Ok, so I own a 1980 Subaru Brat i just relocated from Idaho to California. The brat was on a trailer the whole way from ID to CA. Before I left Idaho the Brat ran and drove just fine. once I get to California its not the same way. At first I thought it was because of no fuel but after adding fuel it still won't start. So i pulled out my spark tester and cranked the motor over, No Spark... then I check the coil for spark, nothing. I replaced the coil, wires, cap and plugs but still no spark. Im thinking it had to be something that would have vibrated loose.

 

So all you older subie gurus, please help me. What is wrong? I get 12v when I go from the negative side of the coil to ground. My repair manual says that I should check the air gap but I have no clue how. I really appreciate any help you can give me as I just moved back and got a job but the car I have is not working when I planned it to work since thats all I did in Id was fix the Brat....

 

 

Thanks

Ryan~

Put a test light on coil -.It should pulse as the engine is cranked.

If it doesn`t, you can be pretty sure the ignition module in the disty or the wires to it are bad.

 

If it is the module ,you will need a new one or a complete distributor.

 

Not sure which module you have,but,the air gap is the distance between the fingers of the reluctor(under the rotor) and the surrounding piece.

I wouldn`t be overly concerned about it.

I would check that the rotor hasn't fallen apart or something silly so pulling the cap off the disty wouldn't be a total waste of time.

heck, I got a brand new dizzy with a bad module a month old... does the tach move while cranking?

Obviously it is most likely related to the vibration that was encountered during the trip so check multi plug connectors,not just in the engine bay but also inside the cab,make sure you start at the battery first and make sure you have good power and earth circuits.

Electrical problems are always a process of elimination and the system all revolves around the battery so it is where you look first then to other systems later,when one part of the system isn't functioning look always at the connections first then the components after.

Put a test light on coil -.It should pulse as the engine is cranked.

If it doesn`t, you can be pretty sure the ignition module in the disty or the wires to it are bad.

 

If it is the module ,you will need a new one or a complete distributor.

 

Not sure which module you have,but,the air gap is the distance between the fingers of the reluctor(under the rotor) and the surrounding piece.

I wouldn`t be overly concerned about it.

ok, thanks I will check that.

 

I would check that the rotor hasn't fallen apart or something silly so pulling the cap off the disty wouldn't be a total waste of time.

rotor is fine, first thing I did when there was no spark was check the contacts inside the disty. thanks for input though!

heck' date=' I got a brand new dizzy with a bad module a month old... does the tach move while cranking?[/quote']

no tach in the brat lol.

Obviously it is most likely related to the vibration that was encountered during the trip so check multi plug connectors,not just in the engine bay but also inside the cab,make sure you start at the battery first and make sure you have good power and earth circuits.

Electrical problems are always a process of elimination and the system all revolves around the battery so it is where you look first then to other systems later,when one part of the system isn't functioning look always at the connections first then the components after.

ok, thanks ya, thats exactly what i thought. Cause I didn't even put the key into the ignition until I was in Cali. Thank you.

ok, so i checked all the wiring connectors from the battery to the ignition switch and then to the coil and to the disty. everything was connected. now im just trying to find wiring diagrams so that i can start trying to test the system.

 

thanks

ryan

i'm having pretty much the same problem, did a tune up, disty swap, and coil swap and no go, i have voltage at the coil, i did get the disty at junkyard so i think it might be bad... if i get it fixed i'll let you know, im laying bets that it is the pick up module in the disty.