No Spark

Thanks Jeff.
I do not have the diagnostic port in my wiring harness. I do have the wires wired to the ecu but no port.

According to the factory diagram, the resistor I am talking about is in the ignition circuit, between pin 4 and the coil.

Thanks Jeff.
I do not have the diagnostic port in my wiring harness. I do have the wires wired to the ecu but no port.

According to the factory diagram, the resistor I am talking about is in the ignition circuit, between pin 4 and the coil.

I am still at the point of no spark and feel like I am on an island. Not because I am a victim or that no one is helping me solve the puzzle but because I chose to take a 1985 Turbocoupe engine with few auxiliary parts and sensors on it, no wiring harness, a distributor that was for a 6 cylinder and an ECU that I can not find out what car it came from and put it in a 29 Ford pickup. Then I have had several wiring diagrams and found that there are some contradicting circuits and have not found the ECU diagram for an 85. It has done one thing for me and that is I understand way more now about the 2.3 turbo and it's systems than I knew when I started. But I cant expect too many guys understanding where I am and my problems because of me trying to install a 2.3 turbo in my 1929 Ford pickup.
I do believe my problem may be with the ECU. The one I am using came from an 87 Turbocoupe that has been sitting out in a guys back yard for probably 25 years. I can't imagine it not being compromised by the weather changes, humidity etc, of southern Indiana. So I am in the process of getting some help from a group that rebuilds ECUs. Maybe a tech can guide me in the right direction. I have studied, checked, and re-checked my wiring from the 1985 factory service manual at least 10 times and with the help of a couple additional diagrams and the guidance of some of you folks, I think I have a workable wiring harness for the engine to run.
There are a couple of questions in my mind that are unresolved; Since I am not using the integrated relay system nor a self test port from a Turbocoupe, I wonder whether there a re signals from these devices that go back to the ECU that in turn will not allow the ignition to fire. I am not using air conditioning and my cooling fans are wired to run from the key switch. I still have a Miata radiator in the bed of the pickup and want to insure my cooling will be sufficient. I have both fans operating at all times. Then I have the fuel pump wired from a fuse through an inertia switch and to the pump in the purpose built custom tank. That pretty much takes up all that is done by the integrated relay unit but am I missing something there?
I am not using a self test port as I am not using the dash out of a Turbocoupe nor the engine check lights. I may have to do that however.
I am not using the EGR, the knock sensor or the ACT sensor. The ACT sensor is missing and I can not find one available. It seems that diagrams and parts become available for 1987 and later 2.3 turbo engines. Do you all find that to be true as well?
Not near giving up...…………...Cullen

Thanks Jeff.
I do not have the diagnostic port in my wiring harness. I do have the wires wired to the ecu but no port.

According to the factory diagram, the resistor I am talking about is in the ignition circuit, between pin 4 and the coil.

I am still at the point of no spark and feel like I am on an island. Not because I am a victim or that no one is helping me solve the puzzle but because I chose to take a 1985 Turbocoupe engine with few auxiliary parts and sensors on it, no wiring harness, a distributor that was for a 6 cylinder and an ECU that I can not find out what car it came from and put it in a 29 Ford pickup. Then I have had several wiring diagrams and found that there are some contradicting circuits and have not found the ECU diagram for an 85. It has done one thing for me and that is I understand way more now about the 2.3 turbo and it's systems than I knew when I started. But I cant expect too many guys understanding where I am and my problems because of me trying to install a 2.3 turbo in my 1929 Ford pickup.
I do believe my problem may be with the ECU. The one I am using came from an 87 Turbocoupe that has been sitting out in a guys back yard for probably 25 years. I can't imagine it not being compromised by the weather changes, humidity etc, of southern Indiana. So I am in the process of getting some help from a group that rebuilds ECUs. Maybe a tech can guide me in the right direction. I have studied, checked, and re-checked my wiring from the 1985 factory service manual at least 10 times and with the help of a couple additional diagrams and the guidance of some of you folks, I think I have a workable wiring harness for the engine to run.
There are a couple of questions in my mind that are unresolved; Since I am not using the integrated relay system nor a self test port from a Turbocoupe, I wonder whether there a re signals from these devices that go back to the ECU that in turn will not allow the ignition to fire. I am not using air conditioning and my cooling fans are wired to run from the key switch. I still have a Miata radiator in the bed of the pickup and want to insure my cooling will be sufficient. I have both fans operating at all times. Then I have the fuel pump wired from a fuse through an inertia switch and to the pump in the purpose built custom tank. That pretty much takes up all that is done by the integrated relay unit but am I missing something there?
I am not using a self test port as I am not using the dash out of a Turbocoupe nor the engine check lights. I may have to do that however.
I am not using the EGR, the knock sensor or the ACT sensor. The ACT sensor is missing and I can not find one available. It seems that diagrams and parts become available for 1987 and later 2.3 turbo engines. Do you all find that to be true as well?
Not near giving up...…………...Cullen

I have been where you are, and it’s not a good place.

