Hi,
here is an other no spark topic with the 3.0. I've read a lot of threads but none fitted my problem.

I have a 1989 toyota pickup with the 3vze. I was driving in a snow storm and there was snow pretty much everywhere in the engine bay. I hit a snowbank and some snow went in the belt pulley ( battery light came on and lost power steering for couple seconds) but it cleared and everything went back to normal.
Drove for a couple of miles after that and stoped the engine for couple of minutes. It then started right up no problem but like 30 second later it died and wouldn't start. Gas smell from tail pipe.

started to diagnose and theres fuel in the cylinder (wet spark plug) but no spark out of the plugs or the coil.
I checked all the fuses, they are all good, the CEL comes on when switch is on, but no codes.
I did the steps in this thread : https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/n...89-95-a-10543/

Pickup coils resistance are in spec, got 12v at the igniter and at the coil, coils resistance in spec.
Now im at the tap test step. When i try tapping with the negative battery terminal- nothing. When i tapped with positive i can hear a click coming from the coil area but no spark. I do not have a second test light to do the next step right now. I did check the other wires from the igniter with a multimeter and all checks good.


The questions are :
what is the proper way to check for spark out of the coil? Is it possible to see spark just by putting the coil wire close to a good ground (clean bolt on the engine) or does it has to be a test light tip grounded to the battery?

Is it possible to fry something when putting 12v on this wire with key on(tap test)?

what could be the click im hearing when taping on positive terminal?

is there an other way for testing the coil on a 3vze?

Is it possible that some water from the snow on the engine could have damage some electronic components? If yes what would it most likely be?

it looks to me that the culprit could be the coil or the igniter, but i dont want to put on some new parts that i dont even need so i would like to take the testing farther.

i also checked this article, but the only thing i havent done is checking the rotors air gap but since theres is no spark out of the coil it is not the problem. http://web.archive.org/web/201209070...12onvehicl.pdf.

Thanks for any answers or suggestions, it is very appreciated.

 

I don't know why pulling the wire off the dizzy from the coil wouldn't produce a spark to ground just like a plug wire...
while turning over the engine with the starter. But, I don't recall ever trying it 🤔
It makes sense though that is where your problem is... or something came unplugged torn loose by the snow drift incident.

 

Thanks for the reply 87-4runner.
I did try a couple of ways to check spark out of the coil but when i did the tap test i had pretty much no tools with me so i just put the coil wire ( metal of the inside of the wire ) about 0.25 inch of a clean bolt.

I dont have much experience with this type of ignition system so i was wondering if doing the test this way if could see some sparks.

And other than the coil and igniter i was thinking maybe the VAFM could cause a no spark issue? I've read some threads about bad VAFM causing no sparks but the their symptoms wasn't exactly like mine.
thanks

 

Better way to test for spark on a wire is by using your timing light. Hook the inductive pickup to the wire to be tested, if you have flashes from the timing light, wire's good. Lots safer. If you're not very careful when holding the wire, it WILL bite, and it WILL hurt. Lots. Trust me on that one. <ahem>
Using the timing light, you can check all the wires fairly quickly. Just keep moving the pickup of the timing light and checking for flashes. Lets you know whether the wires, and the distributor cap and rotor, are any good.

I would be sure to check the coil air gap in the distributor is good. That can give you fits if it's not adjusted correctly.

Make sure the ground from the head to the firewall is in good shape. That's where the plugs get their ground. If it's not clean and corrosion free at both ends, it can cause all kinds of trouble. The ground wire from the lifting hook to the firewall. Since the circuit uses the body ground, make sure the ground cable between the battery and the body is in good shape too. Usually runs between the battery negative terminal and the body, just in front of the battery, behind the lights.

Make sure if you go to replacing parts, that you get good, OEM parts. Denso, Aisin, etc.

Good luck!
Pat☺

 

I can't tell you how many times I have been troubleshooting "just died" complaints or "won't start" either for customers or friends when this simple test solved all of the mystery, take the distributor cap off and watch the rotor while you either crank the engine or turn it over with a socket on the crank bolt.
It's one of the first things I do just to verify it's not a broken timing belt/chain/distributor/cam etc.
Once the complaint was "the ol' lady was driving it and said it just shut off while going down the road and wouldn't restart". Chevy V-8, distributor wasn't spinning, no clanking noises when cranking, no holes in block or pan, but inside it looked like a bomb went off, cam in 3 pieces with some sitting crossways in the block, crank sheared off, a piston apparently caught between the crank and block and tore it a new *$$ #073.
just saying, make sure the dizzy is going roundy round before throwing parts at it.

 

Akwheeler that is SOUND advice!!!
good stuff
I LOVE good old fashioned common sense.

 

Thanks everyone for the advices, i appreciate it!

•I have checked the rotor and it is spinning, and the timing belt is fairly new ( approximately 6000miles).

•I dont have a timing light right now but i will shop for one! But for now i checked for spark by putting the end of the wire close to a good ground (1/4" gap) and nothing. I thought i saw a very weak spark once but i didnt saw any of it afterwards.

I will try to make sure that every grounds are clean and tight.

I also heard that a bad VAFM could cause a no spark issue but i unplugged it and connect FP to B+ to send power to fuel pump with key on and it still wouldnt start. From what i've read this would mean that the VAFM is probably not the problem?

If it shows no spark out of the coil with a test light and the grounds are OK, i think i will try to get a used coil and/or igniter and try it on my truck. The resistances in my coil are in specs but i've read that it is possible that the coil is bad even with good resistances. I checked almost all that i could with my multimeter and i did not saw anything out of specs, so i am lost.

One thing i forgot to mention is when the engine stopped running, it started running rough first ( for like 10-15 seconds before it stalled). I had to give it some gas to keep the engine alive. Then the idle went close to normal but when i went to take off, as soon as the clutch engaged just a bit the engine stalled right away and thats when i couldnt start it back. If it was the coil that went bad could it run rough for a bit or when a coil gives up it stops all sparks instantly?

I will post any updates or any news with my truck.

thanks again for the replies and advices.

 

A little update: I tested the vafm (with this

) cause i read that it could cause a no spark condition.
THA - E2 was 3.05k ohms. Since it was around 15 celcius, I think it was in specs. E2 with VS and VC was good.

Anybody have an idea of was i could test next? I would like to be more confident of what the problem is before i start replacing parts.

And also for the igniter tap test, should I see the spark out of the coil wire just by putting it close to a ground while tapping the battery terminals?

thanks again.

 

UPDATE:
Found a 1989 pickup at the scrapyard, I took the coil and igniter and tried it on my truck and it started right up!
All of this to say that even if your coil resistances are in specs, it can be bad.

Thanks to everyone for the replies.

 

Glad you found it.
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