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On my 1995 Camry 2.2, yesterday it rained really hard and i hit a few heavy puddles and after that the car just died and it cranked but wouldn't start.
I got the car towed home and after a few hrs the car started but it was running rough. I checked for spark there was hardly any spark coming out of the wires on all 4 cylinders. I checked for spark at the ign coil tower and theres no spark at all. There is power on the positive side of the coil and there is power at the 2 wire connector. I checked the power and ground at the igniter and it's good.
I have my original distributor and coil, which I know is good. I put back the original distributor and still there's no spark at all coming from the coil? I have a spare igniter and i tried it and still no spark at the tower. Any ideas why I'm not getting any spark? I dont know what direction to go from here
When you say hardly any spark coming from the wires, does that mean you are getting some? If that's the case the coil must be doing something. What method are you using to test for spark?
I'm using a test light to test for spark. I'm testing the spark air gap at the end of the plug wire and no spark is coming out. If I put the test light inside right next to the electrode it will spark very lightly. If I go to the coil tower no spark at all. I checked for coil power and it's good.
The igniter power and ground is good. I don't think it's a bad igniter because the car fires up easily but you can hear the miss due to weak spark. I have a spare distributor and coil and i tried that and still no spark coming out of the coil. I'm lost on this one. I checked the grounds and its all tight and clean.
When i hit those heavy puddles i know i shorted something but hrs later the car started up but with weak spark. What else could the problen be? Why isn't there spark coming out of the coil? Possible bad pcm?
Is it that you get the (weak) spark at the coil wire and no spark at the plug wires?
If so look into the distributer, there might be water/humidity inside.
An expert is someone who knows each time more on each time less, until he finally knows absolutely everything about absolutely nothing.
The fact that you have weak spark rules out ECM control issues. I would focus on the IGNITION COIL or wires connected to the IGNITION COIL (see diagram).
Take the DISTRIBUTOR and ECM out of the picture. Unplug the wire labeled NCA (see attachment) from the distributor and give it a good 1 inch air gap to ground.
Key on, and see if you have power at the white IGT wire on the IGNITER. If you have power there, connect test light to ground and touch the IGT wire. If you have no power there, connect test light to BATTERY and touch the IGT wire.
This will fire the IGNITION COIL. If the wire labelled NCA coming from the IGNITION COIL has weak spark then it's the coil.
Yes no spark at the coil and very light spark comes out the plug wire. I have to put my test light right next to the electrode and it will spark but if I move the test light half an inch no spark jumps out.
I also have a good spare distributor and coil that I tried and still the same results, no spark at the coil.
The car has 119k and i believe the wires are original. But if the wires are weak that shouldn't prevent the coil from producing spark?
I will try the igniter test with the test light. What does NCA stand for? I can't read the attachment for the coil resistance check.
On the igniter white wire I checked for power key on and test light didn't light. Switched the test light to B+ and I'm able to fire the coil. A good gap of spark is coming out. So then the igniter, the pcm and wiring, inputs and the distributor is all good. So then the coil is at fault?
If you have good spark jumping the gap out of the IGNITION COIL, then you have proved that the IGNITER is good, and the IGNITION COIL is good. I am also going to assume the ECM is good from what you wrote previously but let's test that as well just to be sure.
Same instructions I gave before, only don't touch the IGT white wire. Let the ECM provide power on the IGT wire by cranking the car over and watching for spark. You should see good spark, good jumping and cracking until you stop cranking.
Don't crank for too long as the injectors will be spraying into your cylinders and you may flood the engine. Or just disconnect the injectors if you can.
If this tests good, the leftover culprits are CAP and ROTOR, the PLUG WIRES and SPARK PLUGS.
Thinking ahead, you wrote that you installed your old DISTRIBUTOR back and had still had no spark. I'm assuming you also changed the CAP and ROTOR as well to no avail. This leaves the PLUG WIRES as the primary culprit in my opinion.
Last edit: 7 years 2 months ago by JustJuan.
The following user(s) said Thank You: juergen.scholl
I remember at the beginning I did this test. I had my test light right next to the coil tower and i cranked it for a few seconds and no spark out of the coil. I will try again and see. If I do this test and no spark out of the coil, what does this mean? Input problem?
How do I know if the white/red igf wire from the igniter to the pcm is good? Is there a bypass test that I can do? Or just a voltage check?
If no spark from COIL, then ECM or input problem (which I don't think it is since you wrote previously car ran rough, so the same inputs are also controlling injector pulse).
Okay this: if no spark from COIL while cranking, put test light to ground and leave it touching the IGT wire. The test light should pulse. If not pulsing, then it's a ECM or wire from the ECM issue.
Unless you have any trouble codes related to IGNITION then the ECM is receiving a confirmation on the IGF wire and there's no need to test that wire. Testing if ECM provides power (pulsing) on IGT is good enough.
To me it`s almost next to impossible to figure that you would have a spark - even a weak one - at the plug terminal of the wire while not having a spark at the coil . But then again, I haven´t seen it all....
Additionally to the proposals of JustJuan you might want to check for cam and crank sensor signals from the pick up coils in the dizzy going to the pcm, just in case there was no IGT signal while cranking.
If good cam/crank signals are present and not even one initial IGT signal shows up move to power and grounds of the ecu before condeming it.
If there was only one or a couple of IGT signals during cranking then check the IGF wire for a short to ground/lower than normal resistance or an open.
An expert is someone who knows each time more on each time less, until he finally knows absolutely everything about absolutely nothing.
I found a bad ign wire on the distributor cap. The coil also had a small crack. I did crank it over I've got spark on the coil. I got new plugs, wires, cap, rotor, coil. I got all the new parts in and i do have spark coming out of the ign wire. Not a big spark gap as I thought it would be but much better than before.
I removed the distributor to remove the coil and i did marked it before I removed it. Do I have to set the timing?
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