Ok, I hot-wired the fuel pump and still no fire. I'm getting no spark from the coil. I tried 3 different coils (one off my running GL) and no spark. Any ideas? Fusible link and fuses look ok. Does the distributor make the coil fire? Could I have a problem with the pickup on the disty?

Try replacing the disty ignition module with one from your running car. Isn't too hard...

 

GD

Have you verified that the disty is turning? I don't know the history or what caused the current problem. Care to shed some light on this for me.

 

Qman

I bought this 88 GL wagon from a guy who had let his kids learn to drive with it. They had a head gasket go out. The dad made a deal with the 18 year old to rebuild it. The kid tore it apart, had the heads machined and checked, and rebuilt it. They were never able to get it to run again.

 

They left it sit for a few months, then ended up moving. I bought it from them. When I got it home, I found one of the right side cylinders full of antifreeze.

 

I pulled the engine, replaced the head gasket again and reassembled. I think the antifreeze came in through the intake manifold.

 

Anyway, I've got it together but, can't get it to fire. I thought it might have been my ECU. I put the ECU from my runner (another 88 GL) and it still won't fire. My runner started up with the ECU from the dead GL.

 

Hey, General Disorder, how do you change out the ignition module? Is that the wire coming off the disty?

I swapped distributors with my running car and still no spark. What feeds the coil? Why don't I get a spark? It is probably something really simple. I just can't find it.

 

HELP:banghead:

is the engine grounded to the body?

is the body cabled to the negative batt post?

 

just a thought

I just went out and looked at the battery connections. There is not a ground going from the negative terminal to the body. But, I also looked at the running GL. It doesn't have a direct wire to the body either. There is a ground wire running next to the battery's negative terminal, from the top of the core support to the engine. Should I pursue this further?

gotta have ground

 

hehe

Now that i think about it, the engine is grounded at the transmission forward of the starter. Tomorrow I will double check all the ground connections.

I just about went crazy trying to figure out my "no spark" condition on my '88 Wagon. I ended up blaming it on a wiring problem and converted my engine to use CIS fuel injection (see link below if interested).

 

I did learn a little bit about the ignition systems on the SPFI cars, so I'll share with you.

 

These cars use an optical pickup, crank-angle sensing distributor. The spark advance is controlled by the fuel injection computer. There is a very small igniter module built into the coil mounting bracket.

 

So, if you're not getting spark, it must be a problem with either the coil, the igniter, the distributor, the computer, or the wires in between them.

 

I'd suspect the igniter or the coil at this point. You should also check that you have 12V at the + terminal of the coil when the key is on. If not, try jumpering power to it and see if it runs.

check the timing belt marks, and ign marks.

see if you get spark at the coil

if you arent getting spark out of the coil, and the distributor is turning, then it has to be one of the wires on the distributor. theres like 2or three on one and one or two on the other. if you have them messed up then the coil would never get a signal to fire. they all ground near the starter i think. its gotta be someting stupid, like you said. those spfis are so damn simple.

 

 

and the igniter, is sometimes off the bracket and down a wire a few inches, that could be it too. you gotta be able to hotwire the coil right guys?

What method did you use to line up the timing belts? Are the marks on the cam gears both up or both down or opposite of eachother?

 

Qman

I swapped out the entire coil and ignitor (on the coil bracket) with my runner. Still no go. I must have a broken wire or something.

 

The timing marks are 180 from each other. I lined up on the center of the three hash marks, positioned left cam at 0 deg., rotated engine one revolution, lined up on the three hash marks again and set the right cam sprocket at 0 deg.

 

Is there a wiring diagram I can get online? I think I need to ring out a few wires.

the yellow wires ashould be on the - terminal, and black wire with white stripe, and anything with a red contact will be on the + terminal of the coil

have you used a voltmeter to check for battery voltage on the positive terminal of the coil?

 

There is a fuse on the fuse panel controling the positive voltage to the coil. Might check that IF you are not getting the battery voltage on the + coil terminal

 

(I mentioned this is a previous no spark post but it was kind of after the fact)

BTW

The power transistor (amplifier) on the coil bracket is NOT an ignitor (They are found in some distributors and feed info INTO the spark control circuitry, the ignition amplifier - amplifies the signal AFTER the circuitry -whatever.