[brayne]

I replaced my head temp sensor today with a 2 wire version in the interest of preventive maintenance. I installed a new DME relay last weekend to resolve a stalling problem and noticed at the time that I had the 1 wire version. While sizing up the head temp sensor job, I noticed that the insulation on the wires connecting the TDC and RPM flywheel sensors was brittle and flaking off for almost their entire length leaving the underlying shielding exposed. I moved these wires out of the way as I installed the temp sensor – it took awhile to get the new one in – but I know I bumped them a lot because more insulation fell off. After the temp sensor was installed, I wrapped what I could with electrical tape put everything back together. I didn’t feel good about the condition of these wires but the car has been running fine all season so I felt they would probably hold until I could replace them sometime in the future.

Got everything back together and went to start it up. You guessed it, the engine did not start – not even a sputter. Strong gas smell but I verified that there is no spark by pulling a plug and watching while cranking the engine. I unplugged and plugged all of the connections to the various sensors in the engine compartment and verified that I have not inadvertently switched the wires for the TDC and RPM sensors. This is really a bummer since the car was running great before I did this job. Obviously, I screwed something up.

1) Can anyone tell me how to test the TDC and RPM sensors? Their wires were not in great shape when I started and I probably didn’t do them any good while replacing the temp sensor.
2) Can I remove the TDC and RPM sensors to inspect/replace without removing the engine and upsetting the gap?
3) Could I have somehow damaged the DME by attempting to start with bad wires?

I would appreciate any suggestions anyone has. Thanks!

Brent
86 T-look cab