I have 2 questions....ive narrowed this down to either the coilpack or ICM as far as I can tell....

1) when one of the 2 coilpacks is disconnected...should i see spark between the spot where the coil pack attaches?

2) is it possible to open up and repair an ICM or are they unopenable and filled with epoxy or something?

just curious but what was the original problem? i recently had icm problems too...i ended up just goin to the junkyard and they sold me icm and coil packs for 35 bucks

Running rich....found out I was getting intermittent spark on cyl 2&3 then lost all spark....replaced the crankshaft position sensor...runs again but 2&3 have no spark now....both coil packs tested to be just fine so I can only assume its the ICM

even tho its not the end of the world to take the ICM off...its still no picnic so I figured id get those questions answered before I made my next move

do u have the 2.2ohv or 2200.. i see u have a 97 i also have a 97 but i have the older 2.2...gettin to the icm on mine is a massive pain in the a**.. and mine just lost spark on num 1 cylinder and like urs i tested everything from the spark plugs back til i reached the icm...replaced that and it runs like a champ now

btw if u really want to kno ur 2nnd question i believe i still have my old icm i could see if i can get it open..

have you done plugs and wires yet

seems odd that 2-3 aren't working but the coil pack is good not usually is it the ICM but its possible



JBO since July 30, 2001

Plugs and wires are brand spankin new

Also I have the 2.2 Single Overhead....


Im a bit strapped for cash so if my ICM is repairable even as a temporary fix I would love to take a crack at it

best way to test, but it's a little dangerous. With the car idling, remove the spark plug wire from the coil pack one at a time. When removed, the wire should spark to the post on the coil pack. If only one of the posts arc on a coil pack, it is bad. If neither post sparks on the coil pack, the ICM is bad.




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"The J's weren't designed to be sports cars, the suspension sucks, the brakes are tiny, and the target market for our car doesn't need to be able to do any more than 65mph." - Shifted

A more accurate observation has never been typed. These should be the starting points before any serious performance modification. What's the point of making a serious performer if you can't control it's power?

The coilpack that runs cylinders 2&3 doesnt arc when both are disconnected

What I really need to know is...is it possible to open and "repair" the ICM even as a temporary fix because I am cash strapped at the moment.

ok...well i decided @!#$ it...its comin out

opened it up and looks too delicate to repair but can deff see a few points where it appears to have burned up

do you have pictures by any chance?

I can take a pic or two but theres really not too much to see anymore....
on top of the circuitry is the same type of snotty stuff that they use to attach credit cards n @!#$ to paper they mail you

Installed a new ICM from the junkyard that was tested to be working just fine....When I first started up the car it sounded great....now Im getting spark on all 4 cylinders...

Took it for a 30 second drive down the road and it died on me...started back up and drove back home....it started idling radically and will eventually stall out....

It will stall out quicker if you give it gas at idle at even backfire now and again... Im at a 100% loss here....

i may be way off but that kinda sounds fuel related

its really weird...i left cylinders 1&4 disconnected from the coilpack to watch the spark....

when you start the car...the spark runs really good...consistent and strong for between 30-60 Seconds...then starts to become very very weak and hardly sparks at all and the car eventually stalls out

I started looking for any "power leaks" so to speak and anything that could be impairing power...I also noticed when I did something like turn on my headlights/blower fan(no AC in this car) or stereo it made the car stall out much quicker

I wonder if the bad ICM messed up the alternator. Will it run long enough to test the electrical system at the auto parts place?

Could it do that? Im a little scared to try to drive this thing the few miles to autozone for testing for fear it will die out in traffic and for some reason i wont be able to restart it or something...I do think im going to bring the battery to autozone to be tested tmw tho

I don't know for sure, but having replaced the ICM I would just really make sure the alternator/regulator, and electrical system is all good.
From having run the motor with sparks messed up, I would also clean the fuel injection system and check the plugs if it's not running smooth.

do u by chance know what icm u got? i know i have the 95-97.5 2.2ohv but i have a newer icm from the 2200....im not sure but if by chance u got the 2200 witha icm from the motor like mine it could be messing it up.....i kno when i replaced mine just for good measure i let my car "relearn" before i started it and mine runs fine.

I know its a 2.2ohv but forget the year....how do you let the car "relearn" ?

ok well i cant believe I didnt really notice this before...but the car seems to run alright up until ANY accessory comes on including the cooling fan...
I guess its time to get this alternator tested even though I was under the impression that normally alternators either work or they dont...there is no in between normally

well....i disconnected the voltage regulator plug from the alternator and it started running awesome again! that was the only way I could keep the car running and smoothly at that....drove it to autozone to get the alternator tested and on the way my CEL went away....so thats good...

When they tested it without the voltage regulator connected the battery only had 20% charge and was runnin at 10-11volts......when I plugged in the regulator again it SLOWLY climbed to 13.5volts but then stalled out about 20-30seconds later....

autozone guy(the only one at the store that knows what they are talkin about) confirmed my suspicions now that the alternator is probably hit so Im gonna take it out of the car and into the store for a bench test and more then likely need to replace it im guessing....

one crazy thing is when I had him price me a new one...the cheapest one they had (Valucraft) was still running about $110!! thats not even including core!! that seems a bit steep for an alternator for a cavalier

check rockauto.com

the alternator on the bench test in store failed completely...not just the regulator so I picked up a valucraft and now Im having a fun time installing it...got it in then realized the belt slipped off the water pump and i missed it....fun fun