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No spark after breaking in IPD cam

Wesdunns70t5m

New member
Joined
Oct 4, 2016
Location
Jacksonville, NC
Got a good one for you guys today. I?ve been sitting on an IPD turbo cam for a while now and finally decided to install it. Since it?s close to 100 degrees today, I decided to do the break in procedure while driving on the highway, I was able to get the 20 minutes of 2-3k rpm. Everything was great until the first pull after the break in. I gave it a good little bit of gas leaving a stoplight and let off at 50mph, which my 1990 760 b230ft decided to stall out. Some quick poking around showed my front cam seal is leaking a little bit, and that I?m getting no spark, or rpm reading while cranking.

I have done the wasted spark conversion, and plan on installing the other coil I?ve got from a 99 Land Rover. I might have another crank position sensor as well I could try swapping out. Has anyone had something similar happen? I?m sure it?s all a coincidence happening with the cam swap, but who knows. Anyone have any ideas on where I should start first? I do have a voltmeter to start testing sensors and what not, but I?m not sure on the procedures and currently have a broken hand, so that would prove difficult. Thanks in advanced
 
Quick update guys! I tried the other coil with no change at all. I also tested the resistance of the crank sensor, and got 258 ohms. Everywhere I read says I should be getting 160 for the older (lh2.2?) sensor and 230 for the ?newer? sensor. Tomorrow I plan on scouring the JY for a 960 ignition amplifier, as that?s what I used for my wasted spark swap, the stock ignition amplifier, and crank sensor. I?ll also try unhooking the tach wire from the dummy coil I made to drive the tachometer, to make sure that wire isn?t shorting out somewhere as well. Other than that I?m not sure where to look next
 
Well with out any tach bouncing on cranking. I would look toward what triggers the spark. That is either the crank position sensor or the EZK box.

A good place to start troubleshooting is the ignition amplifier. Put the voltmeter on the input signal from the ezk. Pull away the rubber boot and back probe the contact pin. If should be a varying voltage of about 0-3v when cranking. If you don't see that signal there. Then move toward the ezk box and/or the crank sensor if the wiring checks out.
 
Ok, sounds good. That?s pretty much what I was thinking, but I?m much more
Mechanically inclined than electrically, so I wanted to hear other people?s theory/opinion.

On a side note, I was disappointed with how smooth my idle was with this cam. I installed it with the stock timing gear, and from videos I?ve seen I was expecting and wanting a lopey idle. It did, however, sound much throatier and aggressive, which I?m sure was helped by me having an open downpipe. I didn?t get a chance to really drive this cam, but from the little bit I did I noticed a minimal, but noticeable, power loss until about 3k rpms, at which point the car effortlessly pulled until the aw71 shifted it. No redline pulls, maybe up to 5300 rpm, but I?m confident this cam will pull to redline without breaking a sweat. I can?t wait to get the old girl back up and running so I can really stretch it out. My 19t pushing 20 psi has been begging me for me better airflow and this is one big piece of that puzzle
 
Your fuel system should be LH2.4. I suggest a set of chips for your setup from sbabbs or the lostartof on the board here. Will make the engine much better running wth the cam.

The IPD cam is a street performance cam. It's made to be mild. It can still support a pretty good level of performance. But it's not a true high performance cam for these engines. I use the V15T which is what the iPD cam is based on. They are a good first stage cam of the performance tuning for these engines.
 
I’m running a set of tlao chips. I bought them used from a member here and contacted tlao and found out they are older chips and he suggested getting the more up to date version. I’ve been running them for several months now without issue.

Go fast mod list is as follows:
Ipd turbo cam
Tlao chips
Buchka wasted spark
Td04hl-16t converted to a 19t with ard compressor housing and spool control wheel at 20psi (was used on a whiteblock first)
3” mandrel bent downpipe
Cold air intake with 012 AMM
Green fuel injectors off a 04 s60r
AC delete
Electric fan conversion
Accumulator mod
G80 with governor weight removed with 3.73’s
Progressive water methanol injection system
Silicone hoses all around
...I think that’s about it
 
Another update.

I replaced the ignition amplifier with a Junkyard unit from a 960. No change. I also disconnected the tach wire from my dummy coil, also no change. Tomorrow I should be getting a brand new crank sensor from autozone.

On a side note, I did notice that the same 960 had holes for a roof spoiler. Broken hearted, I figured the previous owner or another junkyarder snatched it up. Luckily for me it was laying on the backseat! Picked it up, just gotta paint and 3m tape it on!
 
I haven?t checked any of those since I?m experiencing no spark. I was looking at my crank sensor today, removed from the vehicle. The ohm reading was around 240, but I could pinch the wires going into the sensor, and it would cause an OL reading. I looked and saw some bare wire, so I believe I have my culprit
 
Well, I didn?t have much luck after my first post earlier today. Both fuel pumps are running, and I can smell fuel when I remove the oil cap, so I?m sure the injectors are spraying.

