1988 rx7 turbo II. Brand new rebuild, emissions/power steering/AC removed. Put the battery on this morning and when i put the positive terminal on it started sparking pretty bad, some smoke. Let that sit a few while i wonder why the hell it was doing that. A few minutes later i put the positive back on fine with no fuss.

Crank car to get oil/fuel pressure. Attempt to start, cranks great, compression sounds strong and you can smell fuel, but no start.

Tried to arc some spark from ALL plugs to a ground, nothing. Re-adjusted my CAS aligning it correctly. All my grounds are connected 100% with no corrosion, everything is snug as a bug. All the coil wires are connected.

Got a hold of an OHM meter and started testing. The coils get draw on the 2 connections that are behind the removable plastic piece, those get draw, both coils do. Tried to see if anything came out of the plug wires, it wouldn't read on the ohm test.

Not sure what to do next. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Also, i checked the engine fuse box. All the fuses get continuity. Checked the engine fuse in the interior fuse box. It looked fine.

 

**NEW**

So i checked my engine fuse this morning for continuity, it is okay. I checked each individual plug wire, continuity is okay.

Re-checked the coils, i get continuity at those 2 prongs behind the removable plastic, and i get continuity on the wires connecting to the harness. But if i try to get something from inside the coil to plug connection, nothing.

I also tried my CAS, no continuity from the actual sensor plug, but i get continuity from the plug on the harness.

So i am thinking my CAS is bad/damaged/ruined and it is causing my coils to not discharge as a failsafe? Does that seem right?

 

Okay guys. I rechecked all my resistances and grounds.

CAS resistance - Around 220-250 ohms.

Leading Coil resistance - 3 ohms

Trailing Coil Terminal ONE - 3.5 ohms
Trailing Coil Terminal TWO - 3.5 ohms

I tried pulling the AFM plug and checking for spark, nothing. All my grounds are clean and unmolested, no corrosion, rust, or dirt/grease.

Seeing as how i think my battery shorted something, i pulled the ECU apart to check that. Nothing burnt, no solders melted off, everything looked fine. The ECU pins looked clean, no discoloration.

Car is being towed to Synaptic 3 on the 24th. Help me fix this before then please, i am pretty much out of ideas. The only thing i see changing anything would be to borrow someones coils/CAS, which i can do, but i feel would be a waste of time and would not change the result.

 

No one has any idea?

 

are you getting 12v to your leading coil with the ignition on?

 

I just went out and checked, trying to get voltage through those 2 wires that power the coils i got nothing - that is with the key turned all the way before cranking, and while cranking.

If you are asking me to check the voltage going through the coil terminals, i do not have a probe meant to do that.

 

Wadda ya mean *those two wires*????? You check the black/yellow wire for batt voltage. Leave the other wire in that two socket plug alone. It's the trigger wire.

Did you read the CAS values FROM the ECU plug? Should have. NOT from the CAS plug itself.

If the black/yellow has batt voltage and the CAS wires ohm out at 200 whatever ohms in the FSM AT the ECU plug, then you should have spark.

Pull the CAS out of its bore. Key to ON. Lead sparkplug wires on/near the left strut tower studs. Spin the CAS bottom gear. Spark should occur.

Got all the above but no spark when the bottom CAS gear is twirled? Put the key to ON, and pull the boost sensor plug off. See if there is approx 4.5vdc on the BROWN/WHITE wire in that plug. No 4.5vdc? Then ..........write back if so/not so.

 

the battery terminals sparked and smoked are you sure your battery is still good

 

***NEWS UPDATE***

Measured the voltage out of the yellow/black wire on the leading coil, somewhere around 12v, i cant tell it's an analog ohm reader. I took the CAS and sput it by hand, and i could hear all the plugs sparking, plus the one i took out, and i could hear all the injectors clicking.

Put the CAS back in the right way, cranked the car and i got spark with the ignition

It's super flooded right now so later tonight i'm going to start it up. I didn't do anything to fix this, i just tested stuff, but somehow it fixed itself.

Thanks for the reply Hailers.

 

Some rebuilds are hard to start. Mostly because the end piece on the apex seals have not broken loose.

You need to somehow kill the fuel. Either by a fuel cut switch or pulling the fuel pumps plug off. Then maybe a shot of starter fluid in the airfilter for about one to two seconds. Then try starting the engine with a full battery charge. With luck it'll start for a second maybe two. Then try again with the fuel swicth ON or fuel pump plug attached.

Check the CAS. PUll the top cover off it. Align the first mark on the pulley with the fixed pin on the front cover. Then look in the top of the CAS. The two *pointers* should be cutting the corners of the small black coils in the CAS.

The attached jpg is someone elses picture but is what I'm talking about.

 

Ya, like i said everything works fine now, im just letting it unflood with the plugs out, and im going to start it tonight when i get back home.

Thanks for the help!