jono20

whats a qucik method for checking if I have spark or not?

I woke up this morning and my car wouldnt start. Done every unflooding procedure I could think of, so now Im moving on to other things, like spark!

Alex6969

unplug one of your spark plug wires and have a friend start the car(with your EGI Comp, and EGI Ign fuses pulled so no gas is injected) meanwhile you stick screwdriver into the unpluged wire and you'll should see it spark(make sure its an insulated one)

Icemark

Spark almost never fails on a FC, but you could check by unplugging a leading spark plug wire, stick a nail down the hole (that the top of the spark plug normally would be plugged into) hold the wire with the nail coming out (with pliers) near a body bolt (say like a 1/4 inch away from a strut tower nut) and have a buddy crank the car over.

You should see a nice spark jump across from the nail sticking out of the end of the spark plug cable and the bolt.

Aaron Cake

iTrader: (1)

Spark tester. Available at any auto parts store for about $10. It's basically a spark plug with an alligator clip attached to it. You attach the plug wire, then clip the plug in a place where you can see it from the drivers seat.

Don't use a timing light to check for spark since they are not reliable enough.

jono20

alirght. I fear that Ive got a lot more on my plate right now than jsut a simple spark fuel issue.

I removed the lower plug on the rear rotor, and liquid started pouring out... it didnt smell like gas .

Ive got a horrid feeling in my gut that I might have a very blow coolant seal.

was fine yesterday when I drove it, a little white smoke at start up but nothing out of the ordinary. I really dont need this right now

aswell, after all my cranking trying to get it started, the cooling system became pressureized to the point where it when out the overflow hose. that shouldnt of happened right? I mean, it should only pressurize when its heated

WonkoTheSane

iTrader: (2)

Um... I hate to say this, but I think you already know what's going down... Sounds to me like the coolant seal went bye-byes on the rear rotor

On the bright side, it was really time to port the engine anyway, wasn't it?

YearsOfDecay

Somewhere... Out behind your house... I can hear the Coolant Seal Fairy, playing "taps", sofly, on his skin flute....

Seriously... Coolant seals are better than Apex seals... Your housings may still be in good shape if its just a blow coolant seal (well, assuming it wasn't leaking for a very long time).

jono20

alirhgt now im confused.

after another hour of cranking, and deflooding I popped out the plugs again. No liquid.

I cranked the car and had someone look into the rad fill hole. No bubbles.


What could be happening? If it helps any... the car was left out in the rain last night!

jono20

ok I was just outside testing for spark. I stuck a wire in to a leading plug wire, and held it near a bolt on the body. I saw no spark jump accross no matter how close I held it.


can I do this test with a multimeter? what should the voltage from the plug wire be?

jono20

I need to get this car started again so I can try to CRC Blockweld trick.

The coolant leak seems to be fairly slow. Im fairly certain ive got fuel Pressure and spark, could there be any other big thing stopping the engine from firing? will it start with small amount of coolant in the cyclinders?

aslwell, even if one rotor doesnt fire, should it start up with just the front. (the rear rotor has the leak) Ive heard of people running on one rotor

jono20

you know what... I dont think ive got any spark...

I took a plug, plugged it into both leading, and both trailing wires, grounded the threads to a strut tower bolt, and cranked with the egi fuse out (and in a bit too). I saw no spark!

Icemark

EGI fuse needs to be in to get spark... it powers the ECU... don't know why you pulled it.

jono20

yeah I figured that out. its in now, same thing. leading wire from the front housing connected to plug, plug grounded to shock tower bolt. crank, crank, NO spark.

how the HELL could I have fried BOTH coil packs?

