Well, I got it to start with the new distributor. But when it gets warm it won't start. I think it is the igniters or the pick-up coil. What do you guys think?

 

are you saying that it will start up fine when it's cold then after the engine comes up to operating temp and you shut it off it won't restart?

 

Yes. It had great fire cold but no fire warm.

 

Well, if it is cranking, getting fuel and spark after it warms up but will not fire. Then I would do a compression test. You probably have low compression. At that point I would try soaking her in sea foam and see if it is just a sticking apex seal..

 

It is not sparking warm. Its getting fuel and cranking just fine.

 

Does it have the stock distributor with points or has it been upgraded to the electronic ignition with the ignitors attached to the dist?

 

rx7doctor, very sharp in noticing he has a 79.

 

Amazing how we become psychic after awhile..

 

yeah, especially when we have access to profiles

 

Dizzy has been upgraded to electronic ignition. Dizzy is out of an 83 parts car.

 

Also has new coils, plugs, and wires.

 

Is it not getting spark on either leading or trailing when it's warm?

 

Thats correct. It won't even smoke. But it starts when it is cold.

 

mileage on the engine? compression results when engine is warm?

 

When was the dist rotor last changed?

 

Mileage is unknown. Last compression test was good. Rotor and cap look good.

 

what does that mean, good? and was it performed after engine was fully warmed up?

 

How did you verify that you don't have spark when warm? If you are guessing, then I'm guessing that you are mistaken. The usual cause for no start only when warm comes down to timing...

 

Well, how do you usually check for spark. You take a spark plug out and ground it. There was no spark. As for the compression. It had been checked just before my brother bought it. The rotor and cap don't show hardly any wear, if any. I would have to disagree with timing. My outboard uses an almost identical system. The pickup coil is just a magnito. When they get warm, they expand and loose connectivity if they are bad. That is what I think is going on. Just looking for other opinions before I start changing parts.

 

Damn all these post and no one can figure out it is the coil! That is text book bad coil.

 

You stated that you replaced the Dist which would eliminate the pickup because it is in the dist and the same sympton stayed.. The only time I have had this happen to me it turned out to be a defective dist rotor that was not very old and it was grounding it's self and causing a no spark to both leading and trailing.. If you have a used rotor lying around please try it because it took me 2 weeks of frustrating diagnosis to fix the problem.. You can also try dis connecting the trailing side , plug wires and coil wire and see if it will fire when the car is warm. I found mine by chance when I went to do a compression test and thought I had disconnected both leading and trailing sides but had only disconnected one side, then the car fired and ran.But when I hooked up both leading and trailing it would not. It also ran with out the plugs in on one side..

813kr, it would be something to think about if we had only 1 coil amigo. But we have both and he has stated that there is no fire to either leading or trailing at the same time when it is hot

 

What I said was I changed from a points dizzy to an electronic dizzy. It was out of a parts car. Points dizzy was very sloppy around the shaft. I never said that I changed the pickup coil. I replaced the leading and trailing ignition coils. Those are both brand new. I also just recently finally got to talk to a mechanic friend of mine. I told him the symptoms and the first thing he said was the pickup coil or the ignitors were bad. I cannot believe that through all of these questions, that no real answers were given. Just so there is no confusion, I do greatly appreciate all of the information that I have received on this web site. Being not very well trained in mechanical matters, I don't feel that a amnual alone is enough. Especially when they don't have pictures. Pictures can be very idiot proof for people like me. Mazspeed was also very helpful with the conversion info the change to electronic. But when I told my buddy the same thing I post here, almost verbatum, and I get an instant answer, then I think there were too many questions asked. But I will also keep posting questions here. You guys know a hell of alot more then I do about these cars. Maybe just a little frustrated with all the questions.

 

I'll second or is that third a possible ignitor issue. My GSL had a similiar issue and took me awhile to figure it out. The car would fire up fine but once it warmed up, the leading ignition would go out, finally traced it down to a faulty ignitor. The car would still run although no power, had it been the trailing position would have surely just cause the car to die.

 

The problem my friend is that we are not talking to you on the phone to get exact answers.. This is how you started your thread... I checked your profile and it stated you have a Sa, you never stated that you just switched from points to a electronic ignition.. It states that ignition has been upgraded but not telling us that you just did this.. that would of made some difference. And the chance of both ignitors being bad is slim but happens.. If you had symptons of the car running fine cold but when it warmed up lost power, I would say check your leading ignitor at that point..

So making statements like, quote "I cannot believe that thru all of these questions, that no real answers were given". Well as to put it lightly, "Pisses me Off".. The problem is as usual. We have to extract like we are doing a root canal to get the "Real" info in order for us to help you.. It includes the what, where, when, how, etc.... Including everything that was Just done or changed on the car to get the correct picture of what is going on.. So this is a lesson learned for you on how to get help from those of us that take time out of our lifes to help you, the inexperienced.....
Now back on the theory of the pick up coil, yes it is a very good posibility, although in the over 20 years of playing with and working on these cars I have never had one go bad.. I used to find this problem on Toyotas and when it occured I would hook jump start thru another vehicle to the dead one and see if it would start... If it did it was allowing more current to run thru the pick up and allow it to fire. I'm not saying it's the case here.. Also I would recommend taking a very close look at the wiring that you did to upgrade to electronic ignition.. If you had a problem before and it was because there was a problem with one of the multiple ballast resistors that drop voltage to the points and your still running the wiring thru them there might be a problem..

 

Well, if your buddy answered your question instantly, based on the exact same information that you have provided us with, then maybe he should join the forum and lead us all into the light...

I'm not going to bother with this thread anymore, since you apparently have solved your issue based on his advice. Good day to you...