I just put new plugs, wires cap and rotor in my 88 3.0 and was just wondering if its worth it to swap in a new coil... Mine is stock with almost 200k on it, Im not sure if they go bad over time or if its still throwing a proper spark... Any thoughts or recommendations on one?

 

You can get a tool like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Lisle-50850-Ig...6404325&sr=1-7

You can thread the gap out to find out how much voltage your coil is producing and compare it to the stock values in the FSM.

 

I replaced mine with an Accel "high output" coil. Seems a little spunkier, but that old coil wasn't in great shape so it's probably no better than a new stock coil. $33 at Advance and you can get yellow or chrome

 

No...that's not it.

 

You're right the more appropriate tool would be this:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/24382279/Ignition-Coil-Tester

What I was thinking of was this:


And I don't have a good picture for so I did a shoddy search on amazon to help.

 

Which I use the first tool I referrenced made by Lisle and some graduation scribed in the side that I have measured with a micrometer to accomplish the same task.

 

What I meant was there are no specs in the FSM for checking the voltage output of the ignition coil. Only for checking the primary and secondary resistance values. Which if aren't within the tolerances given, means the coil needs replaced. And the specs for the canister type on the 88 3VZE are slightly different than those for the newer coils found on later models.

These would be the cold specs.


Here's the 93 FSM pages on ignition system checking procedures for the 3VZE: http://personal.utulsa.edu/~nathan-b...12onvehicl.pdf

 

Sorry, I'm not a 3.slow guy. I didn't realize that wasn't a known factory spec.

 

That's alright. I'm sorry for being rude.

However, it's not an issue of engine type. There are no voltage output specs in the FSM for the 22RE ignition coil either.

http://personal.utulsa.edu/~nathan-b.../4onvehicl.pdf

I have seen the approximate voltage for spark in the cylinder listed, just not in any FSM. Which wouldn't be what the output of the ingition coil should be anyway, due to the loss of voltage that occurs through resistance at the distributor cap and high-tension cords. It would be slightly higher. At any rate, they don't say anything specific in regards to the different ignition system designs on the various engines. Just that Toyota ingition systems produce a high voltage spark between 7kV-35kV in the cylinder.

http://autoshop101.com/forms/h39.pdf

I don't see anything wrong with the methods you're suggesting of checking the ignition coil. I'm just saying that's not how Toyota does it, or recommends to do it. It can just as easily, if not more so, be determined whether other not it's functioning correctly by checking the primary and secondary resistance values.

 

The second pic I listed is part of the ingition diagnostic flow chart from Yamaha for my race bike. I've never repaired an ingition problem on a Toy so I was just assuming this was a standard factory spec. But back to Yamaha even though checking resistance values across the pins of the coil is part of the flow chart they also have this step. Maybe that has something to do with being a coil-on-plug set-up. IDK.