No spark - please help

ian

ian

Member +
After an engine change and a initial fire up I have no spark. I disconneted the king lead to prime turbo, and gave it a few turns when one of my mates noticed I had a big spark coming out the coil shorting on to the plug which powers the coil as it had a nick in the cable. I have now changed the coil but it has made no difference, but I also have only have 1.5v on the plug for the coil. All fuses are ok. Does anyone have any ideas what else to check?
 
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ian

ian

Member +
Could someone tell me if i should be getting 12v between the two cables on the plug for the coil with the ignition on, if so i have found the problem to be a bad earth but need this confirming before i bust out the soldering iron !
 
Texx

Texx

Super Moderator
The coil is grounded by the igniter when the ECU sends it an IGT signal. The igniter is grounded by it's mounting screws and the bracket that holds it to the body of the car. If the ECU hasn't stored any relevant fault codes, I would check the mounting points of the igniter and it's bracket and also pull the spark plugs out to clean them up and then try again.
 
ian

ian

Member +
No fuses have blown i have been throught he whole car a few times.

All plugs are brand new as this is an all new engine which has not been fired yet since going into my car.

Should i have 12v between the two cables that plug into coil with the ignition on ???
 
ian

ian

Member +
Ok, with the spark i mentioned jumping out of the coil onto one of the cables, what else is on that line that i could of damaged ?

I do have another ignitor which i can try tonight, but is there anything else ?
 
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joel_ep91

joel_ep91

Member +
i had a problem with no spark recently did my head in turned out to be one of the wire to the dizzy had corroded. (a bit of the plastic cover over the wire had got worn away and the wee bit of the wire had corroded was only the smallest bit of wire aswell) could try looking for anything like that
 
ian

ian

Member +
joel_ep91 said:
i had a problem with no spark recently did my head in turned out to be one of the wire to the dizzy had corroded. (a bit of the plastic cover over the wire had got worn away and the wee bit of the wire had corroded was only the smallest bit of wire aswell) could try looking for anything like that
Click to expand...

I'm not even getting a spark from the coil, but cheers for the suggestion.
 
Texx

Texx

Super Moderator
No spark from the coil and no stored fault codes seems a little strange. If the ECU sends several IGT signals to the igniter but doesn't receive corresponding IGF signals back it should store code 14. No code 14 would make me think the ECU isn't sending the IGT signal in the first place. Are you 100% sure all fuses are good and all ground cables have been reconnected? Particularly the ground terminal at the end of the intake manifold near the idle control valve.

Did the engine check lamp flash constantly when you shorted terminals TE1 and E1?
 
ian

ian

Member +
All grounds are ok, i made sure of this when the engine swap was made as so many people get caught out like that, i even went to the extent of numbering all cables/plugs so i knew what was connected and not.

All fuses have been checked with my multi meter and are ok.

Yes the check lamp flashed constantly when the diagnostic check was carried out.

What else is on that line that i could have fried with the spark that the coil generates which was jumping onto the damaged cable of the plug of the coil ?
 
Texx

Texx

Super Moderator
It may have damaged the igniter, but that wouldn't explain the lack of fault codes.
 
ian

ian

Member +
I have a spare igniter but i think its for the ep82 and i have a ep91, will this make any difference if the plugs are the same ??

Also will the ecu be able to register a fault as all i have done is tried to fire it a few times to see if the new coil is producing a spark ?

Thanks for all the help Texx, as always !!
 
Texx

Texx

Super Moderator
Crank the engine over for a good 10-15 seconds and then check for codes again. If the plug will fit the other igniter you have then I would expect it to work for testing purposes. Just remember the igniter uses a component earth so it needs to be bolted to the body of the car before it will power up, just plugging it in won't do.
 
ian

ian

Member +
Right well that has given me some ammunition for when i go up to the workshop tonight.

Anything else you can suggest to try ???

Is there any possibilty i could have damaged the ecu ?
 
Texx

Texx

Super Moderator
There could be the possibility of damage to the ECU, but I would hold off on that unless you have another ECU to hand?

I would first try the other igniter you have and see if you get a spark or any fault codes and then go from there.
 
ian

ian

Member +
All sorted, it was the ignitor, fitted the spare one i had, checked i had a spark and then it fired first time - happy days.

Thanks again for the help Texx.
 
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