87 truck 22r with carb. running fine but suddenly it shut down, as if i had turned off the key. I had it towed home, and found no spark from the coil. I checked the coil resistance and was close but not exactly right, replaced the coil, no go. installed new sending unit, no go. the coil is getting 12 v into the igniter, but nothing out when motor is cranked. So...the only other part is the igniter which for some reason is a $300. part for a little circuit bd and couple of transistors. I have a bad feeling that if I replace it, it's not going to fix it. Suggestions anyone? Any test procedure for the igniter? Any ideas will be appreciated.

 

try to swap out parts from a similar truck, even junk yard parts

 

Have you checked all your connections, positive terminal on battery has bitten me before with my starter, etc.

 

It cranks just great, but no spark. found a coil/igniter from an 83 at a junk yard, it looks different igniter is on top of coil, should it work on an 87? I guess it's worth a try, $30. Thanks

 

check the distributor. take off the distributor cap and crank the engine, you should see the rotor spin. if not, thats your problem. had the same thing happen on my 87 22r. good luck.

 

The same happened to me twice months apart.... 1st time it proved to be the signal generator (pick up coil)-not sure if that is what you meant when you replaced "the sending unit." The 2nd time it WAS the ignitor (picked it up at Azone in the neighborhood of $150-160 and it was tagged Denso as was the p.u. coil). A few months later my truck was dead in the water again but w/ spark...culprit was faulty fuel pump. The electrical problem/s were two years ago so the cost of the item above are probably different. Good luck w/ your truck.

 

Sounds more like a broken wire somewhere...Check all grounds and the wiring to and from the coil.

 

yup, checked wires at least ones I could get to. Rotor moving, I will try tomorrow to put junkyard 83-84 coil/igniter on a see if works. Does anyone know the correct air gap? Haynes says.016 but they are not always right. Thanks all. It was running so great when it died!!

 

i read a article awhile back that tells how to convert to a gm coil and ignition module. it was on zuwharrie .com . it might be a cheaper fix.
if i remember right someone on yt posted the link.

 

thanks to swampfox for the lead on the conversion to gm module. I followed the trail, found the info, went to autozone $21. later I'm back on the road. Now that I know for sure it was the igniter, I may get the correct one later (much later probably) works great now.