S.A. civic

I dont have spark. I tracked it back to the ignition coil. When using a test light to test the coil the test light comes on when I make contact with the +on the coil, but when I try the -coil the light does not come on. According to the test the light should come on when the key is in the on position, and blink when the engine cranks. I get no light at all when I connect to the - side of the ignition coil. Why doesn't the light come on with the key in the on position? I'm new to civics so any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Former User

Bad coil or bad wire between the coil and igniter unit -- Ohm test the coil and the wire.

bigbully

Bad ignition and make sure to check and run through your dizzy and confirm everything is in working order. I had a similar problem in my 2000 si a few years ago it ended up being my coil.

S.A. civic

Tested the coil and I got
Primary I got 4.02
Secondary was 18.9

Bad coil? The coil was replaced around 3 years ago.

Former User

Your coil is toast.

This usually happens when the ignition system is not properly maintained or when the engine is cranked with plug wires disconnected.

S.A. civic

Roger, thanks guys for the quick responses. I was just a little confused, because I didn't see anything that referenced no light at all on the negative terminal. Everything I saw had the light come on it the on position, and mine didn't.

How long do these coils usually last? I'm gonna buy one tomorrow, and report back.

Former User

The coil should last at least 150K miles if you avoid the mistakes I mentioned. You should also consider replacing the igniter unit or even the entire distributor if they're old.

in future tech threads, also be sure to mention you car and engine.

B_Swapped93

depends...I have the original distributer from my 94 gsr still on it's "og coil" lol. But I've seen them burnt out in less then a year(OEM even) as ron said it's more a matter of taking care of the ignition system.

S.A. civic

Fixed! It was the coil. I also replaced the rotor and thr cap because they were in rough shape. Do you think the rough shape of the rotor and cap could of fried the ignition coil?

Former User

Definitely

S.A. civic

A little background on how my car died. I was driving down the highway when it just cut out on me. So I coasted to a stop, put it in park, turn the key, and it fired right up. I drove it home, and then to work. When I got to work I turned it off and then tried to fire it back up, no start no fire and didn't start again.

Just a little info for future readers with the same problem.