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OK. Just finishing up repairs and testing the motor...
FIRST- The ICM was NOT bad. I took it to O'Reilly where I bought it (BWD Select) and the fool tested it twice and it passed.
Then I took it to my friend at AutoZone where we ran a battery of approx. 12 tests in a row and it NEVER failed!
So, I began to look at EVERYTHING that is connected to the ICM... There are 3 harnesses that connect the ICM to the systems in the car. EVERY single harness was worn out. The 2 pin connector is IGN voltage and ground. The ground wire has been melted, so I replaced that. I moved the ICM ground to the same location on the block as the main battery ground after
EVERY single ground forward of the firewall was nasty and oxidized, including the main battery to block ground! I cleaned, fluxed and tinned all the grounds, and re-installed them with dielectric grease.
I bought brand new BWD connector harnesses and fluxed, soldered and shrink wrapped
them to the original wires in the loom.
The pin connectors inside the harnesses were ALL wallowed out, so I think my main problem was losing connection at the harnesses.
Several chassis grounds were corroded too, including the copper strap from the block to the chassis, so I cleaned, fluxed and re-installed them with D E grease as well.
Also, I pulled the plugs to inspect them. I used Bosch Platinum +2 plugs, and three of them had bad cathodes that closed the gap on the plugs. I replaced ALL of them with Denso copper plugs.
Just test fired it and it had never run better! Even the headlights are brighter!
My stereo used to dim my headlights when I would turn it up. IDK yet, but I bet that is solved by having good, clean grounds.
I believe the cause of the ignition failure was the old, wallowed out connectors in the harness. But the ground issue has increased performance, probably even in the fuel injectors as well!
Thanks everyone for all the input, AND a special shout out to Superdave for putting me on the right track with the grounds!!!
FIRST- The ICM was NOT bad. I took it to O'Reilly where I bought it (BWD Select) and the fool tested it twice and it passed.
Then I took it to my friend at AutoZone where we ran a battery of approx. 12 tests in a row and it NEVER failed!
So, I began to look at EVERYTHING that is connected to the ICM... There are 3 harnesses that connect the ICM to the systems in the car. EVERY single harness was worn out. The 2 pin connector is IGN voltage and ground. The ground wire has been melted, so I replaced that. I moved the ICM ground to the same location on the block as the main battery ground after
EVERY single ground forward of the firewall was nasty and oxidized, including the main battery to block ground! I cleaned, fluxed and tinned all the grounds, and re-installed them with dielectric grease.
I bought brand new BWD connector harnesses and fluxed, soldered and shrink wrapped
them to the original wires in the loom.
The pin connectors inside the harnesses were ALL wallowed out, so I think my main problem was losing connection at the harnesses.
Several chassis grounds were corroded too, including the copper strap from the block to the chassis, so I cleaned, fluxed and re-installed them with D E grease as well.
Also, I pulled the plugs to inspect them. I used Bosch Platinum +2 plugs, and three of them had bad cathodes that closed the gap on the plugs. I replaced ALL of them with Denso copper plugs.
Just test fired it and it had never run better! Even the headlights are brighter!
My stereo used to dim my headlights when I would turn it up. IDK yet, but I bet that is solved by having good, clean grounds.
I believe the cause of the ignition failure was the old, wallowed out connectors in the harness. But the ground issue has increased performance, probably even in the fuel injectors as well!
Thanks everyone for all the input, AND a special shout out to Superdave for putting me on the right track with the grounds!!!
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