[Cloud9...68]

Before I swap my DME with the new one I received from another member in the continuing saga of my no-start situation (for those who have been following that thread), I'd like to confirm that the other 14-pin connector that I had to take apart to pull the engine is now wired correctly. This connector is located in the engine compartment on the drivers side directly in front of the fuse box, inside a protective black plastic cover that's attached to the firewall with a pair of phillips screws. Here's a picture of the top of my connector:



   



And here's the bottom:



   



Could someone who may have a picture of their please compare it to the ones above? Or, if it's not too much to ask, could someone please take the protective cover off of theirs and snap a few pictures? If you're careful, there's not much chance of messing it up, especially if you put it right back in again. ALternatively, if someone knows what this connector is called, so I can find it in the wiring diagram (of if anyone already knows which page of the diagram it's on), that would be great as well.



I'm not as worried about this one, because it's pretty obvious from the lengths of the wires, and the way they're bent, which socket in the connector the pins go into, and each female pin has a corresponding male. Also, the wires didn't pop out and go all willy-nilly like the ones in the 14-pin connector in the passenger footwell. But who knows - it's a pretty complicated connector, and I did take it apart, so there's a distinct possibility I put it together incorrectly after having been apart for about a year. Just going over stuff I touched during the course of this project that may have a "connection" (sorry...) to my no-spark/no-fuel situation. Thanks.

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[tamathumper]

Hang in there, man.

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[Cloud9...68]

[quote name='tamathumper' timestamp='1358694972' post='137672']

Hang in there, man.

[/quote]

Thanks. Trying. This is definitely getting old fast, though. If it isn't the DME, I've already started entertaining highly destructive thoughts, like, "I bet I could make a ton of money parting this car out, starting with a freshly rebuilt engine with lots of desirable upgrades, and buy something that actually runs." But then I slap myself, realizing that there has to be a very specific reason there's nothing coming out of the DME, and it has to be related to something I touched in the wiring somewhere along the way, and that this is actually a fairly short list.

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[Eric_K]

I can't make sense of those pictures. How come the three open pins don't line up in the two sides?



This connector is at G-48 on the wiring diagram.

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[Cloud9...68]

[quote name='Eric_K' timestamp='1358701376' post='137674']

I can't make sense of those pictures. How come the three open pins don't line up in the two sides?



This connector is at G-48 on the wiring diagram.

[/quote]

The open pins don't line up because the top and bottom halves are turned 180 degrees relative to each other. Here's a front view of the connector:



   



Here's the best way I can explain it: Place your right hand in front of you with the palm up. Then place your left hand on top of your right, such that the palm of your left hand is touching the palm of your right hand. Your arms represent the wire bundles, and your hands represent the connector halves. The only way for the wires to line up is for the empty sockets of one of the halves to be where there are active pins in the other half. The two halves have to be mirror images of each other, in other words.



And thanks again for locating the connector in the wiring diagram (how to you do that...?) Oh, which sheet is it on?

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[banditsc]

Here is my connector.

   

   

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[Eric_K]

Got it, the fact that the wires leave the connector going in opposite directions threw me off.



The grid coordinates are unique across all the diagrams, so find G-48 and you will be on the right page. It is about 2 inches away from the diagram of the other connector.

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[MB968]

Cloud, just one other idea. Have you ever taken a good look at the main connector for the DME. The way it books in, wonder if there could be any issue with any of the individual male or female connectors. Could there be something on this connector that isn't making proper contact.

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[Cloud9...68]

OK, I checked the wiring of my 14-pin connector against the pictures Banditsc posted, and against the wiring diagram, and everything matches. Check this one off the list. Looks like it's time to try the spare DME...



MB - The DME connector is latching into place very solidly, and the connectors all seem to be in good shape. In fact, I'm sure corroded connectors in general, whether they be on sensors, the DME, or the grounds, is definitely a viable candidate to cause a problem like mine. But the car has been stored in as non-corroding of an environment as I can imagine - in my garage, in the middle of the country, many hundreds of miles from the nearest salt air. You know how brake rotors will corrode if there is a thimble-full of water anywhere within a mile of one? Mine don't have a spec of rust on them. In fact, I've never found a bad contact anywhere on this car. I think the problem is more fundamental, like a bad component (e.g. dead DME), a signal the DME needs that's not getting to it, a connector going to the wrong place (which I've all but ruled out now), or possibly the alarm disabling the car.

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[MB968]

Most connectors are made out of materials, or coated that corrosion isn't typically an issuel. I was more concerned about mechanical disturbance, say a pin is bent, and due to the way it goes together you probably wouldn't feel it if there was an issue. But if you've looked at it closely, and it looks OK, then probably is.

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[kwikt]

Just another idea, have you changed your DME chip during the down time?

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[Cloud9...68]

[quote name='kwikt' timestamp='1358729344' post='137689']

Just another idea, have you changed your DME chip during the down time?

[/quote]

I really appreciate any and all ideas. However, the answer is no, I've had the same DME chip (a RacerX) ever since I bought the car. I did try putting the stock chip back in as part of the no-spark troubleshooting, and it didn't help. Scratch another one off the list...

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[flash]

you've still got something wrong with the connector.



screw the connector. match the wires together without the connector for a test

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[Cloud9...68]

[quote name='flash' timestamp='1358742621' post='137698']

you've still got something wrong with the connector.



screw the connector. match the wires together without the connector for a test

[/quote]

I've effectively done that - I basically ignored the goofy numbering of my male connector receptor, and just made sure each male bullet connector is now connected to the female connector the wiring diagram says it belongs with. And correcting the connector wiring did have one effect - all those warning lights (for oil level, brake pad condition, ABS) went away, so at least correcting the wiring did produce a quantifiable result. Wouldn't hurt to check everything one more time, though...

