NOMAD

Have you swapped the ICM ? I swapped one for a buddy and it fixed his problem right up

-Shannon

1FstFormulaV8

That's what I'm thinking. The bad thing is. There are only about 20 V8 F-bodies in my area. The good side about that is..I don't have much competition. Is there anyway to check the ICM?

1FstFormulaV8

Can anyone help me? I know someone besides me has had this kind of problem. I'm really in the dark, I can't decide if it's an Opti problem or the ICM.

I don't have any spark coming from the coil. I know a bad ICM and a bad opti can cause it.


HELP ME

MentalCaseOne

I know a way to partially test your Coil but you have to be very careful unless you wanna fry yourself...


The coil works by converting electricy into a magnetic field on the primary coil (low voltage side) it only takes but a few microseconds to build this magnetic field in the Coils Core when you apply 12 volts to the primary or imput coil (both primary and secondary are wound together or one on top of the other inside the coil).

When electricity is added to the primary coil no voltage appears on the secondary coil (high voltage) as electricity is only being converted into a magnetic field at this moment. The coil is acting like a temporary "energy storage unit" But here is the thing... Energy can only be converted into other forms of energy but it cannot be destroyed... so with that in mind,,, When you disconect the power applyed to your primary coil... The Electromagnetic field will collapse almost instantaneously!! At this point the energy stored is released back into the coils (primary and secondary) and converted back into electricity. Also you have to remember the amount of voltage (not to be confused with power) that appear at the coils conections is related to the amount of turns of wire inside the coil. The secondary coil has way way more turns than the primary coil (roughly 4000 to 1) and a high voltage (with relatively low amperes) builds up quickly on the secondary and when it reaches the point where it can find its way back to ground level it will release all the stored magnetic energy through that coils primary and secondary. Since the secondary will produce a high voltage.. then thats the most likely to produce a spark.

So if you just locate the Coils primary windings and apply battery voltage for just a half second or even less, then when you remove that connection a high voltage (spark) will appear on the secondary section of a good Coil. The thing to remember is that a low voltage will also appear on the primary coil so if you dont want to get a small electric shock please do not touch any of this wires with your bare hands...

This will test your ignition coil and give you an idea if its capable of producing a spark. Some coils develop a short circuit between the windings and will either develop a low energy spark, no spark, overheating and may even fry your ICM...

As a precaution, have your ignition coil tested before you replace your ICM. A coil with a short circuit will most likely fry your brand new ICM.

" Warning" home testing an ignition coil is dangerous to your health... Never test one around flamable materials, children (they may get ideas) your wife/girlfriend (they dont find it amusing), people with pace makers (self explanatory), high humidity or near water...(dont stand up on wet areas) and never test one if you are clumsy."

That little device (coil) may ruin your day if its spark finds its way to one of your eye *****... (need I say more?)

This is the way I do it... while still on the car (coil) I unplug the primary and secondary (high voltage side) plug a spark plug wire to the secondary, plus a spark plug attached at the other end of the spark plug wire... I make sure the spark plug is making a good ground conection to the engines block. You can use a cheap spark tester sold at autoparts... they come with an alligator clip that makes it easy to connect it to any ground location on the engine block... I then connect two wires into the coils primary connector and then the other end of wires goes one to a grond conection and the other one to a positive (hot) location..

I just swing the wire on the positive (hot) power location and check for spark while I am standing away from the spark plug.


Gosh did all this make sense??


Marvin

fozziez28

It doesnt really sound like your opti, cuz u dont exhibit the majority of symptoms. Usually it will go out slowly and the longer its going our the more symptoms you will get. Been there dont that. I believe you have a fuel problem. My cars pump was fine, it would prime and everything. It ended up being the tube out of the pump had a crack in it and after it primed up all the damn fuel would leak right back out, therefore long crancking time. In your case you could have just broken the tube entirely, unfortunately the only way to tell is to replace the fuel pump. I would check the pressure on the gauge after you prime it and during. Mine was fine during priming then shortly after it went back to zero. that would be my guess. usually if u have a bad opti the car will still run, not well, but it will still run. it might stall out on you, but it will usually start again. When the fuel pump dies, there is no restarting and a nice towing bill. -Michael

1FstFormulaV8

I let it prime. Then tap the schrader valve, I get good pressure then right after I turn the ignition off I check the valve again, there is very little pressure. Fuel pump then?