cylinders 3 and 4 are sparking the car starts but only runs on those two cylinders.

 

cylinder 1 has a very weak spark, cylinder 2 has no spark at all,

 

i just put a new coil-pack in yet nothing changed

 

the spark plugs and wires are fairly new

 

any help is much appreciated

first guess,

either the coil or the igniter.

 

both operate in a front (cyl. 1 & 2) vs. rear (cyl. 3 & 4) manner.

the coil has plug wires connected to it.

the igniter is mounted on the fire wall just left (driver side) of the trans ''dog bone'' mount .

if you end up buying parts to diagnose the problem,

i would buy used.

neither of these items fail every day so used is a safe bet.

and WAY cheaper if you buy one you do not need.

 

 

but i would check the plug wires first.

they cause more mis-fire problems than all other causes combined.

swap your wires from the front cylinders to the rear cylinders.

first guess,

either the coil or the igniter.

 

both operate in a front (cyl. 1 & 2) vs. rear (cyl. 3 & 4) manner.

the coil has plug wires connected to it.

the igniter is mounted on the fire wall just left (driver side) of the trans ''dog bone'' mount .

if you end up buying parts to diagnose the problem,

i would buy used.

neither of these items fail every day so used is a safe bet.

and WAY cheaper if you buy one you do not need.

 

 

but i would check the plug wires first.

they cause more mis-fire problems than all other causes combined.

swap your wires from the front cylinders to the rear cylinders.

i just bought a brand new coil,

 

decided to put in new spark plugs today

looks like cylinder 1 and 2 are flooded but not 3 and 4.

 

the plug wires seem to all be good because i switched them around without any change.

 

the igniter worked fine when i took it out of the legacy.

 

although i have noticed it has a surging idle when starting up and after giving it gas 

also compression is good on all cylinders

 

i just bought a brand new coil,

decided to put in new spark plugs today

looks like cylinder 1 and 2 are flooded but not 3 and 4. (flooded because they are not firing.)

the plug wires seem to all be good because i switched them around without any change.(ffront to rear?.)

the igniter worked fine when i took it out of the legacy.

if this is true,

then there is no way you have a spark issue.

 

you must have missed something.

Edited September 13, 201510 yr by johnceggleston

Listen to the above.  Start by double checking timing.  Also the coil packs don't like to be fired without a solid ground when testing.  Many a new coil pack has been roasted by improper grounding.  How are you testing your spark?  Screwdriver in wire is not a good idea.  You should use a proper spark tester or solid alligator clips on base of plug to block.

 

Cheers,

if this is true,

then there is no way you have a spark issue.

 

you must have missed something.

 

Listen to the above.  Start by double checking timing.  Also the coil packs don't like to be fired without a solid ground when testing.  Many a new coil pack has been roasted by improper grounding.  How are you testing your spark?  Screwdriver in wire is not a good idea.  You should use a proper spark tester or solid alligator clips on base of plug to block.

 

Cheers,

 

you guys are right there is spark in all cylinders but only after I unplug the alternator, also when the alternator is plugged in a fusible link in the black box next to the coolant recovery tank starts smoking. could this be a ground issue or a bad alternator?

 

I just replaced the alternator a few weeks ago because the old one was overcharging.

 

also when the alternator is plugged in and the car is running the voltage gauge is well above 18 volts 

Edited September 15, 201510 yr by Tye

"when the alternator is plugged in and the car is running the voltage gauge is well above 18 volts"

 

This is bad.  Fix this first.

"when the alternator is plugged in and the car is running the voltage gauge is well above 18 volts"

 

This is bad.  Fix this first.

any ideas on how?

EJs are not my specialty...  Check the wiring, for sure.  Make sure you have a good clean ground between the engine and battery.  And the brackets, etc on the alternator.  Might be good to take it to one of the stores that will test it for free.

The regulator is either being tricked by a bad / wrong connection, or blown out and failed in "full on" mode.

I am assuming the battery and its connections are good, because it cranks, but check those too, if they are unknown.

is this a new swap? you never got it running? Was or is your ej swap car auto? they have a neautral switch in the ej loom you have to bypass. did your ej swap car have a clutch start switch?

