My 'new' 1991 RT4WD [got monday] died! Quite a story, HELP!

markymayhem

New Member
note: I posted this elsewhere in 3 parts, I've edited it to one post, and hope no one minds my seeking multiple forms of... HELP!!!

NOTE: You may want to check the update/2nd post after skimming this one

Hello all...
First off, last Saturday I was T-Boned in my 1997 Honda Accord coupe. NICE car. The insurance co totalled it out cuz of mileage and I got a measly $2k.... So...
Monday I bought a super nice 1991 RT4WD wagon with 118,000 miles and ice cold air, new auto tranny and dizzy. I've put about 100 miles on it. The only issue I've noticed is the driver door hinge is wonky and sometimes if not closed softly the auto seatbelts don't work...
Well anyway today I am driving about 20mpg and the RPMs drop to 0 and jump to idle, drop to 0, jump to idle and the car dies. I push it outta the way after I determine it isn't gonna start and after some cussing, have a looksee.

When turning the key to start, I can't hear the fuel pump. It cranks.
My last Honda [a 1997 accord] had an issue with the starter switch in the key assy., and so I decided to take the under dash panel out.

MAN!!! There is a kill switch in there [doesn't seem to do anything], a buncha wires that don't go to anything anymore, a red and orange wire that seem to be cut, and look like they should go to the center of the fuse box, stuff is spliced to a red/wht 12ga wire, there are like 22ga wires spliced in to things all over, a BIG connector that's not plugged in to anything, and it's basically a mess. I am pretty sure that's where the problem lies.

I guess what I am asking is: does anyone have a pic of the underside of the dash with both the plastic and metal panels off, and/or a pic of the underdash fuse box. I have a diagram but it's not much help thus far.. also if anyone has instructions for wiring in a kill switch that I could work backwards from...

Update:

ECU throws no codes
Seems to be no spark - crammed a wire in the boot and had an assistant hold against the groundpoint on the valvecover

The nuts on the grounds on the valve cover are spakin new

There was an alarm & carphone installed, and the wiring is cheese under the dash....
The main relay seems to have been moved
There is a whole wiring harness that is totally unconnected to anything under there, it has as inline fuse...

And it won't start... Fuel pump primes though...

Another update,

OK, fuel pump fires
main relay clicks
seems to be no spark.
On the under-dash fuse-box, there are terminals labeled 3 4 5 with spade connectors on them
#3 has an orange wire that goes to nothing connected to it
#4 nothing
#5 has a red wire that goes to nothing connected to it.

If I touch #3 and #5 I hear a loud relay somewhere under the radio click

The under-dash ground near the left driver knee area is connected to nothing

There was an old alarm break sensor and some other crap like a relay with 4 terminals and a socket and a diode wired in, a kill switch of some sort, etc I removed everything that I know didn't beloing. There were wires spliced in on the WHT-RED wire and the WHT-BLK wire, and the BLK-WHT wire had been cut and had all sorta crap spliced in. They now just go to themselves.

There is a zip-tie around a BLUE-GREY and another tiny thin wire in one of the harnesses that was all taped up weird, like it was noting something, but nothing seems cut.

And the big mess... There is a whole BIG plug plugged in to.... nothing! right by the left foot, driver side.
It says ACX 07B on it, and PN 1502-0092 and the wires comming out, in order are:
BLK-WHT, ORANGE, PURPLE, GREY, BLK, GRN, YEL, BROWN, WHT-BLK, WHT, RED-WHT, RED

and there is a buncha wires taped in a bundle hooked to nothing as well [some of them were hooked in to the alarm and relay crap] the are colored:

GREEN, GREY, BLK, BROWN-ISH GREY, RED, ORANGE, YELLOW, BLK-WHT

Tomarrow morning if my car is still there [dead in a bad part of St. Louis city....] I'm gonna check the dizzy... It's a new one, supposedly, and looks it, not just the cap either... But I suppose the rotor could be off....

HELP!!!!
 

markymayhem

New Member
Update!

UPDATE: Installed new dizzy cap, no start. Has fuel for sure, no spark. The car supposedly has a new dizzy, and I took off the water guard and visually inspected the ignitor and the ignition module, both looked new, as if they were replaced with the dizzy.
As detailed below, there was a prior security system install, among other things, and wires hanging out all over. After the dizzy cap didn't work, I started taking apart the electrical tape wiring loom with all the wires detailed below in it to trace them out.
All of the loose wires were spliced in to the back of the unhooked connector. Comming from the connector there were 3 wires that actually went somewhere.

Oh, and the CEL lights as expected, and the main relay clicks and the secondary in the main relay clicks...

The BLK/WHT wire comming from the connector goes thru the firewall, is spliced to a BLK/RED wire that goes towards the horn where it hits a wad of electrical tape, out of which comes a red wire and a black wire going to the horn, and a BLK/RED wire screwed to the ground at the horn.
The green wire comming from the connector is spliced to a purple wire that goes to the front left corner of the car and is hooked to a little pin on a spring deal that is situated so that closing the hood pushes the pin in.
The white wire is taped to the purple wire and goes all the way to the front left corner as well, but rather than hooking to the pin or anything, it disappears behind the headlight and I can't tell where it goes from there.
Regardless I'm pretty sure they all terminate in a wire hooked to nothing under the dash at this point. Some of them may have been wired up in the absolute MESS that was under there before I tore in to it though...

Any ideas?
 


kyle97charlie

68% right 100% of th time
Registered VIP
5+ Year Member
Pull out your wiring harness, get a new one from the junk yard, replace old harness.

Someone hacked up that poor car, bro!
So, if it were me; I'd do what I said above. It'll save a lot of headache
 

markymayhem

New Member
Well..... That's in the works.. BUT - which harness to get etc... Where is the connector [12p, in a straight line] that's unhooked even supposed to go?
Also I'm pretty damn sure everything that was hooked up when the car ran, is, minus all the other crap...
 


markymayhem

New Member
Also: The relay I removed from under the dash had a red, orange, black, and wht/blk wires comming out of it, a diode from red to orange. It's a relay with a bracket on it, and a connector/plug with the wires comming out.
the relay says on it: Potter & Brumfield VF4-45F11 12VDC 40/30A
The side says: 910931 and the other side has a diagram: 85 - 86 87 - 87A and 30 under it

The plug says:

N.T.K. UC-3003 7&U Taiwan
 

markymayhem

New Member
Well, as luck has it, the place I got it from [as-is, no warranty] came and got it on a flatbed yesterday. I talked to their mechanic this morning and he was gonna look at it around 10, I told him everything, and he seems to agree with my most recent diagnosis: It's the dizzy, coil, or ICM. He's gonna pull the dizzy and get it tested. I pulled all the alarm wire, and the few things that I didnt pull 100% are wires for horn honker and headlight flasher - I removed the flasher relay and wired everything straight under the dash
 


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