Thread: more det problems

ok, so i drove my car to work today thinking that i had most of the bugs out of it...apparently not. Half way there she decided to die on me, just like it did with the old dizzy w/ a bad cam pos sensor. So, I did the same thing I did before, I let the car cool off and started it right back up and made it home.

Here's the jist of it.

1) this is the third used dizzy i've put in
2) codes for: o2 sensor
camshaft pos sensor
evap
3) Looking at the wiring diagram for a 96 sr20de, the cam pos sensor is wired in with a wire off of the o2 sensor, and the evap.
4) Possible that i've got a problem somewhere before these wires reach the ecu that is doing this and throwing a code for all three?

damn it's hard to get a response on here...

Hey uhh did you do any of the checks from my thread? See what you're getting goin to the distributor. I don't think those codes would cause the cmps light to come on, I guess it's possible but I dunno how likely that is with these cars maybe someone else can chime in...?

I find it odd that the CPS, o2 sensor, and evap system all use a common wire. Are you sure that it's not just the ground wire that they all have in common? It CANNOT and SHOULD NOT be the signal wire from any of the mentioned sensors. The only possibility that they would share a wire would be either voltage, or ground.

The symptoms you listed though, point to the dizzy (again). When it gets hot, the connection becomes unstable and the car does not pick up an accurate reading. When cool, the connection is more solid allowing for a better reading. IIRC this was a pretty big problem with the OBD1 SR20DE's distributors with external coil? I know I've read many threads on this particular subject.

You may just have to pony up and buy yourself a new dizzy.

now my taillights are staying on with the ignition off and key removed...no idea what's going on with that yet.

white/red wire i'm guessing is probably signal wire, that is the wire that they share. Makes sense tek i agree with you there. I haven't got to check the voltage on it yet so i'm not 100% sure.

But do you really think it's possible that 3 dizzy's all have bad cmps? highly unlikely isn't it. I guess even if i did get a new dizzy i could return it if i fried the cmps in it huh? haha
Damn i hate to spend that kind of money to not really know if it's going to fix it.

Dude if your taillights are staying on, you have other power/ground related issues. I think you need to start from step one, and check your connections for power and ground, first.

when you start your car does it start stay running for a few secs then die, over and over?

As for the tails staying on I'm 99.9% sure you have a short to power since the tails are controlled on the power side of the circuit. This short is between the combination switch and the bulb. The 02 sensor does not share a power or a ground with the other two but a power source does split between the evap canister control valve from the ECCS relay (white and red wire) and they are separately grounded. The evap canister control valve is grounded by the ECM. Wife is bitching I'll be back on later...

I had a short to power and my tail lights would stay on and on the highway sometimes the car would start to bog and die. I would pull over wait a little and everything would be fine. Sounds like a short to me. I also replaced my dizzy with a brand new rotor, cap and coil.

i can almost guarantee you its the eccs relay, i know all those systems share the power. That is exactly how a bad relay alot of times shows itself. Relay will work but when it gets hot due to the coil falling apart or the contacts falling apart it will separate until it cools down.


Replace the eccs relay and be done with it.

The tail lights do not use the ignition to power them. They use a constant power feed. Sounds like the whole headlight/turn signal switch is screwed up.

This is simple electrical diagnostics.

Im going to tell this to you just like i have done to several other people. In all the years ive been around the SR20's i have yet to see a distributer go bad to the point where the car just shuts off. Ive seen dirty cam position sensor plates cause bad readings and cause rough running or misfires or poor timing but have yet to see one completely go out.

You wasted your money on buying distributer after distributor. Sorry.