Fingers

K, so as i decided to do my timing, on a whim i decided to check all spark plug wires if all were igniting. Unfortunately Leading 2 does not. It does NOTHING. I triple checked the inductive timing light, and the orientation of the clip. Nothing. Every other one works fine. Checked ground to the coil, perfect.

Now... I am half in luck... I have a spare coil from an 87 Turbo II . Will this work on my 89 T2? It might also be the wires, so i'll try my spare set first to see if that's it.

Anyways, please let me know if the two generations have interchangeable Leading coils.

Thanks
-Ross

Fingers

Just thought of something... could it be a bad spark plug?

HAILERS

Please, if the number one lead is firing the lead number two HAS to be firing. One can NOT fire without the other firing. Its the nature of the system.

Next time, reverse your clamp on the suspect wire. As in.....if the clamp has an arrow that says *sparkplug that a way*, put it on just the opposite.

Fingers

Hailers, I DID THAT! I made SURE about a million times. I reversed it too. Tried it a bit further down the wire too. All three wires work EXCEPT that one, which is why i'm thinking the wire must be either broken, or the spark plug is fouled up to the point that it cannot emit the proper spark...

After all, how can a defective wire carry a charge if the circuit isnt complete? If the spark plug arcs, it more or less completes the circuit. Trust me, i've double/triple checked.

Fingers

Okay, i just replaced the coil, and the wire that was giving me trouble, same stupid ****!!! Took the spark plug, cleaned it up, same thing timing light doesnt do SQUAT. When positioned the same way and attached to the leading 1 wire, it works fine.

However, the idle has improved since i cleaned the spark plug.

I still have the same problem as i started though!!! however, i have noticed something new.

When attaching the clip to the trailing coil (1 or 2), it goes:
click click click click click click click click click click

When attaching the clip to the only working leading coil (1), it goes:
click click clickclick clickedy click pause click clickedy

Its a very consistent firing from the trailing coil, but not from the leading coil.


WTF IS GOING ON!!! My next order of business is to get a thick 4-gauge wire from the battery to the coil.

PS, RPM doesnt matter. both the inconsistent firing, and the non-working timing light on the L2 coil exists.

PPS, i've tried attaching a spare spark plug to the wire (both L1 and L2), and the spark seemed rather weak. Almost invisible. I haven't compared it to T1 and T2, but i don't even know where to go from here.

PUHLEASE HELP ME FIX MY BROKEN ROTARY ROCKET

J-Rat

iTrader: (2)

I had the same issue...So I used a non inductive timing light, and it worked. Could be that your plug wire insulation is REALLY good. After all thats what its there for.

Jarrett

Fingers

Maybe both coils are giving out very weak sparks? Voltage issue? I tried cleaning the nuts where they screw down. As some of you may know, the car I bought is very clean, so there's no corrosion anywhere. Not even so much as a single salt deposit. So i don't think its a ground issue... But my next order of business is to try running a 4 gauge wire from the nut of the coil to my battery.

Fingers

BUMP! no insight? Not even bad insight?

Fingers

Bump losing confidence

Icemark

sounds like the leading coil has a bad ground or bad power connection.

Is it bolted down correctly to the body??? There is no a bunch of paint between the bolts and the body of the coil, correct?

HAILERS

Hey. Do this. Swap Lead plug wires at the coil assy and check the light again. That ought to confirm the plug wires.

So it'll still work just as before if you do the above. So try this. PUll the so called bad wire out of the coil assy. Just lay it barely in the bore of the coil assy. Leave the good wire on its spark plug. Crank the engine and watch the spark at the coil assy.

Or to save your starter and battery, pull your cas and spin the cas gear at the bottom and watch the spark at the coil assy where the wire is just outside the bore.

Or do this. Remove the trail wires from the plugs or the trail coil assy, your choice. Now start the car. If the car runs, then both lead coil wires are doing their job. That way you know the trail coil is not the one running the car and carrying the lead coil assy so to speak.

Or try this. Have someone in the car to spin the engine. Now take the bad wire off the plug. Put your finger in the hole. Put your other hand on the engine solid. Now spin the engine. Did you get shocked???? No shock????? Write back with your good hand.

Fingers

No dude. One of the coils looks new. I used emery cloth to sand down everywhere it touches the body/bolts.

Icemark

Might be better off using a screw driver and holding it near ground... you don't get your *** shocked across the garage that way

theonlygreat

just get new plug wires if they look old too, i replaced mine 2 weeks ago, it was only $25... cheap compared to lots of other cars.

Fingers

Thanks hailers, i'll try everything except the last one i may look dumb, but I've had my share of spark plug shocks. and they're far from pleasant

HAILERS

You guys are no fun what so ever. I even pulled back from suggesting putting your tongue to one end of the plug wire an wetting your fingers and touching the negative terminal. Then crank the car. No fun at all.

Thinking about things: I think I'd try the bit where you pull the Trail plugs off or otherwise disable the Trail plugs and start the car. If it runs good its a sure sign that there is nadda wrong with the lead coil assy or wires and that its something else. Got me what. Even the service bulletins had something about using the timing light. Have no time to take a look right now.

Speaking of Dummies, I just fired up my Turbo in a N/T car this morning. Gee, what is that water dripping from the bottom of the engine. Where is it coming from???? OH gee. Poor dumb son of a b....H was playing with his water thermo device on the back of the throttle body a couple of months ago prior to installing the throttle body, and forgot to tighten the screws back down. Probably mucked up the gasket for it too. Oh well, wasn't doing anything important tomorrow morning anyway. Pardon me while I go screw my head on straight and get my finger out of my ****.

Fingers

LOL well good news. my TPS was WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY off. Adjusted it. idles ROCK STEADY now. It was bouncing up and down for a bit when it started at first, but then it settled down. Exhaust smells a bit more like rotten egg sometimes tho... not sure if that means lean/rich/normal.

Changed the plugs too. My old ones were a bit rounded off.

Anyways, thanks for the help! and remember kids, check your TPS!

Fingers

Goddamn it. Car runs good. But the idle is bouncing up and down when it's warming up!!! aside from that, idle is rock solid. ARGH! Perhaps its because by the time I changed the spark plugs, removed the intercooler and went to radioshack to buy the lamps, the car had COMPLETELY cooled down

Should I pop the ic off and re-adjust it?
Thanks
-ross

HAILERS

Yes. OR...get a meter out. Go to the ECU. Shove the positive lead up the rear of pin 2G. Negative to a ground. Fully heat the car up. Buy a two/three ft long thin screwdriver. With the engine running, carefully snake the screwdriver to the tps and turn the adjustment screw til you see one volt on the meter. Done. Just did mine that way on my conversion.

Or use the light method and use the long screwdriver to make the adjustments.

RETed

Screw the timing guns...

Remove spark plug boot from spark plug side of wire.&nbsp Place boot by shock tower nut/stud.&nbsp Crank car - it should be obvious if it's sparking or not.


-Ted