The last thing I wanted was for the problem to be a wiring problem and I'm still hoping its not it. I think that instead of still trying to work with the MS, it may be best to get the stock ECU in and hook up the MAF and start working from there right?

Basically, I've taken the car, undone the wastegate, stock injectors are in the car, stock ECU is now plugged in and I plugged the MAF connector into the MAF sensor. Anything else I need to do to have the car "think" it is stock? All I'm trying to do is get it to fire. If I can get it to fire on the stock ECU, then it really narrows down things to the MS being bad (my thought).

The one thing that I did notice when I plugged the stock ECU and MAF in was when I turned the car to 'ON' the fuel pump didn't prime nor was it constantly running like it was when the MS was on.

Yeesh, and I thought the wiring in my car was a mess.

BTW, I would suggest not trying to engage the starter with that braided ground wire missing between the block and the chassis. As I understand it, that's the ground that all of the starter current uses to get back to the battery, and if it's gone then it's going to find other ways to get there -- like through your ECU.

--Ian

Most likely then the ECU's are potentially toast which is why, I hope, I'm having so many problems. Does it need to be a braided line or can I just go ahead and put any gauge wire from the block to the ground plate.

No, too thin a wire, and it'll fail, just like a fuse.

Assuming your ecu's aren't fried, a quick diagnostic fix for your missing ground strap would be a jumper cable from the block to a clean spot on the chassis.

C

Hooked the ground back up to the ground plate.

Tried to check spark and I didn't see anything. Even when switching between the two sets of coil packs no difference. First I want to see if I even have this setup and grounded the right way


Attachment 185230
Attachment 185231

do you have 12v at b+ in the diagnostics box?

Stuck the positive in, turn the car to ON and then grounded it and 12V shows on it.

was the above on the stock ECU or MS? Like I said in one of my first posts, no spark typically = equals no CAS or a bad ignitor.


where does the wire that goes into the o2 connector go?

what about the one in cabin? is that the wire grounded or the wire on the add a fuse?

really need to know exactly where this wires connect and terminate at.

The above is with the stock ECU now. I want to first get the car to fire with stock ECU and then we can work on the MS from there.

Hooked up the MAF, installed stock injectors and the stock ECU. I checked voltage on the one you told me to check and then I also checked it on the ECU to ensure I'm getting 12V on 1B when the key is ON and I get it. So I'm thinking we can rule out the ECU not getting power.

I have replaced the CAS with another CAS that I purchased to no avail. The only thing that I am going to end up checking is to possibly see if for some reason the timing belt jumped teeth and is a reason why the car won't start (wouldn't that be funny if this is the reason) In addition, I thought there wasn't a way to mess up the CAS install but what I did was I removed my valve cover (I know you don't need to, but easier) pulled the old CAS and then just put the new one in the only way that it was able to go in (matching it up to the indentation of the cam). Was this not the correct way to install it?

Braineack, I checked all the wiring that you asked me to check. You can check Post 78. (https://www.miataturbo.net/general-m...4/). Since then, I've added a ground from the grounding block under the brake booster to the motor point.

I hope you paid next to nothing for this car.

Just looking at the wiring mess and all the botched crap on this thing makes me sick. I'd drive it off a cliff. (lol no offense)

I saw the post, you didn't clearly follow through and why I wanted clarification. Just saying, there's a wire in my o2 connector tells me nothing. I KNOW there's a wire in your o2 connector, where in the bloody fuck does the wire go to?! same thing with the two at the fuse box. i see one is grounded and looks to go into the cabin, where do it go EXACTLY?! and the one with a fuse, where exactly does the black wire after the two little zip ties go?

I noticed in your pics the ignitor was unplugged, when you tried testing for spark, that was plugged in, right?

Maybe I'm not understanding it clearly but there is a wire that comes from the main wiring harness, goes into the connector and then from the other side of the connector comes another wire which leads to my O2 sensor. If you're looking for me to follow where the wire is coming from in the main harness, then I haven't checked that yet and I'll have to unwrap the main wiring harness to trace it back to the source.

In regards to the two wires at the fuse box I thought I called it out in my post, but it goes into the cabin and then looks to be into the back of the aftermarket deck. The wire that goes into the cabin is a speaker wire (two separate wires "jointed" together). This wire is the same wire that has the add-a-fuse.

1. 0:00-0:10 - Some black wire that leads into the cabin.
- This goes into the cabin and then looks to be into the back of the aftermarket deck. The wire itself looks like speaker wire.

2. 0:10-0:20 - Add-a-fuse into the main fuse box.
- Same as above, there is a terminal that goes into the fuse box and then that wire is fused and then the wire is the black wire that leads into the cabin as noted above. The other wire goes to a ground

When testing for spark, yes I plugged in the ignitor module.

If this was my car I wouldnt even bother trying to start it until I de-fucked the wiring at this point.

okay, this makes more sense. The wire that's pushed into the o2 connector is in fact the o2? but the connector on the o2 itself just happens to be cut off?


so you're saying the wire that goes into the add-a fuse, connects to ground, then from that same terminal bolt, goes back into the cabin into the aftermarket head unit?

that doesn't make sense.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1375712751

one wire (pink) clearly goes to a terminal and is grounded. the other (green) is connected to 12v and it's not clear where it goes.

I only see one wire going into the cabin.

Ok here is a better picture showing what's happening. Let's start from the speaker wire which is coming from the inside of the car into the engine bay. From this picture, you can see the speaker wire splits into two paths. Path 1 takes it straight to the ground. Path 2 takes it into the add-a-fuse and then into the fuse box. Hopefully this picture is clearer.

Attachment 185229
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1375716279

Then this connector (not the plug for the coils) is the single wire going into that connector. That connector on the other side then leads a line into my O2 senor on the downpipe.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...psdb6b6513.jpg

okay. a little clearer, yes.

I'm curious what he needed power and ground for behind the radio.

I'm trying to remove variables as im convinced his wiring is the issue.

Your guess is as good as mine.

I understand everyone's concerns of how shitty the wiring is in this car and it is my concern as well. The only thing I don't understand is that this car ran fine on the MS, got dynoed and he drove the car and then all of a sudden the car just stop firing when cranking. To me, no matter how shady the wiring is, if it worked before then the car is wired correctly, but something either came loose or something mechanically no longer works.

I think that right now, knowing that the car isn't getting any spark is the key problem to search down. I don't know if it's my plugs, plug wires or the coil pack itself. Or potentially the wires going into the coil pack.

Assuming NONE of the plugs are firing, what is the more likely scenario?

1. ALL of your spark plugs, or plug wires, or coils simultaneously went defective.
2. The ecu('s) are not telling them to fire

I'm gonna go with #2.... caused by shitty wiring shitting the bed.

C

I would agree with you on that Chris as being the first and cheapest route to check. I would be able to check that by measuring volts at the plug that plugs into the coil pack correct? If I have 12V at that point, then it would rule out the signal not getting to the coil pack to tell the plugs to fire.

The coil needs ground, 12v AND a trigger pulse from the ecu.

C