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Ignition issue

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Old 01-19-11, 01:55 AM
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Ignition issue

Only one rotor is firing. The plugs are getting fuel fowled so I know its not a fuel issue. The leading coil isn't firing all the time. The problem came on gradually. Car ran great at first. We did go in a re-wire much of the car because of broken/shorting wires to include the crank angle sensor. This is my first rotary so dont flame me too bad. After fixing all shorts, Im still experiencing the same problem. Leading coil not firing. If I pull the wires, I get intermittent spark when, non when running, and then spark when the motor dies. Coils are getting 12V. Grounds are good too. Could this be a dead coil?

If you have any input please help me out and again, please dont flame me too bad.
Old 01-19-11, 02:06 AM
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Originally Posted by lawless
Only one rotor is firing. The plugs are getting fuel fowled so I know its not a fuel issue. The leading coil isn't firing all the time. The problem came on gradually. Car ran great at first. We did go in a re-wire much of the car because of broken/shorting wires to include the crank angle sensor. This is my first rotary so dont flame me too bad. After fixing all shorts, Im still experiencing the same problem. Leading coil not firing. If I pull the wires, I get intermittent spark when, non when running, and then spark when the motor dies. Coils are getting 12V. Grounds are good too. Could this be a dead coil?

If you have any input please help me out and again, please dont flame me too bad.
the coil unloads when you break the power,, this is normal if its charged
sounds most like the ECU is not sending the trigger signals to the coil igniter or the coil igniter is faulty
Old 01-19-11, 02:30 AM
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Originally Posted by bumpstart
the coil unloads when you break the power,, this is normal if its charged
sounds most like the ECU is not sending the trigger signals to the coil igniter or the coil igniter is faulty
I don't have a factory ECU. I have a power FC commander. Rotary Performance just tuned it literally days before it started having this issue. The problem started ever so slightly and then progressively got worse over the next few drives. This is why we attacked the wiring. I knew there were some shorts (fans coming on at random times and fuel pump had a 2 volt draw) so we went through the entire harness. Could any of these shorts have caused the commander to malfunction or even burn the board in the unit?
Old 01-19-11, 03:17 AM
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yes,, first thing to do is beg/ borrow another ( fd? ) igniter and give it a whirl
if no go your wiring,, or the PFC has copped it
if its the PFC,, then television /electronics repairer may be able to bridge a burned track or swap in another darlignton transister to repair
Old 01-19-11, 11:13 AM
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Its got to be the coil. The PFC is sending the signal to the coil but its still not firing. The car does have 117K on the chasis and it appears that those coils have about the same. Plug wires look about like that as well. No matter if its the coils or not, its probably a good time to replace everything. Hopefully its not my PFC though.... that thing is brand new.
Old 01-19-11, 06:56 PM
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you can test a coil by bypassing the igniter and applying 12v to one post
on the other post use another wire and touch earth briefly
the coil will spark when you break the power flowing to earth

this is normal
this is what the coil is also doing when you turn off the ignition
the igniter ( or ECU ) is fried and the coil is kept constnatly to earth through the igniter

kept this way with key on you risk have the igniter pop or the coil split withthe permanent overload
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