal is very weak. It probably won't illuminate a
bulb, but it might work with a low-power LED.
Is the access panel the access to the fuse box?
Click to expand...

No, the computer is higher up under the dash. It's easy to spot, as it
has two large wiring harnesses connected to it. IIRC, the metal cover on
mine was black.
Does anybody now where the
crank position sensor is located? What is the sensor worth?
Click to expand...

Can't help you here, sorry. You could try going to www.hmaservice.com,
signing up (it's free), then checking to see if they have the Excel
manual online. BTW, the site only works with Internet Explorer.
 
Thanks Brian - I was using trying to using a light meter against some
post inside the fuse box. I had been on the hmaservice sight many times
and couldn't get anywhere on it. I was using firefox. I logged in use
IE and it came up fine.

It looks like I might be able to get somewhere. I will keep you all
posted. I am sure I will have more questions as I proceed. Thanks again.
 
jimmyh said:
sounds like the computer is shot
Click to expand...

Not likely. The computers fail, but fail rarely compared to the
sensors. Likely a sensor failure, the trick is finding out which one.


Matt
 
You'll want to use the diagnostic connector inside the fuse box. You can
ground to a terminal there or anywhere on the car. I always found the
door check pin convenient (as long as you remember to remove the clip
before closing the door). It won't work with a test light. I have seen
it work with a diode. I've used a sweep meter when the scan tool was
broken.

The crank/cam sensors are located inside the distributor. You may want to
check the timing belt first. Since both sensors run off the cam, nothing
happens if the cam doesn't turn.
 
Brian said:
It may be the crank position sensor. You can get the codes read at
Autozone, VIP and other parts/service stores at no charge, or you can
buy a code reader there. I managed to get codes from my '94 Excel
using a voltmeter. IIRC, the access panel is under the dash on the
left side, but I don't remember the entire procedure.
Click to expand...

I know on the '94 Scoupe you could use a volt meter.

--
 
Thanks for the advice - I have digital meter - I think that a sweep
meter may be able to follow. I am going to try with the digital meter
tonight and at least see if I can get something pumping out of it.
There are 3 pins located at the top inside the fuse box - should any of
these three work? I am going to get these codes one of these days!
 
I believe the connector is in the bottom of the fuse box. There will be
several pins there, but I believe there's something like 10 to 14 spaces
for pins total.

If you go to www.hmaservice.com and go through the fuel section of the
shop manual, it'll show you how to do this.

I'd be very surprised if you can get anything out of the digital meter.
The codes are displayed as two digits with the long sweeps indicating the
tens digit and the short sweeps indicating the units digit.
 
I went to www.hmaservice.com and went throught the fuel section. It was
very helpful. I was able to locate the connector in the fuse box. It
showed me which pins to use. I bought an analog voltage meter. I
couldn't get any results out of the meter. I had the ignition on, my
ground was solid - I checked this by touching the positive lead from
the multimeter to one of the fuses where I got a reading. I charged up
the batter so it had a full charge - what is going on? The manual said
that if the ECM was shot - You would get a constant reading with the
meter. I really need some help! Thanks in advance.
 
Sounds like you have no output from the ECM. Does your check engine lamp
come on when you turn the key on? If not, check for proper power and
ground to the ECM.
 
Last night I actually read about the check engine light and how it
should come on if there is a problem. It doesn't come on at all when I
turn the key. I did check to ensure the ECM was grounded. I wasn't sure
how to do this so I simply ensured that the bolt used to fasten the ECM
to the vehicle was snug. It had two black wires under it so I figured
it was some sort of ground. How do I check for Power and ground to the
ECM?
 
On the www.hmaservice.com site, there's a tab labeled "ETM." This tab
leads to the schematics. You'll be interested in the MFI schematic.
Simply check for power in all the wires that should have power (using a
test light or your voltmeter). Simply unplug the ECM and check the wires
in the harness. If all the wires that should have power do have power,
then check your ground. Choose one of the powered wires and then touch
the ground wires and make sure you get the typical 12V.

At this point, I suspect you may have a blown fuse or a bad MFI relay.
You might wish to check all the fuses inside and out first.
 
I was able to locate the MFI - I ran out of time last night or should I
say the Mosquitos got the better of me. I will be checking the MFI
tonight. Last night I was pretty frustrated I was almost giving up
hope. But I think that you may be onto something with a bad MFI relay.
I did check all the fuses inside the car as well as a couple of fuses
located close to the Windshield washer resevoir. The seemed to check
out just fine. Is there any other locations I should be checking out? I
have printed off pages and pages from the hmaservice website. One
question - to check connectivity for the ECM ground, can I tapp into a
fuse with power and touch the ground wire to the ECM grounds on the
wire harness?
 
You want to do this ground testing with the ECM *unplugged* and you want to
do it from the ECM connectors. You can use a voltmeter or test light with
one end on a wire with power (or a powered fuse like you mentioned) and
the other end on the terminal in the connector. Just touch the terminals,
don't stick your probes into them-- this can damage the terminals.

It's been a while since I've worked on one of these. I don't recall
whether there is a sizeable underhood fuse block or not. If so, it should
be a black box of reasonable size and pretty much readily identifiable.
 
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