No Spark - Need help
 

Hi all,

Been trying to figure out why my 2004 Saturn Ion 1 5spd doesn't have spark for awhile now, thank god a friend has lent me his car in the meantime, but I don't know how long that will last. So, I decided to ask some people who probably know, you guys! Thanks for reading, and any advice is appreciated.

The car cranks but I tried a spark test and it doesn't have spark.

- I put a brand new ignition module on it (it was under lifetime warranty from a previous failure, so I thought I'd rule it out)

- I put a new ignition switch on it (and reset the passlock correctly) I thought, it's a recall part, and it's cheap, might as well make sure that's not it.

-When cranking I can see the RPMS sputtering up a little which leads me to believe the Crankshaft pos sensor is working....

-I tried hooking up an OBD2 reader to the car and it would not get a connection... I tried several times and no matter what I could not get a connection. (Does this mean my ECM is fried?)


Thanks again for taking the time to read and help me. I really appreciate it.

-Jon

Check fuse that OBDII port is on. That should be easily remedied
Measure resistance across CKP (Crank Position Sensor)

Also, after cranking, remove a spark plug--does it smell of gas?

Hoe did you perform your spark test?

Thanks for the reply so much!

For the spark test I pulled out the ignition coil, attached a spark plug to a wire and tried to hold the tip of the plug near the valve cover to arc it to the valve cover, no arcs.

ON CKP do I measure resistance from prong to prong of it's connector? What should the resistance be?

And i'll let you know about the smell of gas although I did verify there was pressure at the rail

Thanks for reading

-Jon

Pull the electrical connector off the CKP and measure the resistance across the two terminals of the CKP.. Should be in the neighborhood of 600-900 ohms.

In general, saturns require a good CKP signal to the pcm or bcm in order to enable current for spark and to enable the fuel injectors. If you smell gas in the cylinders, then chances are the ckp is not at fault. But measure and see.

Security system light behaving normally?

Derf is the expert here but... I dont see anything about new spark plugs... Could the plugs be bad???

Whe you did the spark test was it on all spark plugs?

You pulled the coil wire and plugged in a spark plug? I guess that since cars use a coil pack instead of distributors nowadays, that'll work. I always just pulled a plug wire off a plug and either grounded that plug or used a known good plug to look for spark. Keep in mind that an orange/yellow colored spark will NOT start your car. You need a nice blue/white color to it.
Also, have you tried cranking it after dark with the hood open to see if you can see any spark jumping off the coil anywhere? Somtimes, if you wet the coil and the wires, you can see spark jump. Just a suggestion. And perhaps Sperger is on to something with bad plugs. I'm not a mechanic, just a speculator.

Hey - just because I have a bunch o posts doesn't make me an expert. Although i try not to, I miss stuff. That's why the forum includes ALL of us-- to view the same issues from different angles and make sure nothing is overlooked.

I assumed that the no spark condition happened suddenly. Is that the case, Thor? That's why I did not think new plugs would make a difference. Or did something else occur prior to this which resulted in a no spark condition?

Still waiting on CKP resistance reading....

The point about checking all plugs for spark is a good one.