Spark Plug wire and coil wire sequence
 

Ok, I searched here and the manuals at rotary heads.
I know the block is marked T and L respectively.
Which is No 1, and which is No 2.
I am assuming No-1 is closest to the radiator.

I would say cylinder but I know they are not cylinders.
Is the front set of plugs No 1 coils.
And, where is engine info like this listed.
It is not in the engine pdf at rotary heads, or another manual.
I am having flooding issues at start up.
87 13B n/a.
I have been changing plugs and just want to double check on the firing order.

Engine:.Front Rotor(#1).Front of car...Rear rotor(#2) firewall.

Leading coil..again front of car.."L"..Hook up Spark plug wires L1 and L2 to the LOWER(..get it?..L=lower) plugs.
L1 to front lower plug and L2 to rear Lower plug.
(NOTE: these 2 wires CAN BE switched as the fire at the Exact Same time...)

Trailing Coil (T): Driver's side strut tower,by brake booster..(Trailing..towards the back..easy to remember).
VITAL: hook up T1 to Top Plug on Rotor #1(front rotor).
Hook up T2 to Top plug on Rotor#2.

THESE Trailing plug wires CAN NOT be interchanged as it will cause engine damage.the car will not run correct if these 2 wires are inadvertently switched.

Thanks.
I do have them right then.
First I needed a new battery. But it is still starting rich.Flooding.
I have turned the mixture screw 4 complete turns to the lean side and still smell some gas when starting and running.

It has 150,000 miles on it.
I have my regular compression tester but that wont work I read.
Also,how long should plugs last.Mine are black colored, and fairly new.4-6 months maybe.

The variable resistor screw should only rotate 1/2 turn from L to R. If it screws around endlessly w/no stoppage in either direction then it is broken.

Well that answers that question real fast.
I checked it and it had 2.2 ohms a-c
and 2.9 from b-c, but makes no difference if it is broke.
This could be one of my starting problems maybe and running rich then.
Off to Ebay I go.
Unless there is some where to buy these.
I will call Auto zone right now.
Thanks.

Unless this part is not really necessary.

How about checking the 2nd Gen for sale items on this board? Use the advanced search feature and limit the search to the 2nd Gen parts for sale subforum.

You CAN use a regular compression tester. You just need a friend to crank it and you need to hold the shrader valve on the tester open so it doesn't hold pressure. You are looking for three EVEN bounces. Under 90 psi per face is where you start finding low compression flooding issues. You want NO MORE than 8psi or so of variance between faces or rotors.

If you end up finding a funky coil, I have some that I'd be happy to sell and get out of my storage.

Thanks Native. That is great info.
My coils are firing fine I presume. All my plugs are burning black.
How do we check coils to see if they are good, or going bad, or I can look in my manual.
I finally found where to check the TPS sensor, but it was listed as Throttle sensor.
I was looking for TPS.
I will run a compression check this weekend.

Thanks Satch,going there now.

Coils are pretty straightforward. 12v dc IN with the plugs CONNECTED and it running, and then 12v OUT of each terminal. If you have an old wire set you can probe into and replace with your good wires, do that. Then test spark inline at each wire when you put your good ones back on. AFAIK you should find no resistance at all in the coils. satch here will be able to change/correct any misinformation on my part.

I have one of those clear spark testers I can install inline and see how good the spark is.
Next, I have a new set of plugs, which the center electrode is nice and round with a sharp edges and a flat top.

I have an older set where the center electrode is round, but the top of it is rounded like a used pencil.
Should they be changed when the electrode is like that, rounded. But they still fire.
When should they be changed?

Mazda does specify a "gap" between the centre electrode and the outer sections which I follow pretty closely. If not, replace every 20k miles.

If the centre electrode is rounded, replace your plugs. Get yourself some NGK/Magnecor wires too.