Help desperately required solving error code 14 , any suggestions ?

[Swanseajack]

My 1990 ( sw20 ) import has developed a nasty intermittant fault , it can drive great then for no reason it stutters and wants to die , I lose power and its a job to keep it from stalling , the rev counter jumps about in an erratic fashion then after a minute or two all clears and drives as nothing wrong. When in this fault mode the engine management light comes on or flickers depending on severity of the stuttering . This has let me and my daughter down on a number of occasions in heavy traffic which frightened my daughter so much she refuses to drive it until I definately know I have solved it .
I have checked the fault code which is #14 .
I have replaced the coil , ignitor ( new ) , and ECU unit along with going through the electrical connectors and cables checking for bad connections/ broken wires etc but this has not cured it . The engine sounds great but like I say it will leave me down like it did this morning going to work ,please can somebody suggest a cure .
Thank you .

[Peter Gidden]

Code 14 possible faults are listed as:

ECU
Ignitor
Fault in IGT or IGF wiring

Have you cleared the code 14 and confirmed it is cleared after a fault event? If so, does the same fault code return after a fault event?

[Swanseajack]

Hello Peter , many thanks for replying . Yes I always reset the ECU to clear codes after it faults in the hope its a different code but I always get #14 which is consistant in what the problem is that I am getting .
Could the distributor somehow cause #14 ? I wouldnt think so but I'm up against a wall here !

[Torero]

I had a very similar issue in the past and it turned out to be a faulty king lead (coil pack to dizzy) is there anyone that you can turn to to get a spare that can test this out.

Also, check earths to all the electrics in the engien bay as well a faulty earth will cause an intermittent problem. Apologies if you've already done this but it's surprising how many people pursue the fault code without checking the basics.

I know you're getting the electrical fault codes but have you also checked the fuel system, pump, filter etc. There's an outside chance it could one of these as well.

If I'm down that way soon I'll take a look myself.

John.

[Swanseajack]

Thanks , yes I've changed the HT lead from the coil to the distributor . I've also tried disconnecting reconnecting the fuel pump while the car is running and what I get is not what I see in the fault condition , in fact its a very mild loss of revs when disconnecting the pump , in fault mode its an aggressive jumping of revs , perhaps sticking in one position then bouncing about .
I will check earthing points again though , any idea where the specific earthing point is for the coil/ignitor ?

[thomp1983]

Is it a turbo or n/a? I know some early turbo's have suffered with failed capacitators in the ecu as they've got older giving strange issues not sure if it affects n/a's but it doesn't take 5 minutes to open the ecu up and check

[Swanseajack]

Thank you , I've opened up the 2 ECU's I've swapped on the car and there is no weeping from any of the capacitors under a magnifying glass .The car is a N/A import , 175bhp , all standard .
Just thinking , would the Toad imobiliser circuit have anything to do with this fault , the reason I ask is sometimes the transponder thing that you place into the socket before starting the car doesnt always register and now and again I have to keep trying before the car starter circuit kicks in .Before I read the fault codes I have to use the Toad transponder before I can access the codes , as if I'm about to start the car if you see what I mean . So obviously it immobilises the diagnostics port so just wondering if the Toad is faulty could it bring in fault #14 ?