Battery shorted out on a wrench, now car won't start.

[Remi Raymond]

You said " i guess i could just test parts and pieces all day long "
John probably thought that meant you were going to throw parts at it.

Yes, try another ECU first.

[John Hartman]

do it systematically.

Have you tested for spark and/or fuel pressure?

those are things you HAVE to do when properly diagnosing a no-start.

Yes you can guess and yes you can get lucky, but its not the correct way to diagnose an issue.

I know for a fact that the ISC itself, the ISC wiring and/or the ISC circuits BY THEMSELVES won't be the cause of a no-start.  If it was just the ISC or part of its full circuit, you could get it started by using your gas pedal foot to start it and keep it running.

[Mikael Mikkelsen]

Yes I have tested for spark. There is no spark whatsoever.

Pulled plug, attached a spare plug, got someone to start the car while i tried to get it to spark, no matter how close or where i touched it to ground nothing happened at all, no spark.

I don't know how to check for fuel other then unscrewing the fuel line and seeing if it pisses fuel out... I cant see this being correct but maybe Im wrong...

I really do NOT want to throw parts at it, and cannot afford to do so.

[John Hartman]

pull the return line off the fuel pressure regulator. Stuff a line on it. Stuff the line in a clear bottle, say an empty Dasani water bottle etc.  Have someone crank the car for a little while, maybe 5-6 crank rotations.  You should get significant fuel out of there.  Like as much as that rubber line can handle really.  Not high pressure, but lots of flow.

Also at the other end, you can crank the car to build pressure, then you can go to the fitting on top of the fuel filter and crack it loose.  It should spray fairly impressively out.

Yes, the flying fuel is not the absolute best or safest way, but if you are intelligent about it, (no smoking, sparking anything etc, and the engine is cold) you will be fine, and seeing as that you do not have a fuel pressure guage, its what you have to do.

now, that said, go buy a cheap fuel pressure guage.  I know they carry them at Lordco.  Probably about $35 for a simple screw in gauge.  It will come with a banjo fitting that replaces that 17mm bolt on top of the fuel filter.  Then the gauge screws into that.  This is something you should have anyways.

Now once you find out if you have no fuel pressure to go along with the no spark, you can start narrowing it down.  For example, no spark but fuel pressure, you will look to the coil pack/transistor/wiring. If you have neither its something ECU/CAS/crank sensor related most likely.  If its just no fuel pressure, (not your case, but I am trying to help you understand the process) you would look at the fuel pump fuse, relay and pump/wiring.

now of course you CAN have multilple failures at one time, and that gets really confusing, but lets treat this like its one failure.

now, once you determine weather you have fuel pressure(I am guessing you won't), do like others have said earlier.  Turn the key to run, but do not crank the engine over.  Your Check Engine light should come on for a few seconds and go out.  If it does not, I, like others, strongly suggest your ECU is pooched.

now, go borrow someone elses 2g turbo ECU.  Plug it in, turn the key to run, but again, do not crank it.  See if that CEL comes on for a few seconds and goes out.  If its ok with the ECU's owner, crank and try to fire the car.  If it runs, you know your ECU is pooched.

I would get a new ISC to go with that ECU as I suspect that ISC will take out the new ECU eventually.

Now, all that said, we are just doing this over an internet forum, with some basic pictures, simptoms and diagnostic procedures, so it could be a melted wire or something else that is hidden from you.

[Mikael Mikkelsen]

I am going to do all of that within the next 18 hours. Thank you! I have a much clearer understanding now of the symptoms and direction that I need to go in to fix this, I may even get my first night of real sleep in days now

[Carl Gould]

For what it's worth, I live an hour away from you, and have 3 different 2g turbo ecu's. If you want, I'll do what I can to find some time over the next couple days to bring them out to you.

[Mikael Mikkelsen]

Man, that would be awesome  

Then i would know 100% before buying another ecu. Man I would really really appreciate it if you could do something like that.

Just let me know when you can swing by and Ill make sure to have the car all ready and the wires out.


I picked up a B&M fuel pressure gauge this morning, also ready installed in the car. I believe it was the same one that you suggest John.

Also went to pick and pull, but was unable to find a good ISC.

I turned the key on with everything plugged in, just like everyone said, the check engine light comes on. But then it goes off again after about 5 seconds

[John Hartman]

thats normal, a good sign.

you can crank the car now, plug the ECU in and see if you have fuel pressure.

[Mikael Mikkelsen]

Ok, I tried cranking the car, I am getting fuel pressure, its reading as 40 lbs, still not starting but it is cranking

[John Hartman]

ok, so that should rule out the CAS/Crank sensor, fuel pump, fuel pump relay, fuel pump relay trigger(in the ECU).

You need to find out why you have no spark now.

You still may not be actually getting any injector pulse from the ECU tho, so you can do a couple of things.  If you have access to a set of 'noid lights(specific LEDS that plug into your injector harness) you just pull one injector plug, stick the 'noid light in and crank the engine.  If the noid light flashes rythmically that should be good.


If you don't have that, you will have to pull your CAS(mark it so you don't have to retime it),  and spin it by hand.  You will hear the injectors fire if the CAS is turning but the engine is off.

Of course it could still be melted wires, the ECU, (tho its looking less and less like an ECU), a coil pack or power transistor.

[Mikael Mikkelsen]

Ok, I've started testing the the ignition coil, unplugged the 3 wire plug and checked resistance, it says from 0.77-0.95 ohms, I'm seeing 0.9 and 1.0, so I'm sure there's no problem there... Ill check the transistor as soon as I figure out how to

[John Hartman]

those sort of items are hard to test using the ohm tests.  Most of the time, you just have to narrow it down to one or two items, then just swap with known good parts.

maybe Carl can help you out when he comes down?  his car will have a coil pack, transistor pack, ecu etc to test.

[Mikael Mikkelsen]

So I bought an ECU and It wasn't the ECU....

[John Hartman]

do you still have no spark but good fuel pressure?

the second ECU can be bad too    Unless you can see it make a car run, and your ECU will not make the same car run, then you don't know absolutely for sure.

Plus, we have sort of narrowed it down that its less and less likely to be the ECU.

[Mikael Mikkelsen]

Yeah I thought the same thing, thats why I bought 2  ECU's just in case.

I am still getting fuel pressure and no spark. And I bought an ammeter (for $2) just to make sure my pump was getting adequate power (overkill, but for $2), Its rewired with 4 ga as well(from before). Fed into a watertight compartment running a heavy duty relay.

Ill double check everything tomorrow again...

I bought a 97 ecu which Im positive works and a 99 ecu (but its in a normal metal housing, not the black plastic casing, which I found odd) which I have a very good feeling works, neither units are from junkyards