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Update on my 1988 Toronado IPC issue, and yet more Toronado fun! :(
Okay, here's an update to my thread "IPC wiring harness connector for
1988 Toronado?":
I ordered and received a nice shiny can of DeOxit. I happily ripped
open my dash and
gratuitously hosed down both the connector on the harness and on the
back of the IPC.
The effect: nothing. I did, however, notice one of the pins being
pushed back into
the connector, so I played with it until I managed to get it to stay
in place, but
still no success. So after hours of effort, I gave up... :(
Then, as winter began to fade, and we started getting warmer days, an
interesting
thing began to happen. I noticed that on days that were > 60F, my IPC
came on and
worked fine for the most part! On a 70F day, I can pretty much count
on it totally!
True, it may blink off after a few minutes from when I first start up,
but it either
comes back in less than a second, or it comes back in a few seconds.
Arrgh! How can this be a thermal issue? I tried and tried to rule
out such an
anomaly, but it sure seems to be directly connected to the outside
temp. What could
be responsible for this? Any ideas??
But while I eagerly await everyones' insights as to this issue; I do
have a bigger one
right now. :(
Yesterday morning my car started up just fine and I went to work.
When I came out 8.5
hours later I tried to start it and it wouldn't. The starter spun at
normal speed
(not like it does when the battery is low), the battery meter
registered normal, but
it just would not turn over. So after cranking for five seconds or
so, I stopped and
tried again immediately; this time it sputtered a bit and started. It
sounded like it
was running a little bit rough for a few seconds, but I took off and
had no issues
driving it home.
When I arrived home, I had another appointment I needed to be at in 30
minutes, so I
figured that I would play it safe and just leave my car running. So I
did. I left it
running, locked it up, and went inside to change clothes. When I came
out, my car had
stopped running. The ignition was still on (dash illuminated, etc)
but it had died.
I got in and tried to crank it again and again, but unlike my
experience at work; this
time it would not go. Occasionally it would sputter a bit after I
stop cranking, and
I even got a very small backfire once in a while, but not often. I
checked for fuel
at the rail by pushing in the little tire valve-like thing and got
sprayed pretty
strongly, so I assume my fuel pump is okay. To me, it seems much more
like there just is not any spark present. Also, I replaced the in-
tank fuel pump a few years back, so it should be in good condition.
I know with my previous Toronado, a 1986, I had quite a few coil pack
issues, and have
been suprised that I have not had any such problems with this car. I
did once have to
replace the coil module unit (that they sit on top of) a year or two
ago.
Any ideas of what I can test today or tomorrow so I can get this car
up and running
for work Monday? Does it sound like a coil issue? I thought
alternator at first, but
was told that my battery would have been low if that was the issue.
I'm no expert at
cars, so I do really appreciate the guidance I have gotten from
everyone in this group
in the past. I thank you all in advance for your assistance!
1988 Toronado?":
I ordered and received a nice shiny can of DeOxit. I happily ripped
open my dash and
gratuitously hosed down both the connector on the harness and on the
back of the IPC.
The effect: nothing. I did, however, notice one of the pins being
pushed back into
the connector, so I played with it until I managed to get it to stay
in place, but
still no success. So after hours of effort, I gave up... :(
Then, as winter began to fade, and we started getting warmer days, an
interesting
thing began to happen. I noticed that on days that were > 60F, my IPC
came on and
worked fine for the most part! On a 70F day, I can pretty much count
on it totally!
True, it may blink off after a few minutes from when I first start up,
but it either
comes back in less than a second, or it comes back in a few seconds.
Arrgh! How can this be a thermal issue? I tried and tried to rule
out such an
anomaly, but it sure seems to be directly connected to the outside
temp. What could
be responsible for this? Any ideas??
But while I eagerly await everyones' insights as to this issue; I do
have a bigger one
right now. :(
Yesterday morning my car started up just fine and I went to work.
When I came out 8.5
hours later I tried to start it and it wouldn't. The starter spun at
normal speed
(not like it does when the battery is low), the battery meter
registered normal, but
it just would not turn over. So after cranking for five seconds or
so, I stopped and
tried again immediately; this time it sputtered a bit and started. It
sounded like it
was running a little bit rough for a few seconds, but I took off and
had no issues
driving it home.
When I arrived home, I had another appointment I needed to be at in 30
minutes, so I
figured that I would play it safe and just leave my car running. So I
did. I left it
running, locked it up, and went inside to change clothes. When I came
out, my car had
stopped running. The ignition was still on (dash illuminated, etc)
but it had died.
