1999 Pontiac Grand Am 2.4l Quad 4 engine cranks wont start , compression tested good , I dont think its getting spark but dont know how to test it , just picked up car real cheap engine was removed and water pump replaced help!

unplug the top cover on engin and remove the 4 13mm bolts. now flip it over and set it on top of engin. plug it back in and run a clip lead from batt neg. to the end of coil rubber boot. crank engin and check for spark comming out of boot to clip lead, do this for all 4 coils. let me know if spark is seen. mws919

now engine is backfiring through the intake,with throttle wide open ,

have you had it scanned for trouble codes ?

are you following my inst., if so, shouldn't get a back fire, the coils should be out of engin?

no power at obd port wont power up scanner

any fuses blown ? for the scan tool issue

none that i found

VEHICLE HAS SPARK, THANKS, PRETTY SLICK WAY TO CHECK SPARK HOWEVER STILL NO START,WHEN i CHECKED FIRST TWO PLUGS NOT FIRING,REPLACED COIL NOW HAVE SPARK IN ALL OF THEM, STILL WONT POWER UP SCANNER, CHECKED FUSES.

when I compression tested the engine #1 180psi,#2 147psi, #3 150psi and #4 180psi two adjacent cylinders low compression, even with a fully charged battery the engine spins slow and erratic, this is a real project and no other mechanics seem to want to be bothered with a quad 4 engine

pin 16 on data connector shuold have batt. voltage. also what cylinders have low commpression and how much psi?

the cylinders are numbered in my last post with psi, no power to pin 16

the two adjacent cylinders in the center 2 and 3 have #2 147 psi #3 150psi the other two are 180psi

try running a wire from a fuse to pin 16 to power it up and see if the scanner comes on.

will do let you know

I am having almost what sounds like the same problem, though no spark on cylinder two, change spark plug coils and everything, still running the same. Know the next step?