I taped up the wires near the sensor (where the aluminum foil like insulation was missing for about 1/3 of the whole wire). Also taped up that insulation in various spots to hold it in place. Still no spark, although I was reading a constant 238 ohms after taping it up. Tomorrow I should get the replacement sensor to try that out. Other than that, the only other things I haven?t tried yet is the stock amplifier, and the ECU itself.
 
Is it no spark on all cylinders? During a WOT pull not long ago I had a connection inside the coil pack connector fail. Giving me no spark on a 2 cylinders. Wasted spark setup also using the 99 land Rover packs. Miata jt02t module
 
Admittedly I haven?t checked all cylinders for spark, just cylinder 1. Between that and the tach not moving, I figured it was safe to be lazy and assume no spark at all.

I got the call that my crank sensor came in so I?ll try that right after work. Other than that I have read quite a few similar stories that ended up being the power stage. I?m just really hoping it isn?t the ECU, as I?d hate to have to remove it, unsolder the wasted spark board, and reinstall it in my extra ECU with a broken hand...hopefully we get this resolved...I?m still curious as to how this cam reacts with my setup
 
No luck on the new crank sensor, no luck with the second hand power stage either...

Now I did some testing of the four wires coming out of the ecu from the wasted spark conversion. Arm and set for the launch control is showing 5v with ignition on. The other two wires I tested with ignition on, and while cranking. One showed 0v, the other would flash 3v every couple of seconds.

Someone?s got to have some ideas. How can I go about testing the ecu itself?
 
So the timing is still correct, and I verified no spark on any of the cylinders. Once while cranking, out of frustration I smacked the top of the dash. I noticed while doing this that my gauge needles will jump around a bit. Now that made me think that maybe there is a short somewhere in the gauge cluster? Now just as a ?why not? I took the key out of the ignition completely, smacked the dash again, and sure enough they would jump up and settle back down. I?m sure that that isn?t a very conclusive test, and I?m not even sure what the results mean. I?m really scratching my head here, broken handed, in the middle of a move...

Anyone got any ideas
 
Been thinking and researching...

The two wires for launch control showed 5v with ignition on. Those other wires got me thinking. They go to the 1-4 and 2-3 parts of the coil, and only one is showing cranking voltage. I?m guessing my next step would be to trace that wire with no cranking voltage, and see if I can find any problems there. I don?t think that would cause no spark on all cylinders, but I could be wrong there...I?ll post up with more as it comes
 
I may have found the problem!

I opened up the ecu and found two of the wires I?d soldered in for the wasted spark had come undone. One was the 2-3 ignition wire, and the other was, of course, the VR wire. I?m not expert here, but I?m willing to bet that the VR wire was my culprit. Hopefully so as I don?t have a partner to crank the engine while I test some things with my multimeter.

Before tearing into the computer, I tested for power on pin 4 of the stock power stage. Constant 12v with ignition on. I?d also swapped the two relays on the drivers strut tower with no effect.

On a side note, I did discover another possible symptom. When I first turn my ignition on, all the dash lights illuminate except for the overdrive arrow. Now when I turn the key forward, halfway between ignition on and actually starting the car, the overdrive arrow will light up, and the fuel pumps will stop running. All of this is accompanied by at least 2 relays clicking under the dash
 
Really getting aggravated here...

Resoldered the wires and triple checked them, still no dice. I don?t think I have power going from the ECU to the coil. It seems like it sends the voltage out for the launch control, but not the coil itself. My next step is gonna be to replace the pink label 146 computer with my spare...just gotta dig it out of storage. Other than that I?ll have to try probing in the fuse holder and make sure that?s getting good connections. I?ve checked them and none were blown
 
No ideas man. Definitely sounded like the two wires that came undone in the box would have been a problem. Is your coilpack getting power? While cranking?

I was also told on here during my escapade that the board "probably isn't bad", but I never actually checked it, as I have no idea how you would do that..
 
Yeah I was really counting on that being it...

After my last post I swapped in a different ecu and ezk. I also unhooked my dummy coil, hooked the stock coil up to it, and no spark still from there. I?ve also been listening closely, and I really don?t think my injectors are firing, either. Also, to reiterate, both fuel pumps run until just about starting the car, than the overdrive arrow lights up accompanied with relays clicking, and no fuel pumps. It?s hard to tell, but I wanna say they aren?t running while cranking, just with ignition on.

To reiterate what I?ve done so far:
New crank sensor
Used replacement coil pack
Used power stages (my cars got two, replaced both)
Swapped radio suppression and AC fan relays on strut tower
Swapped ecu and ezk
Installed stock coil, still no spark..

Nothing I?ve done has made a bit of difference. Still no tach movement while cranking, still no spark on any cylinders. My diagnostic box has always been finicky trying to get a reading. I?ve read the codes from port 5, no codes, and port 2 wouldn?t read, but I?ve only tried once

I?ve stated on here that I?m no electrical expert. At this point I?m 99% certain I?ve got some wire/wires shorted out somewhere. I?ve no idea where to begin, so really any help would be appreciated. I?ve read somewhere about cutting the tach wire at the connector for the CPS. I?m sure there?s some pins on the connector that I could use my meter on for some testing, but I have no clue what to do there
 
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