EKSedAndy

I did an auto to manual swap and swapped in a fresh D16Y8 at the same time, and I've had an ongoing no start. First it was no compression, and I found the problem and fixed it, but now that I've put the engine back in I've got no spark.

I tested and with the key turned to ON I have 12V at the black/yellow power wire to the distributor, and the plug wires' resistance was within spec. I also tested the coil as per my manual, and resistance between the positive terminal and the secondary winding terminal was about 15kOhm (within spec).

However, the resistance between the coil's positive and negative terminals is supposed to be 0.63 to 0.77 Ohm, and mine is reading about 1.5-1.6 Ohm, obviously out of spec. Should I assume this is the problem? My only issue is this distributor worked fine before the swap, so I just don't know why it wouldn't provide spark now (or if something might have fried it?).

Any ideas/suggestions where to go from here?

delsizzle1

did u cut and splice any wires doin the auto to manual swap... cuz if u have a short u can proly have an issue with that but i cant say witout knowin how the swap was done

egsleepercivic

if you got the coil from the old motor go ahead and swap it over and see if it starts

EKSedAndy

This is the coil from the old engine, which was running fine, which is why it's odd there's no spark. And nothing was cut and spliced that should affect spark.

Former User

What is the resistance reading when you touch the two meter probes together? Subtract that Ohm value from the 1.5-1.6 Ohm reading of the coil. Is that value now in spec?

EKSedAndy

When I touch the probes together it shows an internal resistance ranging from 0.9 to 1.2 ohms, so that could potentially put it within spec or a little bit too low possibly. So should I consider this coil working or not?

And if it is working, then where do I go from here? I'm getting 12 V at the distributor with the key ON, and about 8 V when cranking it over (not sure if it should drop that much or not), so the problem must be in the distributor no?

Former User

I would think that you can get an internal resistance reading that is less variable by holding the probes together tightly without moving. If the coil tests fine, then have an auto parts store test the ICM.

EKSedAndy

Ok, after holding steady it looks like internal resistance is 0.9, putting the coil in the 0.6-0.7 range which seems in range. I'll have to test the ignitor or try a different distributor.

Any other possible culprits or tests I can do to rule other things out?

Former User

There are other possibilities, but the ICM is the place to start.

Other possibilities are the Yel/Grn wire, the distributor sensors, and the ECU. Can I assume that there are no CEL codes?

You could also do the ICM input tests. See FAQs sticky.

EKSedAndy

No codes, and I tried a second ECU to rule that out. What's the yellow/green wire?

Former User

It runs from the ECU to the ICM in the distributor. It allows the ECU to tell the ICM when to make the coil fire its spark. If this wire has an open or short, there will be no spark.

But test the ICM first.