I got in and tried to crank it again and again, but unlike my
experience at work; this
time it would not go. Occasionally it would sputter a bit after I
stop cranking, and
I even got a very small backfire once in a while, but not often. I
checked for fuel
at the rail by pushing in the little tire valve-like thing and got
sprayed pretty
strongly, so I assume my fuel pump is okay. To me, it seems much more
like there just is not any spark present. Also, I replaced the in-
tank fuel pump a few years back, so it should be in good condition.
I know with my previous Toronado, a 1986, I had quite a few coil pack
issues, and have
been suprised that I have not had any such problems with this car. I
did once have to
replace the coil module unit (that they sit on top of) a year or two
ago.
Any ideas of what I can test today or tomorrow so I can get this car
up and running
for work Monday? Does it sound like a coil issue? I thought
alternator at first, but
was told that my battery would have been low if that was the issue.
I'm no expert at
cars, so I do really appreciate the guidance I have gotten from
everyone in this group
in the past. I thank you all in advance for your assistance!
On Apr 26, 8:10 am, lgerha...@hotmail . com wrote:
> Okay, here's an update to my thread "IPC wiring harness connector for
> 1988 Toronado?":
>
> I ordered and received a nice shiny can of DeOxit. I happily ripped
> open my dash and
> gratuitously hosed down both the connector on the harness and on the
> back of the IPC.
> The effect: nothing. I did, however, notice one of the pins being
> pushed back into
> the connector, so I played with it until I managed to get it to stay
> in place, but
> still no success. So after hours of effort, I gave up... :(
>
> Then, as winter began to fade, and we started getting warmer days, an
> interesting
> thing began to happen. I noticed that on days that were > 60F, my IPC
> came on and
> worked fine for the most part! On a 70F day, I can pretty much count
> on it totally!
> True, it may blink off after a few minutes from when I first start up,
> but it either
> comes back in less than a second, or it comes back in a few seconds.
>
> Arrgh! How can this be a thermal issue? I tried and tried to rule
> out such an
> anomaly, but it sure seems to be directly connected to the outside
> temp. What could
> be responsible for this? Any ideas??
>
> But while I eagerly await everyones' insights as to this issue; I do
> have a bigger one
> right now. :(
>
> Yesterday morning my car started up just fine and I went to work.
> When I came out 8.5
> hours later I tried to start it and it wouldn't. The starter spun at
> normal speed
> (not like it does when the battery is low), the battery meter
> registered normal, but
> it just would not turn over. So after cranking for five seconds or
> so, I stopped and
> tried again immediately; this time it sputtered a bit and started. It
> sounded like it
> was running a little bit rough for a few seconds, but I took off and
> had no issues
> driving it home.
>
> When I arrived home, I had another appointment I needed to be at in 30
> minutes, so I
> figured that I would play it safe and just leave my car running. So I
> did. I left it
> running, locked it up, and went inside to change clothes. When I came
> out, my car had
> stopped running. The ignition was still on (dash illuminated, etc)
> but it had died.
>
> I got in and tried to crank it again and again, but unlike my
> experience at work; this
> time it would not go. Occasionally it would sputter a bit after I
> stop cranking, and
> I even got a very small backfire once in a while, but not often. I
> checked for fuel
> at the rail by pushing in the little tire valve-like thing and got
> sprayed pretty
> strongly, so I assume my fuel pump is okay. To me, it seems much more
> like there just is not any spark present. Also, I replaced the in-
> tank fuel pump a few years back, so it should be in good condition.
>
> I know with my previous Toronado, a 1986, I had quite a few coil pack
> issues, and have
> been suprised that I have not had any such problems with this car. I
> did once have to
> replace the coil module unit (that they sit on top of) a year or two
> ago.
>
> Any ideas of what I can test today or tomorrow so I can get this car
> up and running
> for work Monday? Does it sound like a coil issue? I thought
> alternator at first, but
> was told that my battery would have been low if that was the issue.
> I'm no expert at
> cars, so I do really appreciate the guidance I have gotten from
> everyone in this group
> in the past. I thank you all in advance for your assistance!
In a few well thought out and succinct sentences please explain the
problem. I tried reading the above, but there's just too much
extraneous stuff to make sens of it.
> Okay, here's an update to my thread "IPC wiring harness connector for
> 1988 Toronado?":
>
> I ordered and received a nice shiny can of DeOxit. I happily ripped
> open my dash and
> gratuitously hosed down both the connector on the harness and on the
> back of the IPC.
> The effect: nothing. I did, however, notice one of the pins being
> pushed back into
> the connector, so I played with it until I managed to get it to stay
> in place, but
> still no success. So after hours of effort, I gave up... :(
>
> Then, as winter began to fade, and we started getting warmer days, an
> interesting
> thing began to happen. I noticed that on days that were > 60F, my IPC
> came on and
> worked fine for the most part! On a 70F day, I can pretty much count
> on it totally!
