Changed the ICM/COILS 3x - Will not Start!!!

[SCOTT's 90's]

First off, I know this has been discussed several times in the forums and I have looked, read, tried and tested to no avail.

 

So about two months ago since I had more time to spend on the Reatta's I figured I would do a little maintenance. Most of all I wanted to check the original ICM (Magnavox) and sure enough it is showing signs of the green omen. So I started my venture to the pick yard and picked up a set of the newer Delphi coils and ICM from a Lumina that looked pretty good (No rust or corrosion). I should also mention that I have already replaced the ICM and coils on my other Reatta about two years ago and everything went smooth and it started up like a new car, first try.

 

I came home and started the exchange in excitement because this 90' Reatta has only 62,000miles on it so the newer setup should be interesting to see how much better it will perform. After cleaning the plate of any corrosion making sure I had a solid grounding surface I then installed the ICM and the three coils, plugged it in making sure it was seated well. Then I put the wires on the coils making sure they were on the right cylinder and then connected the battery.

Now it was time to be excited and when I turned the key the first thing it did was almost backfire. It would not start for nothing not even a full engine combustion rotation. It sounded like it wanted to start but wouldn't.

So I checked and rechecked the wires, plugs, connections, etc, etc...... By this time I was so frustrated and it was getting late so I put the old Magnavox back on and it started right up without any hesitation.

I figured that I got a bad ICM or a coil pack was bad, so I took them back and exchanged it out for another one, which I can't remember what vehicle I got it off of.

 

Back to try it again and the same exact problem, I thought there is no way I got another bad set. I just changed it out again with the Magnavox and it started fine. So about a week ago I decided to bite the bullet and just get a whole NEW ICM and three Coils from Amazon. I made sure it was a D1977a ICM and the coils were D555 and it said that they would fit a 91 Reatta 3.8......etc. I just got them in the mail Friday but there is one slight concern, the part numbers are LX364 (ICM) and BS3006 (Coils) I looked them up and they are compatible/direct fit parts.

 

Well today Saturday I started the whole routine again with swapping out the old with the NEW and as you can guess the reason I am writing this - The Same Damn thing happened!!!

 

Does anyone have a clue what is going on?

[Ronnie]

Are the spark plugs getting a spark?  Are there any codes in the ECM?

 

[SCOTT's 90's]

Hi Ronnie,

Yes all the spark plugs are working great, in fact I just changed all of them this morning because of the Gap difference with the new set up requiring .060"

There are No codes.

[jonlabree]

I'm thinking that you have the wrong ICM. Check the plug against the one in your other car that runs.

[SCOTT's 90's]

Okay, I just went out and took the ICM and Coils off of my running Reatta (Started it before I removed it) and put it on the problem child and had the same results - Not Starting!

 

Has anyone come across something where the wires on the ICM connector have been moved or rewired? Because on the one that is running the connector has 13 wires going to the pins and the other connector has all wires going to all 14 pins but one of the wires is missing (Female side) - sorry confusing, so one connector has 13 wires and the other has 14 wires but missing the female connector and the connections are different. I will try to upload a picture so you can see what I am talking about.

[padgett]

The pins on the ICM connector are very short, sometimes too short. I always remove the pad inside the ICM connector and press hard om both ends after tightening the center screw (tight but no need to play godzilla.

[SCOTT's 90's]

Eureka! It worked! Thank You Padgett, I guess it was just short enough to not make a good connection.

I think I will take a break from working on my cars for a little while, that was too exhausting and frustrating, I need to enjoy the Reatta to get my spirits up and then I will think about doing another project.

Thanks for everyone's help