Can't get a spark!

[Da Flash]

My car won't start, It was running "kinda OK" (was going to look at it this weekend!)just the night before when I parked it. After some tinkering, I've found out that I don't have spark at the plugs or coming out of the coil. I've tried 3 different coils, same results, crank crank crank but no spark. I've tried running a wire from the (+) side of the battery to the (+) side of the coil, I hear a clicking coming from the passenger side inside the car but same result. When I put the key in the run position and use my multimeter on the connection at the coil, I get ~12V at the (+), (-), and center output of the coil. I have the ZX distributor so I checked the resistance in the wires that go to the 12-80 module. There is one that goes to the vertical of the "T" connection on the module that goes to the (+) side of the coil that checks out fine. The top or horizontal of the "T" doesn't show any resistance (I'm not quite sure where the other end goes) when measured against the (+) side of the coil. Needless to say, I've searched and tried everything that I could come up with and cannot figure this out.

Does anyone see something that I'm missing or have any advice??

Thanks in advance!!

[beandip]

If this is a 240Z , you didn't say, check the Black/white wire coming from the tach to the ignition. this is needed to trigger the module. You did say that the engine had been ok before though. this sounds like the module died.

Edited October 6, 2008 by beandip

[Da Flash]

sorry for not clarifying which model I have, it's a '71 240z. I tried another e12-80 module that I had laying around with the same results. I'll have to check the B/W wire coming from the tach in the morning. Would a bad module stop the coil from firing? Tomorrow I'm going to go over the wiring and connections one more time. This can be very frustrating:mad:

Thanks for your time.

[Da Flash]

I do have a couple of simple/silly questions;

1. When checking for spark, do you hold the metal part of the spark plug against a good ground or do you hold the tip of the plug ~1/4" away from a good ground?

2. When checking for spark from the coil, do you hold the end of the coil lead ~1/4" away from a ground or do you use a spark plug held against a ground?

Just trying to cover everything

[WarrenZ]

I always ground the spark plug then you should see the spark jump the plug gap.

Hold the coil lead near ground, if there is a spark therethen coil is OK but if not at the plug there is something wrong inside the distributor ie rotor button contacts.

Good luck

Warren

[sblake01]

With electronic ignition, I would suggest an inline spark checker. Using the 'old school' method can send a spike through the system and damage the module.

[Da Flash]

Well I did some more testing and still haven't figured this out. I get ~11.7V at the (+), (-), and center output of the coil with the key in run. I also get ~11.7V at the connections C and B. The wires that go between the the coil and the module both read 0.03 Ohms when read with my multimeter. I even checked the BW/GW wires that I tied together to bypass the BR. I tried a known good module. Everything check out fine buuuuuuut, I still get no spark!!

I know that there are quite a few things that will stop spark from getting to the plugs but, I thought that there would only be a couple that would stop spark from coming out of the coil:mad:

Thanks for everyones imput!!

[Tom knapp]

If you read 12v on the + and - side of the coil it means you are not getting the ground from the distributor.

[Da Flash]

When you say ground to the distributor are you talking about the distributor being ground to the bracket which is inturn grounded to the unibody? If so, I have wire brushed the coil body, inside the bracket and the spots in the engine bay that the 2 screws mount to. Tomorrow I'll have to attach a ground wire directly from the coil body to a known good ground.

Thanks for the advice!

[Friar-Tuck]

There are a few diagrams near the bottom of the thread that may help.

I swore I must have copied at least 4 of the distributor and alternator swaps and can't seem to keep anything organized in this 'putor.

http://atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/distributor/index.html

http://zhome.com/ZCMnL/tech/StockToZXIng.jpg

Tuck \o/

Edited October 7, 2008 by Friar-Tuck

[Da Flash]

So If I'm understanding you correctly, with the key in the run position, the (+) side of the coil should show ~12V and the (-) side should show 0V or continuity with ground along with the "C" connection on the module?

Dude I wish I had 1/4th of the stuff I've lost on them there 'putersLOL!!

[sblake01]

Dude I wish I had 1/4th of the stuff I've lost on them there 'putersLOL!!

That's the reason I save anything of importance on a seperate hard drive, away from the operating system. If the main drive crashes, I still have my files.