'94 Acclaim stops running suddenly.......

My '94 Acclaim (2.5 w/ auto tranny; 60 k miles) suddenly died while I
was driving it home today and will not restart (turns over fine). I also
don't hear the 2 second electric fuel pump noise when I switch the key
to the run position.

It has stored a number 11 code. I believe the distributor pick-up has
died. Am I on the right track here ?
Is there any test I can do to prove a bad pick-up ?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

Hi...

Code 11 = "No crank reference signal detected during engine cranking"

Take care.

Ken

 

Yes you are on the right track. BUT make sure the timing belt hasnt jumped.
If the belt jumped you will get the same code if the distributor does not
turn.
If this is the original pick up plate replace it along with a good Mopar
rotor button. Make sure the distributor reluctor is not falling aparty
also.

Glenn Beasley
Chrysler Tech

 

does that vehicle use a crank sensor or cam position sensor ?

 

Technically, it would be a crankshaft position sensor.
The turbo engines used a dual pick-up that read both crankshaft
position and camshaft position.

 

If that crank/cam sensor is bad, then he will get no spark.

I can't believe that engine still has a distributor- GM cars that year
already had crank sensors and coil packs.

 

Yes, and?

Superior Chrysler engineering means that they don't have to
resort to such things.

Do you think the code 11 came from something other than a failed
distributor pick-up or its associated wiring?

 

Are you suggesting that all new Chryslers still use distributors ?

And are you suggesting that every code yields the exact diagnosis that
code stands for ?

24 years experience wrenching as a hobby and business, tells me
different.

 

Ask him why his shop business in the Drums, PA area failed.

 

I'm with ya!

Oh horse hockey! If it has a distributor it is the 3.0 litre engine
which is an INFERIOR Mitsubishi Engine. I had a 1994 Acclaim with one
in it. It NEVER ran properly - escpecially during moist weather. It
also PUKED oil everywhere. That engine, IMHO, is a Piece of CRAP.

I had a 1994 Grand Caravan with the 3.3 litre engine - FAR SUPERIOR
design to the 3.0 mitsubishi! No "timing belt" to try and fuss with.
No clunky distributor - an electronically controlled coil pack (just
like GM). My 3.3 purred like a kitten - and it NEVER, I REPEAT NEVER
let me down or left me stranded! EVER. It never ran "rough" - even
when the O2 sensor went it still ran OK (just the occassional
spit-back).

I also used to own a 1987 Cutlass Cruiser. That was the year GM
introduced the electronics. That was a 2.8 litre MFI engine with a
coil-pack. I was, quite frankly, SHOCKED when I opened the hood of the
1994 Acclaim, some seven years later, to find a F&cking distributor!
Combine the 3.0 engine with the A604 - and you have a perfect recipe
for disaster! (one of the reasons I sold the dman thing!)

 

I have NEVER seen an "It's-A-Shitty" engine pass 50-60K miles for
durability, nor have I ever seen one that ran properly for any length
of time. DC was quite wise in dumping their "It's-A-Shitty" holdings,
another one of Iacocca's gaffes, along with misreading the quality of
Honda products, which kicked his lousy Omni/Horizon subcompacts in the
teeth.

 

DESERTBOB (not its real name) is a TROLL.
It regularly frequents at least twenty news groups,
including many rabid/sex/racist/gay/disabled/unemployed groups.
Normally, it starts off with reasonable, even witty lines,
but rapidly drifts into lies, abuse and stupidity.
Check its details at this URL:

http://groups.google.com/groups/pro...ADKWt-YFW4KG3QbhQogR222h-kUg4S0n7nbF1Te82ZIng

It is a sad creatures, deserving of pity, not anger.
Any direct response simply feeds it,
but it will go away if you ignore it.
Other names it has used includes "OLDECHRYSLER"
Now you are seeing a reply above, by the real "DeserTBob"

 

whoa- there he goes folks, DeserTBob has just cranked up his
troll-o-meter again !!

 

A 1994 Plymouth Acclaim is not a "new Chrysler."

In this case, yes.

36 years, many of them in a Chrysler-Plymouth dealership and the
fact that the distributor pick-up is a common failure part tells
me that is probably what is needed, not that I offered a
diagnosis to begin with. Your reply was to my statement that the
pick-up was technically just a crankshaft position sensor...

 

I really don't care.

 

Step off the soap box, read the part near the top where the
original poster mentions that the engine is a 2.5 liter.

That is NOT a 3.0 Mitsubishi engine.
(believe it or not)

 

Welll, Charlie Nudo (aka Cholly Noodlez)'s brain problem is
self-evident.

Was the pickup in the older ESC I and II systems which used the old
distributor on the 318 a big failure item? I was debating changing
mine out, given its age, but I've never heard of one fail on these.

 

My wife's '92 Camaro 3.1 60° V6 had a distributor...and your point is?
The 3.1 was a bore-stroke job on the 2.8.

 

Ron wrote:
I believe the distributor pick-up has

Ron

I had two Chrysler products that lost the distributor pickup. The first
one I replaced based on the code and the second I put an ohmeter on the
leads to the distributor and wiggled the wire to the distributor. It
jumped open sometimes when I wiggled the wire/cable. Replaced the
pickup and no firther problems.

Bob AZ

 

But why the leap backwards??? I have owned many cars over the years.
Only ONE of them had a relatively "trouble free" distributor - my 1979
Malibu Classic with a 305 V8. I believe it was the High Energy
Ignition. Worked like a tank, and the only thing I ever had to do was
replace the distributor cap - ONCE. 5 min job.

All other distributors I had direct experience with were problematic
at best! The bottom line is that they damn things wear out, and they
are not easy to replace and not cheap either!

Coil packs have no physical moving parts, and so no wear! And the ECM
can control PRECISELY when the engine fires! Acceleration is MUCH
better since there is no lag like with the vacuum advance. No hoses to
leak either! I bet emmissions are lower as well.

When you KNOW that something is vastly superior, then why not ditch
the old distributor for good and use the coil pack???

I'm tellin ya right now, if I went to buy a new car off the lot and I
saw a distributor on the engine, I would walk away. It's that simple.

I had a 1995 Corsica with the 3.1 - and it had a coil pack. The main
improvement there was that the coil pack was on the TOP of the engine
- easy to replace if need be. The 87 Cutlass was onthe BOTTOM of the
engine, and was a BITCH to replace.