its a 6g72 monty, i have already replaced the ff:
-fuel pump
-dist. cap and rotor
-sparkplug and wires
-fuel filter
-thermo sensor to ecu

now when i say cold its just around 18deg celsius and not below that or freezing. it used to be that when i tried cranking for about 30 secs it would eventually start, but lately the problem became worse to the point that i cannot start it at all.

i know is that there is fuel going to the engine, opened the pipe while cranking.

there is spark going to the plugs.
what i havent replaced is the coil and coil driver plus the ht wire from coil to distributor. what i noticed is when i removed say plug number 2 on the spark plug side, there seems to be arcing/spark somewhere in the area of the coil. but when i connect it back to the spark plug, the arcing is not there.

the spark comes out the end of the coil where the the rubber boot of the plug wire meets the coil itself.

anyone can help me? im tired of pouring money into this already <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/barf.gif" alt="" />

I had a similar problem with mine one time - would start fine on a sunny day, but on a cold, damp, rainy or snowy day it would crank and crank forever, but wouldn't turn over. I finally ended up replacing the ignition coil - I think it was about $40 and very easy to change. Worked fine after that!

The arcing you see at the coil when the plug wire is disconnected is normal - the juice wants to go somewhere when the ECU fires the coil and it's jumping from the coil to the coil frame and/or bracket..... the easiest/nearest path to ground.

Since you haven't replaced the coil lead, that would be the logical next step. Actually, it would have been far more logical to have replaced it along with the plug wires.

If that doesn't work, check the ignition timing. If it still is acting up, you'll need to go through the complete diagnostic routine as outlined in the FSM.

Frank

thanks for that, i will give it a go. coils are kinda cheap here.

yes that is logical, but i had an old but unused performance set lying around for a v6 which did not have a coil to dist one..i probably used it somewhere before. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> i'll look for one plus the coil. thanks again.