Edited September 16, 201510 yr by KristjanJohann

is this a new swap? you never got it running? Was or is your ej swap car auto? they have a neautral switch in the ej loom you have to bypass. did your ej swap car have a clutch start switch?

this is a new swap, out of a manual 92 legacy 

it does run but very poorly unless the alternator is unplugged.

the alternator is brand new so i cant imagine it has already gone bad

Is the alternator brand new or is it rebuilt from auto-zone or something.  Take your alternator to your local Battery Systems.  This sounds like an incorrectly assembled alt.  Overvoltage is everbit as damaging as undervoltage.  Get this checked thoroughly before you do to much more troubleshooting.  Just Me Though.

 

Cheers,

it could also be a battery with a bad cell?????  maybe?

the alt will generate as much power as is needed.

if the battery is bad it may be over compensating.

but testing the alt is a good idea.
 

The regulator in an alternator sets the output voltage to a normal charge voltage, could be around 13.8 to 14 V some maybe a few tenths more. A battery with a shorted or discharged cell will try to pull that voltage down, if it's internal resistance is low enough. The alternator will try to deliver all the current it can, but the voltage won't go over the setpoint because of that. A battery with an open cell could cause trouble for the alternator, as it may not have enough load on it to regulate properly. But in the case of the op, a battery with an open cell can't start an engine.

I had the alternator tested today... it was bad,luckily they had another one.....also bad, so tomorrow i will be picking up another one if that doesn't fix it i will move on to the battery

Got the alternator and the battery is good although its still sending 18 volts to the battery. I am guessing its the wiring

 

Do you guys know where the 3 wires coming out of the alternator go?

 

I am still very inexperienced in wiring so i wouldn't be surprised if i made a mistake somewhere.

Try to find a schematic from the factory service manual for the car the engine came from. If I were doing a swap, I would have both FSM - for the car you're modding, and the engine doner. There may be a link to a pdf on the forum, etc.

is your meter accurate?

i believe so, it reads 18 volts at the battery when the alternator is plugged in and around 12.4 when its not.

Edited September 18, 201510 yr by Tye

A good fully charged LA battery should read 12.6 volts at rest.  Rest means absolutely NO loads on it, and no charging for at least 12 to 24 hours.

 

12.4 with the engine running, and no alternator doesn't sound bad, but I have not measured the condition either.

Late model alternators are allmost all  Internally regulated so if it is overcharging it is the alternator likely at fault.

 

Modern alternators have a main power output connection usually bolted on and either a single or double wire plug, One wire supplies ignition power to excite the field coils to make it charge and the second wire is often a seven volt tap off the alternator windings to send the correct power supply to the instrument cluster.

 

Maybe the volt gauge is reading high because instead of a seven volt input from the alternator it is seeing full alternator output volts, Thirteen plus five equals the eighteen you are seeing because trhe gauge is expecting to see seven volts so at full output it is getting fed five volts more than expected

So if the alternator is running around thirteen volts which is normal after recovering from starter load then while it may be a little low it is not unusual, Add five volts which is the difference between a seven volt tap and a nominal twelve volts and that could well be the issue for the gauge reading high.

measure at the Battery what the alternator is actually putting out.

Edited September 19, 201510 yr by coxy

Late model alternators are allmost all  Internally regulated so if it is overcharging it is the alternator likely at fault.

 

Modern alternators have a main power output connection usually bolted on and either a single or double wire plug, One wire supplies ignition power to excite the field coils to make it charge and the second wire is often a seven volt tap off the alternator windings to send the correct power supply to the instrument cluster.

 

Maybe the volt gauge is reading high because instead of a seven volt input from the alternator it is seeing full alternator output volts, Thirteen plus five equals the eighteen you are seeing because trhe gauge is expecting to see seven volts so at full output it is getting fed five volts more than expected

So if the alternator is running around thirteen volts which is normal after recovering from starter load then while it may be a little low it is not unusual, Add five volts which is the difference between a seven volt tap and a nominal twelve volts and that could well be the issue for the gauge reading high.

measure at the Battery what the alternator is actually putting out.

at the battery it reads a 18 volts, could my wiring be mixed up or is it another alternator

in which case Napa keeps giving me bad alternators

also when the alternator is plugged in there is a noticeable whistle 

That's impressive. If the battery and clamps are all good. Are the meter probes on the posts of the battery, vs on the clamps? The wistle is likely from the very overloaded alternator. It takes a lot of current to push a good battery up to 18 volts.

Multiple alternators swapped in, and you still get 18 volts, leads me to believe something is amiss in your wiring..