NO spark issue, code 14, new pip, tfi, coil

Problem found! Thanks to everyone who helped and especially "5.0TurboCoupe1988" who nailed it.

The problem was the distributor drive gear has lost some teeth, thus the distributor was not rotating. The bad news is the gear on the engine side is torn up so it looks like I will have some disassembly to do. Hopefully no metal shavings got into the oiling system.

heepish: yup, I had almost the same problem ...

broke down on a road trip, just died @65 mph...
no spark. so I replaced EVERYTHING in the ignition system (PIP, TFI, cap, rotor, wires, plugs, coil) with NEW, still no spark

called the tow truck, he shows up, told him the saga, he says 'yur timing belt broke' .. sure enough..

I was so anxiety'd when I broke down and was troubleshooting, I didnt even realize it was spinning over Much Faster

Ok, now for the conclusion of this saga... (hopefully)

Special thanks to "5.0TurboCoupe1988" and "PeteD" for tech help and access to some used parts.

It drives me crazy that a lot of posts are not ever updated once the problem has been taken care of. I understand that once the problem is fixed the original poster doesn't have incentive to update the post, but the next person may need the information.

Here goes, the aux shaft gear came apart and shredded the distributor gear. Exactly why this happened is anyone's guess. My autoparts guy, who knows his stuff is CONVINCED that certain Ford oil pumps tend to catch momentarily under some sort of mysterious conditions and over time fatigue these gears. He recommended replacing the oil pump with a "Melling" brand pump. He doesn't sell these so I had to get it elsewhere.

So, to be on the safe side, I replaced the oil pump, aux shaft, and distributor drive gear. I also replaced the oil pickup because I had no way to insure the old one was free of metal particles. I think the oil pickup is a bad design, It should be possible to take it apart and clean it, but that's another issue. It turns out the TurboCoupe's have an oil pickup that's specific to the turbo 2.3s and I couldn't find one. I modified a pickup from a standard 2.3 which was pretty easy. The only real difference is the tab that bolts to one of the main caps.

Changing the oil pump is a major pain in this car. It's true that you can do it with the engine in the car, and I did it, but it's tough. I tend to think it would be only a little more work to pull the engine, and a lot more pleasant. You need to drain the cooling system, unbolt the starter, steering rack, steering shaft from the rack, motor mounts and oil pan. My car is an automatic, and I found some of the transmission cooler lines made it difficult to snake the pan out. Basically the removal procedure in the Haynes Manual did the trick, I just needed some extra prying. Putting it back together, I found the Haynes procedure essentially impossible. They say to slide the pan into position and then struggle with bolting up the oil pump. I bolted the pump and pickup in place and then forced the pan in. It worked out fine.

With the new vacuum lines, intercooler couplers, PIP, TFI, Timing Belt, Plugs, Cap, and Rotor the car runs perfectly, and I mean perfectly. No check engine light, no codes, no irregular idle issues. I am very happy. The car is back on the road. As soon as I do a little exhaust work and fix the A.C. it will be time to plumb in the water injection system and crank up the boost!

Greg

Greg, glad to hear you got it fixed. Thanks for the details and the follow up.

I've remarked more than once that the section in the Factory manual on pulling the oil pan w/ motor in car is only 2 sentences shorter than the section on pulling the motor.