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[flash]

i would check to see that each color goes to the correct color. i think you still have something wrong there, assuming you have a functioning TPS

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[Cloud9...68]

[quote name='flash' timestamp='1358789381' post='137727']

i would check to see that each color goes to the correct color. i think you still have something wrong there, assuming you have a functioning <acronym title='throttle position sensor'>TPS</acronym>

[/quote]

That's what I did (or at least tried to do). There is still some guesswork involved, though, because while the wiring diagram is clear and 100% accurate with regard to the male side of the connector (when compared to the pictures Banditsc posted), the female side is a different matter - there are at least three sockets that the wiring diagram shows as being empty, while Banditsc's photos clearly show an equal number of male and female pins, and my car also has an equal number of each. So, on the female side, I had to do the best I could matching the colors in Banditsc's picture of this side of the connector to my wires, which was a bit of a challenge, because some of the colors are difficult to see in the picture, and the interpreation of color through a photo can be challenging. I had to use the process of elimination. I do agree that this is the most glaring possible cause of my problems, so I'll check the wires again (ugh...)



As far as the <acronym title='throttle position sensor'>TPS</acronym>, I see how this could explain the blink test not working, but I don't see how it could prevent spark or fuel. But it's something I haven't tested you, so I'll add it to my list.

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[flash]

that's why i would eliminate the sockets altogether. just temporarily connect the wires without the plastic housing, one wire at a time.

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[Cloud9...68]

[quote name='flash' timestamp='1358790523' post='137731']

that's why i would eliminate the sockets altogether. just temporarily connect the wires without the plastic housing, one wire at a time.

[/quote]

I understand, but there's still the same ambiguity as to which male wire goes with which female.



Here's what I'll do - I'll start from scratch, ignoring all notes I've previously made, and create a new table of which male wire goes with which female, based on Banditsc's pictures, and confirming with the wiring diagram (at least on the male side). Then I'll take the caps off of the connector, and check each connection, wire by wire, to make sure the right wires are connected to each other. I'm reluctant to take the whole thing apart, because I'm afraid there's risk that I won't put it back together correctly, as this thing is a royal pain to work with, even with the glove box removed, and no seat.

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[cweinrich968]

Just curious if anything's changed since the most recent post.



After reading about the situation, I couldn't help but think about how similar it seems to what I was dealing with exactly a year ago after doing some major engine work.



I purchased my 968 in January 2012 after flying to Florida and drove it home to Ohio with my son (he and I are both 944 fanatics, and enjoy working on his '87 NA and his '86 Turbo). I started one project which led to another and so on, but when I had finished putting the engine back together, I had a NO START (no spark, no fuel) situation.



At first I tried to enjoy doing some troubleshooting and reading more about my 968, but it became SERIOUS! After a few weeks of reading, research and head scratching, I was running out of options and had already gone back to double check my double checking. After testing every conceivable component and/or temporarily replacing it with a "known good" part (including the DME), all manner of thoughts started to cross my mind, including thoughts of parting out my car!



To make a REALLY long story short, during my daily mental gymnastics about the 968, I decided to go back and check the position of the flywheel that was imobilised with the flywheel lock one more time. THAT WAS IT !!! You have to understand that there are SO many heiroglyphics on the flywheel that I had simply locked it in place on an erroneous mark!



After making ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that <acronym title='top dead center'>TDC</acronym> was achieved and everything was perfectly synchronised with the timing gear, IT STARTED! I was thrilled that there was no bent valves, which was a distinct possibility in an interference engine. I had left no stone unturned in my quest for getting my 968 to start, reading every tidbit of information (no matter how remotely related), but it turned out to something very basic. With so many indesciminate marks on the flywheel, it could happen to another unsuspecting 968 owner.

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[Cloud9...68]

Hello,



To answer your question, the whole cause of my no-start problem turned out to be the wiring of the 14-pin DME connector in the passenger footwell. Every electrical connector used by every manufacturer seems to be a little different, so I spent some time scratching me head as to how to take this connector apart when I pulled my engine. Not knowing what else to do, I took off the innocent-looking cover from one of the sides of the connector to see if this would give me a clue. Big mistake! These covers essentially hold the wires in place, so when I took the cover off, the wires all sprung out! What a nightmare. So I carefully (or so I thought) did my best to line up the wires up where I thought they should go, but of course I got it all wrong. I made a mental note to address this when I put the engine back in, but that turned out to be a good year-and-a-half later.



With a lot of help from people like Flash, Eric_K, and most especially Banditsc, who provided me several incredibly helpful photographs, and the wiring diagram (which was oddly incomplete...), I managed to figure out how to put the wires back correctly, which fixed the no-spark problem, and the engine fired right up.



Oh, and if anybody ever has the take this 14-pit connector apart, it turns out to be very easy - all you have to do is wedge a screwdriver between the two halves, twist, and it comes right apart. If only I had known that initially, it would have saved me weeks of grief.



I'm glad you found your problem. The worst part of chasing down a problem like this, which almost always has a specific, simple cause, is the uncertainty and feeling of helplessness, which can cause your imagination to run away with you. One thing I've learned through this whole process is that if something worked before you started working on it, and it doesn't work afterwards, it's almost certainly caused by something you touched. In other words, parts don't usually fail randomly, so it's generally a mistake to start replacing parts without doing a lot of troubleshooting first, focusing on the areas you touched.

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