Not much of a change, I'm afraid.

First, I checked the VR sensor. My "eyeballing it" was way, way off, because I apparently don't know how big a millimeter is. I used 1mm worth of feeler gauges to get it properly aligned (EDIS spec is 0.75 to 1.5mm, according to the MegaManual). Interestingly, with it way out of alignment there would be no RPMs when set to Rising Edge, but I got RPMs when set to Falling Edge. Once adjusted, only Rising Edge reported RPMs, and Falling Edge was always showing 0. Unfortunately, the engine wouldn't start in any configuration.


Next I pulled coils again, trying to narrow down which cylinders were working and which weren't. I unplugged four coils at a time (since they fire in pairs and all that), and just removed one of the two remaining coils and cranked the engine (I couldn't unplug the other coil in the bank, since they're wired in series). I could both hear when a cylinder fired and see the surge in the vacuum gauge. Most of the time, nothing fired.

  • EDIS A Bank (2 & 6)
    • #2 Only: Fires only when #6 is also installed
    • #6 Only: Always fires
  • EDIS B Bank (1 & 5)
    • #1 Only: Never Fires
    • #5 Only: Backfires? (engine stops rotating briefly)
  • EDIS C Bank (3 & 4). Almost catches when both are installed, I think.
    • #3 Only: Never Fires
    • #4 Only: Never Fires


I'm not sure why I get different results when one is installed when both are installed -- it doesn't seem like it should matter. I confirmed the coils have power by holding the spark plug end near the block while cranking and looking for the spark, just to be sure. Previously I'd pulled the plugs as well and made sure that they were actually firing.

Just a reminder that the unusual firing order (BAC) is because the sensor is positioned 120 degrees offset from TDC plus another six teeth counter-clockwise, which is how Josh set it up. It makes sense if you work it out (also, we know it worked on Josh's car, and again, this thing was actually idling a few weeks ago). I reconfirmed this positioning when I adjusted the VR sensor.


For the last test of the day, I took out the fuel injectors and put them in bottles, then ran MS in Test Mode. #1 doesn't work at all (it clicks, but no fuel comes out), but the other five seem to be spraying a good amount of fuel. I took the filter out of the top of that injector and it seems clean, so I'm just going to replace the injector. Of course, it's a holiday weekend and my local auto parts store doesn't have any, so I'll have to order them. At least this explains why #1 never fired, but it doesn't explain #3 and #4 seemingly only firing when both are installed, or #5 backfiring.

Another detail is that it turns out the plastic pintle caps on the end of the old injectors were still stuck in the injectors holes in the passenger side heads (the caps where still on my current injectors, so I must have just not noticed that they didn't come out with the old ones). That probably wasn't helping, but they weren't plugged, so I think fuel was getting through. I have obviously have removed them now.


I kinda wish I wasn't using EDIS just so I could change the timing in MS itself, adding and removing values in software to see if it is actually a timing issue. The VR sensor is tough to get to and a pain to adjust, so I don't really want to do tests that way. But once it's working I shouldn't have to worry about this again. And we're back to the fact that this idled a few weeks back, so I have no idea what is wrong.

-- Joe