1997 pontiac Grand prix gas no spark, need help figuring it out.

Asked by Kalmered Nov 18, 2012 at 05:11 PM about the 1997 Pontiac Grand Prix 4 Dr GTP Supercharged Sedan

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Hi Guys,
I am having a problem with my 1997 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP. 2 weeks ago my other half came home from my Daughter's house and parked the car. 2 days later, she went to go to the store and it would not run without severly misfiring, then just shut down. I started trying to figure out what went wrong. I started with determining if we had a fuel supply, which we do. Then I concentrated on the ignition side of things. First I checked to see if there was spark, none, next I replaced the ignition control module, still no spark. Then, I figured that the Crank sensor, that I just changed out last June was possibly bad, so I replaced that, and the cam sensor as well. Still no spark. Well, now I was a week into this and was pulling my hair out when my other half rented a OBDII code reader, it showed no codes stored, and no codes in history. I then ASSUMED, that was an indication that the ECM was bad and replaced it with a reman from Oreilly's auto parts, having it flashed at the warehouse. Still no spark, now, by this time, I have checked, and double, triple, and so on...all the fuses in both the under dash, and under hood panels, no fuses are blown. Now, I traced to see if we were getting power to the ignition control module on the connector, which we are. I then tested, as per the manual, the coil leads on the ignition control module. Which says to use a test light on both sides and see if there is a flashing light when it is cranked, still no luck. I have power in to the ignition control module, but not out via the coils. I then checked to see if the wiring harness that comes from the ECM to the ignition control module, to both the cam and crank sensors with a continuity tester, it tested good. I have also changed out the following, the nuetral safety switch, the ignition switch, and the wire harness associated with the switch. I hade had the Alt. checked, and the battery replaced. I have missed something, and I know it will be simple, but I could use some help in finding it. I have also tried resetting the alarm system, but it is not malfunctioning. Thanks Guys

4 Answers
69,815

John answered 12 years ago

Does the ignition control module have a good ground? That's the only thing you didn't mention and I can think of right off the top of my head without having the diagnostic schematics sitting in front of me. Get back to me with a good time as to when you will be working on this and we can go back and forth on here.

Mark helpful

Kalmered answered 12 years ago

Thanks John, yes I checked for the ground and it was present. I found a diagram of the plug into the ignition control module online late last night, and it shows what each wire is for but most importantly it also explains how to do 5 tests to determine if the module or crank sensor is the culprit. even though I have replaced every item in the system, that does not mean that something is not faulty. s**t happens. I will not be able to work on this untill the weekend as I went back to work today after 11 weeks out with an injury. i will post my results of the tests on here, and hopefully I will have it figured out...however, I may be outta my league...lmao. hopefully, what I go through may help someone else. Till then. Thanks.

Mark helpful
69,815

John answered 12 years ago

There are tons of stories online about how stores like auto zone, advanced auto, and a few other big ones sell junk electrical parts. Guy went to auto zone bought a starter, went home installed it and it didn't work. Took it back and they exchanged it for one on the shelf and he had them test it before he left and it was also bad. He had to wait till the next day for another one, the third one finally worked.

Mark helpful

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