> True, it may blink off after a few minutes from when I first start up,
> but it either
> comes back in less than a second, or it comes back in a few seconds.
>
> Arrgh! How can this be a thermal issue? I tried and tried to rule
> out such an
> anomaly, but it sure seems to be directly connected to the outside
> temp. What could
> be responsible for this? Any ideas??
>
> But while I eagerly await everyones' insights as to this issue; I do
> have a bigger one
> right now. :(
>
> Yesterday morning my car started up just fine and I went to work.
> When I came out 8.5
> hours later I tried to start it and it wouldn't. The starter spun at
> normal speed
> (not like it does when the battery is low), the battery meter
> registered normal, but
> it just would not turn over. So after cranking for five seconds or
> so, I stopped and
> tried again immediately; this time it sputtered a bit and started. It
> sounded like it
> was running a little bit rough for a few seconds, but I took off and
> had no issues
> driving it home.
>
> When I arrived home, I had another appointment I needed to be at in 30
> minutes, so I
> figured that I would play it safe and just leave my car running. So I
> did. I left it
> running, locked it up, and went inside to change clothes. When I came
> out, my car had
> stopped running. The ignition was still on (dash illuminated, etc)
> but it had died.
>
> I got in and tried to crank it again and again, but unlike my
> experience at work; this
> time it would not go. Occasionally it would sputter a bit after I
> stop cranking, and
> I even got a very small backfire once in a while, but not often. I
> checked for fuel
> at the rail by pushing in the little tire valve-like thing and got
> sprayed pretty
> strongly, so I assume my fuel pump is okay. To me, it seems much more
> like there just is not any spark present. Also, I replaced the in-
> tank fuel pump a few years back, so it should be in good condition.
>
> I know with my previous Toronado, a 1986, I had quite a few coil pack
> issues, and have
> been suprised that I have not had any such problems with this car. I
> did once have to
> replace the coil module unit (that they sit on top of) a year or two
> ago.
>
> Any ideas of what I can test today or tomorrow so I can get this car
> up and running
> for work Monday? Does it sound like a coil issue? I thought
> alternator at first, but
> was told that my battery would have been low if that was the issue.
> I'm no expert at
> cars, so I do really appreciate the guidance I have gotten from
> everyone in this group
> in the past. I thank you all in advance for your assistance!
In a few well thought out and succinct sentences please explain the
problem. I tried reading the above, but there's just too much
extraneous stuff to make sens of it.
Sorry for my wordiness, here's the boiled-down gist of my current two
problems:
1) my car won't start. starter cranks at normal speed, battery
appears to have correct amount of charge, fuel at rail. I am assuming
that I may have a failed coil pack. Looking for ideas and if I am on
the right track.
2) my IPC is possessed. During the winter I had spent most of my
driving time without an illuminated dash cluster. On occasion, it
would come on for a while, but then go back off after a bit. I tried
two other IPC units from a 1986 and 1989 car, and had the same
results, so I tried cleaning and working with the connector on the
wiring harness considering that it might be the culprit. But now that
the weather has been above 60F, it seems to hardly fail at all! On
70F day, I can drive for an hour and not have a single occasion where
the dash blinks off. I am wondering what the connection could be
between my dash cluster working or not and the temperature outside.
I'm going to test my coil packs today and see if any of them obviously
fail. But, I am totally lost on the cause for #2...weird...any
thoughts?
problems:
1) my car won't start. starter cranks at normal speed, battery
appears to have correct amount of charge, fuel at rail. I am assuming
that I may have a failed coil pack. Looking for ideas and if I am on
the right track.
2) my IPC is possessed. During the winter I had spent most of my
driving time without an illuminated dash cluster. On occasion, it
would come on for a while, but then go back off after a bit. I tried
two other IPC units from a 1986 and 1989 car, and had the same
results, so I tried cleaning and working with the connector on the
wiring harness considering that it might be the culprit. But now that
the weather has been above 60F, it seems to hardly fail at all! On
70F day, I can drive for an hour and not have a single occasion where
the dash blinks off. I am wondering what the connection could be
between my dash cluster working or not and the temperature outside.
I'm going to test my coil packs today and see if any of them obviously
fail. But, I am totally lost on the cause for #2...weird...any
thoughts?
One problem fixed!!
The issue with #1 was my ignition control module. I had my wife crank
the car while I probed the pre-coil contacts with a test light. The
light blinked as anticipated (I thought). But, the tester at AutoZone
indicated otherwise and showed it to be non-working. The nice thing
was that it was under their limited lifetime warranty, so I got a new
one for free! I just drove my car back into the garage a few minutes
ago!
But...even as I drove it in...problem #2 was apparent: the instrument
cluster was not lit up... :( I wish I knew what the deal was...any
thoughts?
