Hi, The other night I ran over a moderately-sized bump in the road. a couple minutes later the engine started slowing and finally died. Now the car will not start. The engine will crank but acts like it"s maybe not getting any gas. I jumped the F/P & GND terminals on the diagnostic connector & then can hear the fuel pump running when the key is turned on. It don't seem to hear the pump running though without the jumper & just the key turned on. I also tried taking a new spark plug, plugging it into one of the plug wires, laying it on the engine block, and cranking the car but didn't see any spark. there have been a couple times when the car started for a couple seconds after letting the hood slam closed but then it died again. Does anyone have any ideas as to what hitting this bump may have done or knocked loose to cause this problem? Thanks.

 

Update:
I went to the junkyard & got another ignition coil, igniter, & the other small "capacitor-looking" piece & tried all with no luck(There appears to be battery voltage at all 3 connectors with the ignition switch on.). There is still no spark, even right out of the coil. The fuel pump does seem to be pumping, at least when the engine is cranking. What else could be causing no spark?

 

year and engine? my educated guess would be a relay. IIRC, some of the year models had a ground wire on the intake manifold that can cut loose, though i don't know if that is a direct connection to the ignition.

 

It's a 1994 Protege. I believe it's got a 1.8Liter engine

 

If you have some fuel injection noids, check fuel injection pulse. If you have pulsing, check fuel pressure, if you have little or no fuel pressure, check the ground on your fuel pump, located directly under the rear seat bottom.
Turn the key to the run position, and wiggle all the wires going to the fuel pump, or check the wires with an ohm meter with the key on. If you have juice going to the fuel pump, and all wires are good, you might need a fuel pump.

 

Thanks for all your replies.....I finally fixed the problem today! After trying new(well...new to me...from the junkyard) ignition coil, ignition control module, & distributor sensor the car started. The coil & ignition module weren't the problem....it was either the distributor sensor and/or very worn rotor/points in the distibutor. I installed the sensor & sanded off the points/rotor contacts and the car started right up.
I'm not really sure what hitting the bump really had to do with the whole problem....maybe that was a coincidence???