88 GL - Distributor not sparking.

[Yarlissa]

I'm working on my grandfathers car that has been sitting for almost 20 years and my dad was trying to help me get it working. There was no distributor in it when we popped the hood and we managed to find a 87 GL distributor. We cut the connectors and we matched the cars wire color to the distributors and cranking it over it won't spark. My dad found something online saying swap the green and white wire but we don't have a white wire and we don't want to fry it. Any ideas?

[88SubGL]

First thing you need to know is why was the car parked, sitting for 20 years. Second, distributor cap off and try starting, to if the rotor is turning. If it isn’t, then you have a broken timing belt. 

[Yarlissa]

7 hours ago, 88SubGL said:

First thing you need to know is why was the car parked, sitting for 20 years. Second, distributor cap off and try starting, to if the rotor is turning. If it isn’t, then you have a broken timing belt. 

It's been sitting for so long because my grandfather let someone else borrow the distributor and never brought it back. Sadly I can't ask my grandfather who took it since he passed away. But I'll definitely take the cap off and see.

[Yarlissa]

So i took the cap off and it does spin. 

[LaMamelle]

The basic stuff I would check if you haven't already:

- Check the ignition coil if you haven't already, make sure it's getting power. If you have a spare, swap that in and see if there's any change

- Could also be the wires, not 100% confident since they should be okay even if it's been sitting for a while, but you never know. Just make sure they aren't damaged, and the plugs are actually making contact with the distributor head and the spark plugs.

- Also check fuses if you haven't already, could just be a broken ignition fuse. 

As for your wiring problem, I'm not too sure. Honestly, my recommendation would be seeing if you could get a used one online, for an 88, since the 85-87 and 88-91 used different kinds of distributors as far as I can tell. I was able to find some used ones on ebay. But, I just ordered a 1986 service manual, which should have some information on the wiring for the distributor, when it arrives, I'll take a look and see if I can find some information that can help you.

[88SubGL]

You may have to backtrace your wiring to find out where you are loosing power to the distributor or coil. Check the fusible links, both ends, power going in power going out. 

[Yarlissa]

So we tested it and the coil is reading 6 volts and when trying to crank it still reads 6v. There is supposed to be a exciter? We check the distributor and the green black wire has 12v. Green yellow and black white has 5v. The black wire is ground with 43ohms of resistance. And does the coil supposed to have 6 or 12v? And if 12v can we run a hot from positive from the battery to the coil without a ballest resistor? We tried another coil and its the same 6v. 

[LaMamelle]

If I'm not mistaken, the ignition coil should be getting 12v when cranking. According to the manual, there should 10 ohms of resistance or more between the "primary terminal" and the case of the ignition coil. Anything less indicates a short. I assume the primary terminal is the terminal that connects the distributor. Test that and see if it could be the issue.

Issue could also be a poor connection between the ignition coil and the ignition switch. But I wouldn't advise hooking the coil right up to the battery, it sounds like it would cook something. 

Also, I don't think there's an exciter in the sense that an electric field needs to be created in order to start the engine. If anything, that would refer to the alternator, and there isn't anything about an exciter in the manual. 

Btw, something that might help you: Index of /Auto/Japan/Subaru/--Old Models--. These are a bunch of pdfs for older Subaru manuals. They have wiring diagrams and troubleshooting information. I really like the Subaru Factory Service manuals, since they have actual flow charts for troubleshooting.