lisa 23

ford focus 1600 wont start when cranking over all the clock needles jump right round and wont start either also how can i check for a spark at plugs i have fitted a new coil pack leads and plugs but how do i check for a sprk the fuel pump works so its not fuel any ideas why the needles go round aswell
any advice welcomed
thanks

AndyST

Can you back-track a bit and tell us how you arrived at this point. ps needle behaviour is normal when the battery gets low.

lisa 23

hi thanks for reply!
the car cut out when driving then got told it might be a spark coil fault took coil off and its gel coat was cracked so checked wiring plug with test meter centre pin on wiring plug is 12v when ign on and 1 outer pin is neg and other pulses a neg feeed as cranking over but still not sure if its sparking at plugs? i have just fitted plugs leads and coil to try all

lisa 23

also charged battery up today and is showing 12.57 volts

AndyST

Both outers at the coil pack should pulse?

TOMMY_RS

to test for a spark take a spark plug out and fire it up against some thing metal, thats what i do anyway lol

lisa 23

should they both definatly pulse as only 1 is definatley pulse while cranking anyway as not sure whether the other 1 pulses when running maybe?

lisa 23

or if both are supossed to pulse will that or both come from crank sensor or cam sensor?
if so could 1 of those be broken?

AndyST

Yes both sides are supposed to trigger, they come direct from the PCM, I've seen a few now that have blown the module when the coil pack has gone bang

martysmartie

iTrader: (1)

As been said low battery will cause a gauge sweep and is normal, just because battery has had charge and gives good reading this isn't conclusive proof of a good battery. Coil pack signal is from CPS, the key to whether this is working or not is if the fuel pump primes when ignition is switched on, also your EML would be illuminated.

Martin

H3lsing

+1 on the battery advise.

lisa 23

cheers for replys
checked it again tonight and the 1 only pulses (the black and orange wire) the other outer wire (black and green stays neg when cranking no pulsing) i pulled the plug off the crank sensor and the black / orange wire stoped pulsing when cranking) then i took off camshaft sensor plug this did not make any differense to either wire could it be a cam sensor faultly ie not pulsing the other side just staying neg?

AndyST

The PCM/ECU pulses both sides, one is for cylinders 1+4, the other is for 2+3, if you look on the old coil pack, where the damage is will be the side that isn't pulsing. What happens is the high KV that should be sent to the spark plug back-tracks to the PCM and blows the internal circuitry. Both the sensors you mention send signals to the PCM which uses them accordingly.

lisa 23

does this mean it could be the cam sensor then? or is ecu blown?

lisa 23

just checked where cracked its accross 2&3 side which is the side the black and green wire is pinned and is perm neg is this possibly the cam sensor side?

AndyST

The cam sensor wiring goes nowhere near the coil pack, I suspect a blown PCM.

martysmartie

iTrader: (1)

What he ^^ said.

Martin

lisa 23

cheers andyst
changed the ecu yesterday and started up!!!!!!! now
cheers again for help

AndyST

Happy days, just stick a cheque in the post