Well, I've been having this problem for about 2 weeks now and I think it's finally here to stay. Occasionally, my car would die when idling, and stumble real bad when driving around sometimes. It was intermittent. I assumed it could be the egr (fixed that) fuel filter (replaced that) timing(adjusted that), MAF (it checked out fine)... Well, I went out to work on it some more this morning and it refused to start. I read my Haynes and it turns out you can check some of the codes without a code scanner. Just jumper the test lead and such and the check engine light flashes in binary to give you the three digit code. Turns out I have codes 211 and 212. Code 211 is the profile ignition Pick-up circuit fault and code 212 is the ignition module circuit failure/SPOUT circuit grounded. I checked for power to the ignition module and checked for a good ground. I have both. I checked the distributor. It looks like it's got some miles on it but all the pick-ups are good and their isn't any carbon build-up or cracking and such. I checked the coil to see if it had a ground and it didn't. Now for the 20 million dollar question. Do I need a new ignition module? If so should I get an aftermarket one or go for the stocker? I'm guessing aftermarket. Please recommend some brands. Also, on a side note. I installed a air/fuel mixture gauge to help troubleshooting to see if I was getting too much or not enough gas. As it turns out (yesterday my car was running) at WOT it's as lean as it can get and the instructions said the car should be running slightly rich. Everything else appeared normal with the gauge. Is this a related problem or a second one? No other codes were pulled from the memory so maybe the gauge is wrong? Please help. I can't stand to drive my wifes corolla anymore...
HELP!!!! Car won't start!!
- Thread starter grrrrrrr
- Start date
squall9393
New Member
Don't know what to tell you about your problem but I will say if you wanna go the aftermarket ignition route I recommend one of the MSD 6 series igniton modules. I have a 6AL in my car and buddy has a 6A in his truck. They definitely smooth the idle out.
mo_dingo
20+ Year Stangneter 
Sounds like you need a new PIP module. Autozone calls it the "Ignition Module" and they should have it in stock ($51.99). No need to go aftermarket with something like this.
Scott
Scott
95YellowGTbeasT
New Member
Thanks guys, let me give the update as of 5 pm today. Everything went to
#$U*!!!! Found out changing the PIP was a lot more work than just buying a whole new distributor. After I got it out I accidentally dropped the retaining strap for the distributor down into the engine. God alone knows where it went, when I get back to the car I'm going to have to find it... Trying to get the retainer bushing and the cog off was a chore as well. Putting the cog back on was damn near impossible. As it turned out I flared both ends of the rod a bit. Took some muscle to get them back into the car. Now I have to find top dead center because I forgot to mark where the pick-up was pointed. What a pain. I'm just going to buy a whole new one and be done with it... Anyways... Thanks for the help guys.. let yhou know when it's running again... thank God for the Craptolla...
#$U*!!!! Found out changing the PIP was a lot more work than just buying a whole new distributor. After I got it out I accidentally dropped the retaining strap for the distributor down into the engine. God alone knows where it went, when I get back to the car I'm going to have to find it... Trying to get the retainer bushing and the cog off was a chore as well. Putting the cog back on was damn near impossible. As it turned out I flared both ends of the rod a bit. Took some muscle to get them back into the car. Now I have to find top dead center because I forgot to mark where the pick-up was pointed. What a pain. I'm just going to buy a whole new one and be done with it... Anyways... Thanks for the help guys.. let yhou know when it's running again... thank God for the Craptolla...
good luck with it. the pick up (PIP) can be a real bear to do, while others have no trouble with them.
if you dont have a wideband a/f gauge, dont read too much into what it is telling you (for tuning/diagnostic purposes).
good luck.
if you dont have a wideband a/f gauge, dont read too much into what it is telling you (for tuning/diagnostic purposes).
good luck.
Thanks hissin50, I consider myself fairly mechanically inclined, but I was pretty limited by my tools this time around. Either way I need a new distributor now, but I think I can make the old one work until I get a new one... How do you tell if the A/F meter is wideband or not? Does it say? Is it different than the little LED one I bought? Damnit, I hope I didn't just waste 50 bucks... Thanks everyone for the help... Can you guys recommend any decent aftermarked distributors or are they all pretty comparable?
squall9393
New Member
As far as distributors goes for our cars I would think one is just as good as the next. I went MSD on that too just because.grrrrrrr said:
Grrrrrrr, i hope you did not take anything i said as implying that you were not mechanically inclinded. not the case at all. i also consider myself mech inclined but would probably not try doing a pick up.
you can read of some guys whom have no trouble doing one, and real gearheads that cant get the gear to line back up. seems to be a somewhat luck thing.
wideband a/f gauges are pretty $$ (several hundred bucks, last time i checked). most of the ones you can get at a parts store and speed shops are not wideband. so while not great for tuning or terribly accurate (o2 voltage fluctuates too much too quickly), they are pretty cool to look at (i think). if i had the money and a spare gauge hole, id toss one in! so dont feel bad about your purchase - just dont 'read' too much into what it says. cool?
good luck with the projects!
you can read of some guys whom have no trouble doing one, and real gearheads that cant get the gear to line back up. seems to be a somewhat luck thing.
wideband a/f gauges are pretty $$ (several hundred bucks, last time i checked). most of the ones you can get at a parts store and speed shops are not wideband. so while not great for tuning or terribly accurate (o2 voltage fluctuates too much too quickly), they are pretty cool to look at (i think). if i had the money and a spare gauge hole, id toss one in! so dont feel bad about your purchase - just dont 'read' too much into what it says. cool?
good luck with the projects!
Hissin50, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to come across as taking offense. You never offended me. I have pretty thick skin but I never sensed you were trying to insult me. I was just saying "Geeze, that was rediculously tough working on that thing". And thanks for the info on A/F gauges. I didn't know they were that inaccurate. Oh well, maybe now the wife will want to ride around more because it has something 'pretty' to look at besides me...
grrrrrrr said:
i hear you. always hard to tell what someone's frame of mind or inflection from a keyboard. i try to be pretty cool and gracious; im not a fan of people who toss flames or attitude and don't want to do that myself. so i had to make sure i did not offend, as that certainly was not my intention.
some stuff can just fight you all the way, like a dizzy's pick-up. i have a gear-head buddy who is older and an absolute whiz. he knows more info, and i mean random stuff no one should know, right off the top of his head. and he fought his pick up to no end (he works in the industry too). just dumb luck if it goes well, IMHO. and like i said, i probably would not tackle one - the rest of the dizzy would probably have seen better days anyhow.
the a/f gauges are not that bad. my spin on it was perhaps jaded. there are a lot of posts on the other side about guys trying to tune their cars. ill ask what they are using and what the streams look like, and it turns out that the non-wideband a/f gauge is what they are using to fine tune the car.
so not great for tuning, but you will get an idea at near WOT, etc, as to how you are doing. like i said, i think they are cool - im just out of gauge holes. LOL.
ill also add in case you had not thought of it yet - you can use a SPDT switch to be able to toggle back and forth from each bank (unless you have two gauges). if you grab the wires at the puter, you dont have to worry too much about weather-tight connections. you probably knew all this, but i thought i would toss it out just in case (for me, i always read a better way to do something the night after i finish the project). just my luck.
good luck and take care.
P.S. i do know how to spell inclined.
I'm too lazy to edit my previous post.Similar threads
