No Spark On The Coil

[nippywiffle]

Hi,

My car broke down tuesday, just cut out while driving, no bangs, no seizing up, nothing, just cut out as if I turned off the engine.

The breakdown people took the car to a garage since they couldn't fix it by the road.

They said later that day they'd traced the problem to the coil, as they were getting no spark there, but they needed to order a new one from toyota - taking 2 days.

So today, they get the coil, put it in.. and apparently they're still getting no spark.

When I broke down, the electric windows, wipers, etc all still worked, when the ignition was part way on, so I don't think there's a complete electrics problem.

They said the old one was clearly burned out - and I believe them, since I'd been getting a lot of jumping with the car, which I think can be explained by a bad coil.

Any ideas why they wouldn't be getting a spark on the new coil... other than the new one being faulty of course :-D? I would've thought theres not much between the Battery and the coild, other than wires...

It's all quite annoying now, since I have no car for the bank holiday weekend :(

Thanks,

Daniel

[GT4 BOOSTER]

ecu MAYBE ????

[mikeb]

If the coil failed then it could well haven taken the ignitor with it. This sits in between the ECU and coil and generates the power switching to the coil, from the ECU timing signal. It's not uncommon for them to fail, when the coil fails it can over stress them.

Not sure on the exact configuration on your car (gen 4 isn't it?). Follow the low tension cable back from the coil. It might be inside the distributor.

[nippywiffle]

Are the ECU, and ignitor, expensive parts?

If the coil failed then it could well haven taken the ignitor with it. This sits in between the ECU and coil and generates the power switching to the coil, from the ECU timing signal. It's not uncommon for them to fail, when the coil fails it can over stress them.

Not sure on the exact configuration on your car (gen 4 isn't it?). Follow the low tension cable back from the coil. It might be inside the distributor.

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[daktari]

Are the ECU, and ignitor, expensive parts?

If the coil failed then it could well haven taken the ignitor with it. This sits in between the ECU and coil and generates the power switching to the coil, from the ECU timing signal. It's not uncommon for them to fail, when the coil fails it can over stress them.

Not sure on the exact configuration on your car (gen 4 isn't it?). Follow the low tension cable back from the coil. It might be inside the distributor.

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Yep :( Try ringing around breakers.

[Boro Sera]

Ignitors fail.

Sounds like this has failed as a knock on effect of the coil failing ( domino theory ). Needed one for my Audi last year. Think it was about £35.00 from a motor factors place.

It worries me that it wasn't spotted by the garage though. That's very poor. Usually they'd fit one whether it needed it or not with a spark fault!

[nippywiffle]

Hi again, just spoke to the guy looking at the car, and he said they've found that there seems to be a problem with the wiring going to the coil, he said there's meant to be a pulse on once of the wires, and a constant current on the other (I think thats what he said) and he said theres current on one, but no pulse on the other... (??)

Does this sound like it could be due to the ignitor.. or something else?

Thanks again

Ignitors fail.

Sounds like this has failed as a knock on effect of the coil failing ( domino theory ). Needed one for my Audi last year. Think it was about £35.00 from a motor factors place.

It worries me that it wasn't spotted by the garage though. That's very poor. Usually they'd fit one whether it needed it or not with a spark fault!

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[nippywiffle]

I just found a (very) rough diagram here, which shows that one cable comes from the ECU and the other from the ignitor - so I assume that they are not getting the voltage on the 2nd wire, due to the ignitor not working.. would that be right?

Here's the diagram i found:

http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Lane/1231/spark.html

Hi again, just spoke to the guy looking at the car, and he said they've found that there seems to be a problem with the wiring going to the coil, he said there's meant to be a pulse on once of the wires, and a constant current on the other (I think thats what he said) and he said theres current on one, but no pulse on the other... (??)

Does this sound like it could be due to the ignitor.. or something else?

Thanks again

Ignitors fail.

Sounds like this has failed as a knock on effect of the coil failing ( domino theory ). Needed one for my Audi last year. Think it was about £35.00 from a motor factors place.

It worries me that it wasn't spotted by the garage though. That's very poor. Usually they'd fit one whether it needed it or not with a spark fault!

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[mikeb]

Try a different ignitor. Beg, steal or borrow one (you may find that other toyotas of the same era have identical components). If it's at a garage - tell them to change the ignitor. It should be the first thing they look at after changing a faulty coil.

Ultimately, it may not be the ignitor, but you have to work through these things logically, and the next step after the coil is the ignitor.

[nippywiffle]

So, now they're saying it seems to be the signal coming from the ECU incorrectly which has blown the coil. They say they tested the ignitor which seems fine, so they think it's either a wiring problem from the ECU, or the ECU itself.

I found an ECU from a breaker for about £70, is that a good price?

I'm still waiting to hear back for confirmation of if it actually is the ECU that needs replacing...

[scottagt4]

So, now they're saying it seems to be the signal coming from the ECU incorrectly which has blown the coil. They say they tested the ignitor which seems fine, so they think it's either a wiring problem from the ECU, or the ECU itself.

I found an ECU from a breaker for about £70, is that a good price?

I'm still waiting to hear back for confirmation of if it actually is the ECU that needs replacing...

iv got the same problem on my 1990 st185 just cut out and would not spark

changed coil, dizzy, leads, igniter. getting power to coil and all seems good just no spark.

starting to think it could be the ecu myself but would like to know what you found on yours