88rx7gxl

Check the "ENGINE" fuse in the fusebox on the drivers side under the dash. Its a 15amp fuse.

jono20

Just checked it and replaced it. nothin

iceblue

Specifications
General
Coil resistance 0.2 to 1 ohm
Crank angle sensor resistance
Between terminals G1 and G2 110 to 210ohms
Between terminals Ne1 and Ne2 110 to 210 ohms

Torque specifications
Crank angle sensor locknuts 69.6 to 96 in-lbs

Ignition system
The ignition system includes the ignitions switch, the battery, the crank angle sensor, the leading and trailing side coil/igniters, the primary (low voltage) and secondary (high voltage) wiring circuits, the spark plugs and the spark plug wires.
When working on the ignition system, take the following precautions:
a) If the engine wont start, don’t keep the ignition switch on for more than 10 seconds.
b) Never allow an ignition coil terminal to contact ground. Grounding the ignition coil can damage the igniter and/or the coil itself.
c) Don’t disconnect the battery when the engine is running.
d) Make sure the igniter is properly grounded.

Ignition Check
1 Attach an inductive timing light to each plug wire, one at a time and crank the engine.
A) If the light flashes, voltage is reaching the plugs.
B) If the light does not flash, proceed to the next step.
2 Inspect the spark plug wire(s), and spark plug(s).
3 If the engine still wont start, check the coil/igniter assemblies.

Leading Coil Check
1 Detach the cable from the negative battery terminal.
2 Detach the high tension leads from the coil Note that the leads are marked (white dot on high tension terminal No. 1 and white band on leading high tension lead No. 1) If the leads on your vehicle are not marked, be sure that you mark them to prevent incorrect reassembly.
3 Remove the plastic cover from the primary terminals of the coil.
4 Using an ohmmeter, measure the resistance between the primary terminals of the coil and compare you measurement to the value (specifications listed).
5 If the indicated resistance is not as specified, replace the leading coil.

Trailing Coil Check
1 Detach the cable from the negative battery terminal.
2 Remove the plastic cover from the primary terminal.
3 Detach the high-tension leads; the leads should be marked (a white dot on the N0 .1 high tension lead). If they’re not marked on your vehicle, be sure that you mark hem to insure proper reassembly.
4 Using and ohmmeter, measure the resistance between the primary terminals and compare your measurements with the value listed in specifications.
5 Repeat this procedure for the other trailing coil.
6 If the indicated resistance of either unit is not within specifications, replace it.

Igniter
1 Testing the igniter assemblies requires special equipment and is therefore beyond the scope of the home mechanic. Take the vehicle to a dealer service department or other qualified repair shop to have the igniters checked.

jono20

wow thanks iceblue. im off to school right now but ill definitly try to check some of that stuff when I get home

jono20

can anyone think of any other reason other than that fuse that both coils would stop working

sar

iTrader: (1)

AFM unplugged/bad, ignitor pack unplugged, crank angle sensor unplugged, a random event that I seemed to have for some reason with my first 7.

If your trailing coil isnt getting power ur tach shouldnt move if that helps. also i used a screwdriver and i could watch for sparks almost from within car on my own.

jono20

yeah my tach isnt moving when I crank, ive heard it should. ill check those plugs...

88and93

There are only two interfaces that would allow no spark to both leading and trailing coils, the ECU and the main relay. Check the main relay first. Also a very important component on these cars is the five blade ground terminal mounted to the rear of the drivers side strut tower under the trailing coil pack. Remove coil pack and sand the whole thing down to nice shiny brass. Use a quality electrical contact cleaner (CRC QD) on every connector you can get your hands on, especially the CAS, coils and main relay. While cleaning the CAS connector check the resistance for both halves, should be 100-200 ohms. Good luck.

iceblue

The CAS will also affect no spark. If the main relay dies there will be no cabin power as well. The number 1 causes are bad ECU or CAS.

jono20

do I have any way to test the CAS

iceblue

CAS resistance
Terminals G1 and G2.......... 110 to 210ohms
Terminals Ne1 and Ne2 ........ 110 to 210ohms

1. Unplug the electrical connector from the CAS.
2. Using a Ohmmeter, check the resistance between terminals G1 and G2 and between Ne1 and Ne2
3. If resistance is not as ^ then replace the CAS.

Clip here
--------------
: Ne2 : G2 :
:-------------:
: Ne1 : G1 :
--------------

jono20

terminals on the actual cas or on the plug that goes into it