no spark...again

[Dagolith]

I know there are lots of other threads about this, but none of them seemed to have an answer to my problem. the engine turns over and there's power to everything, it's just wont start. i think it's the ignition coil, but it's not like i want to replace anything that isn't broken. has anyone else had a similar issue?

[silverton]

is the ignitor getting power? if it is, check your distributor cap and rotor. maybe it's your timing?

[Dagolith]

naw, can't be the timing i just had the timing belt changed. and before i bought the car, it was super well cared for, owned by old ladies it's whole life and was serviced regularly. So i'm almost positive that in isn't a mechanical issue.

i'm not getting a spark at the distributor, but i'll check if i'm getting one to the coil. how do i go about doing that? i'm not so hot with engine electrical.

[silverton]

well, I suppose an easy way would be (two person job) take the ignitor wire off the center of the dist cap, hold it close and have someone try and start the car. if it's getting power you should see a spark jump.

[Dagolith]

ok, well the coil IS receiving a charge, but not discharging. so i'm going to try and replace it, it's only 56.90$ so it's not a lot of skin off my back.

[Dagolith]

ok, just replaced the coil, and it still isn't starting.

[silverton]

have you replaced the cap and rotor wires and spark plugs?

[Dave A.]

ok, well the coil IS receiving a charge, but not discharging. so i'm going to try and replace it, it's only 56.90$ so it's not a lot of skin off my back.


By this, are you saying that the primary side of the coil has battery voltage on it while cranking the engine? Your best bet would be to check the igniter since the coil rarely ever goes bad.

[Dagolith]

what is the time frame for all of these things to go bad, because my car died with no warning at all and about 2 hours after it had been driven. at that point it just wouldn't start.

[CarFreek]

Check the ignitor. Symptoms fit. Could be other issues, thats why you need to CHECK the ignitor. Other heat/time dependent issues include fuel pump, and electrical relays in fusebox and under hood. Also, does it push start? Or with starter fluid?

[Dagolith]

yes i know i probably shouldn't have assumed that the coil was the issue and replaced it:duh: but i was soooo certain. how do i check the ignitor?

[Dagolith]

does anyone know where i can find an ignitor for less than 400$?

[Mone]

dang, it looks like that part is different almost each year. Yeah and I can't find one for less than $400. Dang. I hope I remembered to grab it off my 82, if not, I hope kenny grabbed it. lol. Good luck man.

[StanS]

keep looking in the "parts for sale" section

[Dagolith]

well i found one for 150$ from the Toyota headquarters in my area. which is still more than i'd like to spend but it's also a good deal

:Edit: i was wrong the guy i was talking to was looking at a different part, it's gonna end up being 450-480, does anyone have one that there not particularly attached to, that they could sell me for less?

[1984SUPRADUDE]

Hey, I had this very same problem with my '84 Supra ................. after exhaustive troubleshooting, I purchased replacement IGNITOR and COIL assembly ............................. only to find out that the IGNITOR WAS BAD !
Ended up combining the GOOD ORIGINAL IGNITOR BOX with GOOD REPLACEMENT COIL, the car started and runs great now !
I would suggest also that you get your hands on the TSRM, troubleshooting and repair manual .................... there is some very good procedures in there for diagnostics. I am willing to bet, that you have a bad IGNITOR, it is removeable from the COIL, brand new I understand they are very pricey.
ALSO, CHECK YOUR GROUNDS !!!
GOOD LUCK, let us know what is happening ..........................
Mark in Memphis

[Dagolith]

yeah, well i'm suppose to get the part tomorrow, well see if it works. i haven't had a single person think it was anything other than the ignitor; but then again they don't have to go and drop 480$ on the problem. but i'm hopeful it'll fix it.

[drs]

Do the tests for continuity on the igniter........
1)Turn the IGN on and disconnect the brown/yellow connector to the igniter
2)Connect the + probe from voltmeter to the brown and the - to ground
3)Voltage should be ~12v
4)Check power as follows...
a)Discon the brown wire connector
b)Discon the coil from distributor
c)Discon the pink/white wire connector
d)Using and 3 volt dry cell (I used 2 AA end to end, pos to neg, and taped them together with duct tape which gave me ~3v (anything more and you can fry your igniter if it's still good)) connect the + terminal of the battery to the pink wire terminal and the - terminal to the body ground.
e)Check there is a spark from the coil cord tip for at leat one sec.
Basically that's it, if there's spark, it's okay, if not expect to spend some moolah for a new ignigter as I see you have already discovered. Now's a good time to get know your local junkyards. Same thing happened to me, but it turned out to be a bad ground. The bolt(s) that secure the igniter/coil assembly serve as the ground, make sure they're tight and there's no rust between the sheetmetal and the mounting legs. My ground was bad there, used some 120 grit to shine up the sheetmetal and some dielectric grease to keep the rust away....saved me $400.00. Good luck.....
D

[wrexwrench]

Check pickup coil(s) in distributor for continuity with an ohmeter. one of mine were open leaving me with no spark. Had to get used dist from wrecker but car has been running fine since.

[Dagolith]

well it's fixed. I picked up the ignitor this morning, put it it and it started right up.... and I danced a little.