sakergavin Posted November 3, 2008 Report Share Posted November 3, 2008 I can't get spark from my '87 TSi. It all started when I removed the fuel tank to get the rust stripped out of it to save on replacing fuel filters every few thousand miles. By the time this had been done my battery had gone flat when I went to start it. I connected my battery charger to not only charge the battery but also see if it would run the fuel pump to check for leaks. As soon as I turned the ignition switch on there was some rather odd noises like static from the radio, relays switching and the headlights went up & down. At this point I just left the battery to charge overnight then tried to fire the car up the next day. It refused to start so I started looking for why, It appered that at least some fuel was getting to the throttle body so I checked for spark as I had also replaced the plug leads and plugs while waiting for the fuel tank to come back. Much to my annoyance there was no spark at the plugs, so I checked and there was no spark at the coil either. At this point I dragged out my FSM and went thru the checklist for the ignitor/knock box. The only thing that seemed out of place from the ignition side of things was that there was no voltage come into the plug from the signal wires from the distributor. I checked and cleaned the fusible links to no avail. Also checked continuity from the distributor to coil. It appeared the one of the distributor wires did connect to both sides of the coil... Today I grabbed a distributor from an Astron head and fitted both the module and coil from it into my distibutor. Still no spark. The FSM may tell you how to do the tests but I find it is not very good at telling which bit is actually bad... Does anyone know if it is likely to be my old plastic cased ignitor or (please no) the ECU? Or??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelby Posted November 3, 2008 Report Share Posted November 3, 2008 the ecu has nothing to do with ign spark spark is made by the dist, coil, igniter and relate'd wireing common thing guys do is pull the coil wire from coil,, you remove coil wire from dist cap when testing for spark,, basicly the dist has only one componet,the pick upcoil , the fsm tests it with the ohms test and the stator pole short across also when useing a test dist you MUST ground the dist houseing to the engine block or batt ground the plastic igniters are a little flakey, but the metal box'd ones are much more dependiable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf87Conquest Posted November 4, 2008 Report Share Posted November 4, 2008 Don't forget to test the fuselink itself. The one marked ISC I believe is the link for ignition and fuel system power. The connections MUST be clean and tight. Being as you have a manual, it should show you what wires go to/from what part, so you can check if their is continuity. To/from fuselink and onwards. Make sure all the new parts have tight connections. Test the coil to make sure it is good...primary should read 1.25 ohms, secondary 11.0 ohms. It won't hurt to check out the entire ignition system...good clean connections, any broken wires, chaffed insulation on any wire needs attention. The coil and ignitor box cases need a good ground...it's as simple as removing the part, then a lil sanding the mounting hole and the hole on the mounting bracket, then reinstall. The pick up in the distrib can check ok with a meter, but if it looks burnt...replace it. It's the only part I know of that does this. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelby Posted November 4, 2008 Report Share Posted November 4, 2008 one item that is rarely suspect'd of failing is the ign swt,,it's not a light bulb and can do all sorts of weird stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sakergavin Posted November 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2008 In summary: I have checked the spark by using the end of the coil lead. I replaced the ignition module and pickup coil in the distributor. I removed & cleaned the fusible links. I checked the continuity between dizzy and coil. One dizzy wire appeared to make a circuit with both coil wires. I checked the inputs to the ignitor as per FSM to find that the only the SG+ and SG- lines were the only ones not showing voltage like they are supposed to. Does the ignitor need to be plugged in and grounded when doing this test? I checked that the coil had power to both sides of it, which it did. I don't think it is the ignition switch as everyting else is getting power fine. Hopefully I will manage to score another ignitor to try in the next couple of days. Any other ideas would be most helpful. Attached (I hope) is a pic of one of my other toys before it was completed for your viewing pleasure!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technology Posted November 4, 2008 Report Share Posted November 4, 2008 The distributor harness plug is connected right? Try the new ignitor box, maybe that's broken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sakergavin Posted November 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2008 Yep plug is connected. I should be getting another ignitor box this week. It is off a flatbody 2l Starion rather than a 2.6, but hopefully it will tell me if that is the problem or not so I know what to get to fix the problem properly.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikec Posted November 5, 2008 Report Share Posted November 5, 2008 On the ignitor module box: verify +12volts on the red wire with the key in START. verify +12volts on ignition coil + post with the key in ON/START. verify continuity (zero ohms) from the black wires on the ignitor connector to the battery "-" post. disconnect the ignitor from it's connector, then use an ohmmeter to measure from the black wire next to the yellow+black wire, and the white wire next to the red wire. You should see about 1000 ohms if the pick-up coil inside the distributor is working and the wiring is okay. If all of that passes, the basic stuff needed by the ignitor to make spark exists. All that's left is a blown ignition coil, blown ignitor, or a problem inside the engine block that keeps the distributor from turning. A busted roll/shear pin between the camshaft sprocket and the shaft that goes forward to drive the distributor, or a busted roll pin on the distributor's gear, will cause this. If the dash tachometer wiggles while the key is in START, then the ignitor IS TRYING TO WORK. The bug is a bad coil. No tach movement? Ignitor, roll/shear pins, coil. mike c. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sakergavin Posted November 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2008 Thanks for that. It appears that it was the pickup coil in the distributor. When I used my new one in cojunction with my old module it all came back to life... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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