By that I mean: I have Frankenstein’ed wiring or other parts—put it into another application, taking a lot of time and effort, only to learn that it could have been a failed effort right from the start, because despite my best efforts something might have been overlooked.

It is a sick punch-in-the-gut feeling.

I am fairly certain that the missing self-test connectors have little to do with your no-spark issues. AFAIK (as far as I know) there isn’t anything there that would signal they are missing.

Sorry that I can’t offer more than that. I think not giving up is a good thing, and that you should persist. In the end you should at least know which of those wiring diagrams is worthwhile and maybe make some notes, then toss the rest.

Good luck.

The lack of EGR solenoid, self test connectors, IRCM, etc have nothing to do with no spark.

How are you powering up the PCM? Are pins 40 and 60 grounded DIRECTLY to the battery negative terminal? They should be. Is pin 20 grounded close to the PCM? It should be.

Thanks again fellows,
I am not sure of the term, PCM but guess that is the ECU as I have been calling it. It is powered from the fuse block, through a fuse and to pin #1. Yes, both pins 40 and 60 are grounded to battery ground. I have a connection bar that everything on the pickup are grounded to. I am sure pin #20 is also grounded to a bar where all of the black with white wires connect. Then. I believe I grounded that bar to battery negative bar.
I am in the house now but will go to the shop in a few minutes and double check all of this. Sadly, my IPad does not work in my shop because our wi-fi connection is blocked by another garage. I am not too techy anyway. I am just a 74 year old that has been left to follow up all of the changes in tech. Hell, I still have a flip phone. I did teach electronics in high school for 13 years and then ran my own construction business so I am not without experience with wiring. When I built this truck, the Miata engine fired the first time I cranked it over but I did not expect this 2.3 to do that because of the piecing together of parts.
Thanks to both of you gentlemen for offering some ideas that cause me to check something or think in another direction.

I will report back after while.
Cullen

Jeff,
I just checked pin #20 and it is directly connected to the battery ground or negative terminal block as seen on my attached photo. Pins # 40 and 60 also go directly to this same battery ground or negative terminal bar shown on the left side of the photo. All those wires are black. The terminal bar that has red wires going to it is connected to pins # 37 and 57 as well as shown on the 88 Tbird diagram, the power coming from the integrated relay unit. Since I am not using that relay device, I have power from the fuse block going to this red terminal block. I also have a red wire from this red terminal block going to wire #4 on the ignition control module. ( This makes me wonder if I should have connected the red terminal block to the battery positive fuse block. Since I do not know what is going on inside the ECU, I am having doubts now if I should have wired it this way.) I was thinking I would use the key switch in place of the integrated relay system since I am not using it for fuel pump, air conditioning or cooling fans.
I did also re-check pin #1 and it is connected to the positive fuse block as well. When I have done the tests on the ignition module and then the pip, wire 4 on the ignition control module has 12volts to battery ground and wire #5 has a negative 12 volts showing it has good ground to negative battery.
My diagrams did not clear up where pin#1 should go except to “fuse link”. And this is on the 88 ECU diagram. My ECU is from an 87 and other than my 85 factory service manual diagram, I am guessing goes to power positive when key switch is on. If that is correct, then the a ECU gets power positive at pin # 1 and then from pins # 37 and 57 as well. Can’t tell if that is correct for sure. The 85 factory service manual has many connection points or plug ins where different sections of the total car wiring harness connect together. This is not very clear as there is no detailed directory regarding all of these connection points. Circuit numbers change at some of these plugins. Hard to follow, even with a magnifying glass.

The lack of EGR solenoid, self test connectors, IRCM, etc have nothing to do with no spark.

How are you powering up the PCM?  Are pins 40 and 60 grounded DIRECTLY to the battery negative terminal? They should be. Is pin 20 grounded close to the PCM? It should be.

I am having trouble getting the photos I mentioned to download.

It’s not alive yet but Frankenstein took a breath and coughed this morning.

I have found the Ford diagrams are pretty confusing to say the least. I say that knowing I am building a Frankenstein. If I were dealing with a car with all the original wiring, sensors and relays, the basic diagrams may serve well.

When I built this pickup in 2018 and put a Miata NA engine and 5 speed in, the Miata diagrams were so simple and complete on just three pieces of print paper. The engine fired on the first turn. Just not enough torque to push the model A pickup through the air above 55 to 60.

Anyway, using parts of about 6 different diagrams, I finally have spark this morning. I do appreciate all who offered help. All of the frustration led me to understand every aspect of an engine I had never dealt with before. So thanks folks!

I will work on the timing now and get it running smooth. Hopefully I will be on the road soon.

Good to hear you are making progress!

It’s Alive!

It’s Alive!

After lunch I checked to see if my timing was out 180 degrees and it sure was. Changed it and it started right up. Sounds good.

It smokes a bit and is running real rich so there is some tuning to check out but it seems to have great compression and torque, just what I needed to push that old model A Ford through the air.

It was a good day for this old man!