I hope the problem is something obvious and stupid that I'm looking past.

The car: 97 TA A4
The car quit on my friend going down the road.. no spark.
It's got 101K on the original opti spark, so I installed a new GM opti and coil, new plug wires and plugs (TR55s gapped at .040) The car still wont start. It's still doing the same thing. Cranks, no start. It's got fuel pressure, it's got injector pulse, it's now got good spark.
I'm scratching my head.....

 

well lets see, you have fuel, you have spark, so that leaves air. What could cause an engine to not turn over from the "air" side of things...but I am puzzled as to why the engine wouldn't fire if it has fuel and spark...very weird. I'll ask around about this one..

EDIT: You know I was thinking, have you checked to see if you were maybe getting to much fuel? And creating a rich environment possibly?

 

I didn't check that either. I'll pull a few plugs after cranking it over and see if they're wet. It's popping out the intake a little bit after cranking for 3-4 seconds.

 

The plugs smelled like gas, but not overly fouled. I'll scan it again in the morning.

 

The ignition module could be bad. Mine went out going down the road. I had spark, but it wouldn't start.

 

ICM (ignition control module) is your only component you have left, and i HATE to say it, but you probably replaced your opti for nothing (aside from better to do it now and KNOW its good), i've encountered this problem 3 times, 2/3 were PROVEN it was the ICM was bad, and in the 3rd incedent, i replaced my opti because it was going bad and just as a safety measure i replaced my ICM, and so far so good. This is where id put my money, go ahead and put in about $90 for an ignition control module, and if that doesnt work, check back and we'll go from there.

 

Update:
The new coil was bad. It was throwing enough spark to see at the plug, but not enough to start the car. So I installed another coil, sent my friend down the road, and he calls me the next morning stranded.

It broke again.

I drive 60 miles to go help him, and check the car out. No F-ing spark.
We go get another AC Delco coil, install it, and still nothing. The car has good spark going into the opti, no spark at the plug.

Anyone ever heard of an opti failing after 75miles?

 

I've heard of them failing faster than that. Are you sure it has spark at the opti not at the plugs? Is it the cap/rotor or the wires or the plugs?

How did you confirm that you have no spark at the plugs?

Edit: Ohh I see what you meant. You are saying that because the coil is new, it has spark. Your opti can fail in several ways:

1. Cap/Rotor failure.
2. Sensor failure.
3. Wiring/harness failure.
4. Installed wrong.

If the engine detects a problem with the pulse from the opti, it will cut fuel to prevent engine damage. That can also contribute to your no start condition.

Do you have DTC-16 or DTC-36?

If the engine is cutting fuel, it is either #2 or #3, and will throw those codes. Check it out and get back to us. If it is throwing them, checking the harness might be easier than jumping into replacing the opti again (maybe the opti is good but the harness isn't, after 100k+ miles... maybe its oil/grime soaked and needs to be cleaned?).

Let us know how it goes, good luck.

 

You might have a short somewhere..wiggle the wires wjile car is on to see if it dies....