The issue with #1 was my ignition control module. I had my wife crank
the car while I probed the pre-coil contacts with a test light. The
light blinked as anticipated (I thought). But, the tester at AutoZone
indicated otherwise and showed it to be non-working. The nice thing
was that it was under their limited lifetime warranty, so I got a new
one for free! I just drove my car back into the garage a few minutes
ago!
But...even as I drove it in...problem #2 was apparent: the instrument
cluster was not lit up... :( I wish I knew what the deal was...any
thoughts?
lgerhardx@hotmail . com wrote:
> One problem fixed!!
>
> The issue with #1 was my ignition control module. I had my wife crank
> the car while I probed the pre-coil contacts with a test light. The
> light blinked as anticipated (I thought). But, the tester at AutoZone
> indicated otherwise and showed it to be non-working. The nice thing
> was that it was under their limited lifetime warranty, so I got a new
> one for free! I just drove my car back into the garage a few minutes
> ago!
>
> But...even as I drove it in...problem #2 was apparent: the instrument
> cluster was not lit up... :( I wish I knew what the deal was...any
> thoughts?
It sounds like a bad solder joint or other connection - somewhere.
When it gets warm it expands and makes contact.
Shrinks when cold and loses contact.
Have you tried running a separate ground wire from the panel to a good
ground?
> One problem fixed!!
>
> The issue with #1 was my ignition control module. I had my wife crank
> the car while I probed the pre-coil contacts with a test light. The
> light blinked as anticipated (I thought). But, the tester at AutoZone
> indicated otherwise and showed it to be non-working. The nice thing
> was that it was under their limited lifetime warranty, so I got a new
> one for free! I just drove my car back into the garage a few minutes
> ago!
>
> But...even as I drove it in...problem #2 was apparent: the instrument
> cluster was not lit up... :( I wish I knew what the deal was...any
> thoughts?
It sounds like a bad solder joint or other connection - somewhere.
When it gets warm it expands and makes contact.
Shrinks when cold and loses contact.
Have you tried running a separate ground wire from the panel to a good
ground?
On Apr 27, 7:27 pm, Paul <P...@slowcast . net > wrote:
> lgerha...@hotmail . com wrote:
> > One problem fixed!!
>
> > The issue with #1 was my ignition control module. I had my wife crank
> > the car while I probed the pre-coil contacts with a test light. The
> > light blinked as anticipated (I thought). But, the tester at AutoZone
> > indicated otherwise and showed it to be non-working. The nice thing
> > was that it was under their limited lifetime warranty, so I got a new
> > one for free! I just drove my car back into the garage a few minutes
> > ago!
>
> > But...even as I drove it in...problem #2 was apparent: the instrument
> > cluster was not lit up... :( I wish I knew what the deal was...any
> > thoughts?
>
> It sounds like a bad solder joint or other connection - somewhere.
> When it gets warm it expands and makes contact.
> Shrinks when cold and loses contact.
> Have you tried running a separate ground wire from the panel to a good
> ground?
No, I haven't. I did play with the power wires, but not the ground
ones. I believe I figured out which wires were ground wires (bottom
two in both columns of pins) and I could try that sometime. Thanks.
> lgerha...@hotmail . com wrote:
> > One problem fixed!!
>
> > The issue with #1 was my ignition control module. I had my wife crank
> > the car while I probed the pre-coil contacts with a test light. The
> > light blinked as anticipated (I thought). But, the tester at AutoZone
> > indicated otherwise and showed it to be non-working. The nice thing
> > was that it was under their limited lifetime warranty, so I got a new
> > one for free! I just drove my car back into the garage a few minutes
> > ago!
>
> > But...even as I drove it in...problem #2 was apparent: the instrument
> > cluster was not lit up... :( I wish I knew what the deal was...any
> > thoughts?
>
> It sounds like a bad solder joint or other connection - somewhere.
> When it gets warm it expands and makes contact.
> Shrinks when cold and loses contact.
> Have you tried running a separate ground wire from the panel to a good
> ground?
No, I haven't. I did play with the power wires, but not the ground
ones. I believe I figured out which wires were ground wires (bottom
two in both columns of pins) and I could try that sometime. Thanks.
i think the oldsmobiles of that vintage are possessed. I heard of
people trading off the car on a day its running good.
people trading off the car on a day its running good.
On Apr 28, 1:59 am, box...@sasktel . net wrote:
> i think the oldsmobiles of that vintage are possessed. I heard of
> people trading off the car on a day its running good.
LOL...another good suggestion! My wife would love that idea. :)
> i think the oldsmobiles of that vintage are possessed. I heard of
> people trading off the car on a day its running good.
LOL...another good suggestion! My wife would love that idea. :)
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