pkshokker

Alright, ever since i've bought the car it's started rough - but not THIS rough. It floods a little bit everytime i'd try to start it - but it would always start on first or second try. Early this week when i went to start it - it flooded BAD and wouldn't start at all. It just made a whirling sound - it wouldn't crank at all. So I then replaced starter motor (not the problem), took plugs out and checked for spark and AHHH HAH! we don't have spark from the leading plugs. I did my research on this forum and have narrowed it down to a few things.

1. The Trailing plugs fire so CAS is in working order (i assume)
2. Plugs were covered in gas but still spark from trailing coil after being cleaned off.
3. No spark from leading coil
4. Unflooded engine by taking out EGI fuse and cranking with the plugs out

We got it to start via push starting it and checked the leading coil/ignition by taking the wires off - no spark on the ignition side of the wires - anyone have any ideas? It also will not idle after we get it started by push starting - it will run fine and pulls strong after start but still no spark from leading coil.

Thanks for the help

87base RX-7

check for power coming in before the leading plug coil if u have power check after if u have power after there it might be the spark plug wire if u have it before and not after its probaly your coil if its not before umm sombody else will have too help u from there

WAYNE88N/A

If it "runs fine and pulls strong" after it started, then your leading ignition system should be good. You're probably just flooding the plugs out, which will simulate a "no leading ignition" condition.

How's your compression?

GregSL-SE

I agree with Wayne88NA on checking compression. Have you checked the condition of your leading coil?

pkshokker

thanks a lot for your replies. yeah its weird, once i push start it and get it running it will run perfectly until I stop and then it won't idle, the tach just drops straight to zero. so i drove it around for a while and pulled back into my driveway without letting the rpm's go down. and while i was holding the accelerator down i had my friend pull out the leading plug wires at the coil. and it didn't spark or change the sound of the engine at all. i can rev it to redline with both leading wires off. it is backfiring a LOT. I'm not sure how it is running.

i will check the compression tomorrow, and see if the coil is getting power.

LizardFC

iTrader: (1)

You might want to make sure that the plug wire boots on the coil side are getting a good connection. I ran into a similar problem with a new wire set because the boot wouldn't allow the wire to connect to the coil properly.

pkshokker

Hey thanks for your replies. yeah the wires are getting connection because i feel them pop into place and they are also practically new.

Alright today I got out the multimeter and tested on the coils. The resistance at the primary terminals of the leading coil reads .3 ohms - which is in spec (.2-1 ohms).

The FSM says to disconnect the two prong connector, turn the car to ON, and test with the voltmeter and it should read 12v. When I did that it just read 0v whether i put both prongs in the connector or grounded one on the battery. Was I doing it wrong or is the coil not getting power?

Also I tried to do a compression test and i realized the tester i have is junk. It just has a rubber end and the needle doesn't go down between the pulses. But I tried it anyway and the rear rotor consistently read 85psi. The front one was a bit harder to get to. It read 90psi one time and 110psi the next. It can't be trusted so I may pick up a good one at the store.

pkshokker

how do I check the voltage at the leading coil?

This car is too beautiful to be stuck in the driveway for the rest of the summer.

GregSL-SE

I guess you could just hook up a timming light to the leading coil and check for spark.

WAYNE88N/A

The 12v you're checking is coming from the main relay, which should be good if the trailing system's working (and the car's running, for that matter).

Put the pos meter lead on the black/yellow wire (in the connector for metal contact, or on the ignitor terminal, just follow the b/y wire to it, I think it's the white one), and ground the neg lead. Should get 12v with key on...

Now go to the other ignitor terminal, this is the one from the ECU, a green/ yellow one at the harness connector, I think it's black at the ignitor, IIRC. Now get the car started, and check for voltage there. If everything's working right, the voltage there should decrease as the rpm's go up.

You can also use a small flourescent bulb to check for "spark" in the plug wires, if you don't have a timing light (needs to be kinda dark to see it, though)

pkshokker

Sweet, I must have had my tester set wrong yesterday.
Now I have:

12v coming from both the power wires. And no spark coming from leading coil on new plug wires and brand new platinum NGK plugs (straight from the box-not flooded).

Should I look into getting a new ignitor/coil on ebay?

GregSL-SE

I would check locally before buying online, but If you must you might want to get one from a reputable seller- such as Mazdatrix. The ones you find on ebay might be from a junkyard or a junk coil-which puts you back where you are.

pkshokker

Yeah I agree with you Greg. Except the one from mazdatrix is like $460 for the ignitor and coil. Tooo much

Although, I messed up on the last post. I get 12v on the b/y wire from the main relay. On the green/yellow one it will read 2v when i crank the engine. Is it worth push starting it to check this better? I can only get it running by pushing it and then it will have zero idle.

I found a timing light today and it confirms spark on trail coil and no spark on lead.

WAYNE88N/A

If the coil windings read out good, then it should be good- the ignitor's another story (at least that drops the cost for ya, if you only need an ignitor )

pkshokker

OH YES, I put on the new ignitor today and it fired up like a frickin beast. So that is what the problem was. I guess it just stopped working one day after i parked it. What a great day. God bless the RX7 club!

IaMtHeRuThLeSs1

similar thing is happying to my 7 right now...where/what is the ignitor...pics would be nice too...sorry i really dont know a thing about cars..but if you could give me something that i could tell my dad im sure he'd know what you were talking about...PM would be sweet