car wont start (no spark)... help please

[Nikita]

i started the car, started driving, car backfired through the intake and stalled.

i pulled the fuel hose off one injector, there is fuel delivery.

i checked the coil for resistance, looks good.

the box whines.

i pulled the wire off a plug and i am getting no spark. also, when i had starting issues before (fuel pump died) when i pulled the distributor wire off the coil, i would get a spark from the middle hole to one of the terminals on the coil. not getting anything now.


it can be distributor, CDI or coil. how do i test each? did i miss something?

thanks

[ischmitz]

You have narrowed it down to no spark. Check if the points inside the dizzy trigger the CDI box properly and make sure you have a good rotor.

Hook an Ohmmeter between ground and the points output at the dizzy (spade connector) to check whether you get trigger pulses when you crank the engine. If that checks out I would look at the trigger wire. Keep in mind that a whining box does not mean it is functional.

Ingo

[ThePointman]

I had the same proble jsut this morning. Turned out that the inside top of the distributor cap was damp. Stopped the car from running at all. Turned over just fine but would not start, until I used a rag to clean out the distributor cap.

[Nikita]

i am new to electrical stuff. can you tell me what the "dizzy" is?
also what should i set the ohm meter to? (i dont want to fry the thing). what type of spikes should i look for? volts? amps?

the box on my car has a 3 point harness connection and 2 tab thingies for individual wires. one of these tabs does not have anything connected to it, it was always like that. the other tab (is this the spade) has a wire on it.

thanks.

[ischmitz]

Nikita,


I was referring to the distributor (dizzy). It's a metal housing on the engine with the orange cap on top. It has a connector that triggers the CDI box.

The Ohmmeter needs to be set to resistance. Then connect one lead to ground and the other to the connector at the metal body of the distributor.

[Nikita]

ok, just checked it out.

i got nothing between the connector and the groud. i also have no spark coming out of the coil.

it's either the coil or the CDI?

any ideas on what to check next?

[ruf-porsche]

Check your point gap. See if the point is opening and closing as the engine cranks, or take the cap off, put the car in gear and rock the car back and forth until the point is on the high side of one of the lobe in the dizzy. See if there is a gap between the point contacts.