LOUD POP while driving! No starty....Help!?

Keith, I'd do some quick checks. Be sure your MAF didnt come uncoupled from the plumbing. Be sure the dizzy hold-down bolt isnt loose and that the dizzy cant spin. Run your KOEO codes.

Before swapping parts (sometimes this is worse than not doing it, as it adds variables since we know that new doesn't always = functional), I'd do a couple quick tests.

Check for spark. If you have it, you can assume for now that your TFI, PIP and coil are ok.

As you noted, you need to check fuel pressure. A bad pump still makes noise even though it's flowing almost nothing. That's too bad that you can hear it come on because otherwise you could have been lucky and had the inertia switch pop for some reason.

If you find that you have no spark, try to test injector pulsing.

Then take it from there.



Good luck.

You dont want to risk creating another issue by frying something else.

I'd use a spark tester or spare spark plug. If the tester or plug cannot be seen from the driver's seat (sometimes you have to sit kinda funny to see through the gaps), run a jumper ground wire from the spark tester body (or plug threads) to the engine. Then put the tester/plug some place you can see it.

Ok..I have what looks like a testor wire that came with my ignition. I hooked that to the coil and that to an old spark plug (fouled prolly- will that matter for the test?) and touched it to a screw. NO Spark.. So it might be safe to assume I blew the TFI module?

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If you have doubts, clean the plug with steel wool or a wire brush and a paper towel. Being fouled should not matter (since the plug is firing at 1 Atm and without turbulence or fuel) but since you're car is already acting up, no need to create doubts. You need to observe a nice blue kernal. If it's orange and the battery is decently charged, the coil is probably bad.

BTW.. during the engine swap the screamin demon coil blew for some reason. They sent me a replacement. Now if their TFI module blew..aut 2000 miles later. Would that indicate that I have some sort of issue blowing these things out? I mean this has all happened in a matter of roughly 2000 -3000miles.

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Tough to say. The neat thing about the ignition from the TFI forward (and our EEC in general) is that heat-sink tech is used. Since grounds to circuits are modulated, if a short develops, it is less likely to fry components. However, it can wear components out. Now if your ignition had a dead short in the signal wire (to fire the coil, for instance), the coil would not fire repeatedly (there has to be a on/off cycle).


For now:
If you are missing spark, check injector pulsing (a test light can be used in a real pinch if you don't have a noid light. Noid lights are less than 5 bucks).

If you have neither spark nor injector pulsing, the PIP is actually the first place I'd look. Note that the TFI can fail in such a way to corrupt the PIP signal before it reaches the EEC, but this is rather rare.

If you wiggle the electrical wires around that go to the distributor (specifically to the PIP), this sometimes makes a car run. The wiring grommet at the dizzy is a known issue.


If you only are missing spark but have injector pulsing, the PIP should be fine. You know then that it's the wiring, TFI or coil. A test light across the electrical connector to your coil should flash while cranking. If it does but you have no spark, it's the coil or a broken coil wire. If the test-light doesn't flash, ground the test light and check for KOEO power to the coil's electrical connector. If you have that but the test light didnt flash in the previous test, have the parts store bench test your TFI module (because the ground to the coil comes from your TFI module).

i had that happen once. but
it was the battery blowin up
i had a serious short when i took a hard left

sorry bad info, didnt read entire post

I can't really help, but if you need a new dizzy I have a stock replacement from Advance Auto with only a couple hundred miles on it. I just need to swap back to my MSD and make sure it still works first.