Hell Hath No Fury Like An ASE Master Mech. Scorned!!!

"You Get What You Pay For!"
"Could Things Get Any Worse?"
"What's The Worst That Could Happen?"

Greetings All!!!

I'm kinda new 'round here, and I'd like to ask a question. Perhaps someone can help me understand Why My Injectors Won't Fire?

But first let me share the story of how I came to own this car...
I was working nite shift a few years ago at a local paper mill.
I got off at 7am and started my 45 minute commute
home through rush hour traffic. Stuck in gridlock, I was reading
through the local Tell N' Sell want ads and came across an ad for...

"Mustang For Sale"
300.00 has OF wheels
xxx-xxx-xxxx

I said to myself "Ohhh! I know exactly what a 300.00 mustang
looks likecrapola, but what the heck are 'OF' WHEELS???"
I called got directions and wound up at the house of a divorcee that
was moving back to Chicago to manage mobile home construction
since the market had exploded (about the time of KATRINA and a number
of tornados in the Mid-West). The car was a 300.00 car alright. It had been
parked under a large cedar tree and had seen untold years of rain under it's
shade. It was covered with dirty tarp, cedar needles, a smattering of mold on the
paint, infested with wasps, a 2'x2' hole in the top, and had a flat tire no battery!
attempted to start the car with the battery I had and couldn't. After hagglin' for a
bit I got the car for 150.00! After I got back with the cash, She started tellin me
her "Ex-husband was a ASE certified master mechanic, and he had done
some work back in the late 70's/early 80's on supercharger work for the automotive industry."

Daniel Basa??? Nevuh Hoida Him!
Well I figured I could git er dun and wind-up with a pretty decent '90 fox vert.
Boy was I wrong!!!

Over the course of the last few years, I have changed these items in an attempt
to reach stage zero...(while chasing a "running" condition!)
fuel pump (60 psi at the rail)
four new injectors
fuel pump relay
fuel filter
fuel pressure reg.
distributor
cap and button
TFI Module
wires
plugs
timing belt
map sensor
ecu

A neighbor spoke of a problem with his ignition switch. I looked into that
hoping to find that "EUREKA" moment but it came up nutz!
My last diagnosis showed that the injectors were not receiving a signal from the ECU to fire.
Having already "shotguned" a number of parts I need to get a second opinion.

Are there fusible links that would power down the computer?
Where can I find them?
What color would the wires be?

I'm not sayin this guy really did put the whammy on this fox... but I have put 'bout a grand into a car that still doesn't even run yet!!!

arrrgh!!!


Come on live Dammit!
LIVE!!!

Am I correct in saying the 1990 mustang LX convertible does not have a crank position sensor?

robbo1987*2.3* said:

make sure your injector harness is grounded and that all your grounds on the motor/carare good

other than that you might have a bad ecu happens all the time give those a whack


and if im right a 90 is a distributor car so no it has no crank sensor

Click to expand...

I imagine there are several points to ground the harness. The Haynes manual may number them but it is definitely clueless as to where to point the average "do it yourselfer" to start looking. A bad harness ground can give these symptoms? REALLY???

Red_LX said:

It cranks but won't start, correct?

Click to expand...

That is exactly the case! Upon deeper inspection i have noticed that a test light will not blink when hooked to the injector plug and the key is rotated to KOEO!
COULD IT BE A GROUND? The dealer said that to test the ecu I must bring the car into the dealership. How do Itell if its a ground or if its the ECU???

The spark is there...i have confirmed that the tfi module is good etc, ect. Where the issue begins is where is the fuel at? I have 60 psi at the schrader valve on the fuel rail, but the injectors do not pulse at all! I can start the car on starter fluid but that is about it. With the KOEO, the fuel pump RUNS CONSTANTLY! There isn't a brief pump operation hum...IT IS CONSTANTLY RUNNING! Should I give the ECU a whack??? Where is that technique usually most effective? I had an auto technician tell me it could be the pick-ups in the distributor???Waddaya tink???

Red_LX said:

If the injectors are not firing you certainly found one part of your problem....Hm.

Also, I'm pretty sure the pump is SUPPOSED to be always running with the key on. The fuel pumps on these cars are pretty loud and emit an audible whine.

By any chance have you tried running the codes on the car?

Click to expand...

I don't get any codes except for the EGR error code. The problem involving starting the car has been intermittent, but it has fallen into a "not running at all condition". When it was intermittent, I could tell when the car was going to start. When the fuel pump would cycle on and prime the fuel system, it would then shut off at some predetermined time/pressure and it would crank right up! If the pump kept running, I knew that it would just turn over and not start when I tried the key. I've heard things like the ignition switch, the pick-up on the distributor, even the ECU I replaced is suspect. I don't wanna shotgun any more parts at it unless I can tell for sure that I can find a Bona Fide fault in the system. MAN OBDI DOESN'T TELL YOU A DAMN THANG!

EEC4 troubleshooting guide
Jrichker
ROGER!
WILCO!
OUT!

Man! That was some very informative reading!!! Not quite done yet though still reading more.