ahickman

Troubleshooting a 3.0 rebuild and seem to have an intermittent spark on all wires. While checking my timing, I thought the trigger button on my timing light was going bad. Switched the pickup from wire #1 to #3 and then to the primary coming from the coil. The light was intermittent on all wires. I then put the timing light on a 94 22re that runs perfectly and the timing light flickered as expected. Even thought the primary/secondary coils ohm out within specs, could this be a bad coil or ignitor? One further bit of info to add. Unlike the dizzy in my 22re, this dizzy seemed to be bumpy when rotating it. Rather than rotating smoothly, it bumps from tooth to tooth. Is this normal?

ahickman

Anyone?

dirtpup

i think it could be a bad coil because you say the ohms resistance is way out. i'd try one and you can get an ignitor off ebay for cheap.

ahickman

dirtpup, from what I saw using an ohm meter the coil looked OK. This part is cheap enough that I could swap it out, but I hate to spend $$$ if I am not 50% sure. Thanks.

MonsterMaxx

When you say 'bumps' do you mean when you have the distrib in hand and rotate it? If yes, then it's normal. The pickups are magnetic.

What's it running like? Behavior? What do you mean by intermittent? Are the wires good/new? What did you gap the plugs to? Did you replace Cap & rotor? Have you checked for codes?

ahickman

Plugs, wires, cap and rotor are all new. You are correct in that the distributor bumps as I rotate the rotor by hand while out of the shaft.

Engine starts usually on first crank or two. A little rough to idle but will idle on its own. By intermittent, I mean that the timing light on the gun will blink a couple of times, pause and then blink a few more times. Very random. Does this on all plug wires as well as the wire going to the coil, which I would think would be very consistent. Makes me think either the coil/ignitor or the signal from the ECU is intermittent? Suggestions?

MonsterMaxx

Did you check for codes? The computer should pick up a coil or igniter problem and throw a code.

ahickman

No codes, at all. Unfortunately.

MonsterMaxx

Anything is possible, but I doubt it's the coil/ignitor/comp behaving intermittently. When they go, they usually take a full dump and stay there.

so it idles, does it drive? Have any power?

Did you jumper E1 & TE1 when you did timing?

ahickman

As with most electronics, I would think it either works or doesn't work. However, the intermittent spark on all wires would have to be coming from the spark generation source (coil/ignitor/ECU), wouldn't it?

It is a new build and I have not pulled it out yet owing to some remaining work on the brake lines.

I did jumper E1 & T1 during timing set. Did not really see it drop down in idle, however.

thook

This a technical article explaining how the ignition system works:
http://www.autoshop101.com/

Your distributor, igniter, and coil appear to be working properly. But, since the NE coil detects crankshaft position and the G1 and G2 coils sense the camshaft positions, I'm wondering if the crank and cam positions are correct....or the rotor is off....one of the two. Hence, you are seeing an erratic signal with the timing light.????