So before the car didn't start it was driven for 5 mins then turned off then driven again for another 5 mins and turned off again, then i realized my parking was bad so i tried turning it back on and nothing, i thought i soaked the plugs with fuel so i let it sit the whole night, came back the morning after and still nothing.
Engine:d15b2
things replaced:
-new oem distributor cap
-new oem distributor rotor
-new fuel injector(car is getting fuel btw)
things checked:
-checked main relay (will get re-soldered major points aren't looking too bad)
-distributor igniter ok
-ignition coil gives spark but wont reach plugs
-compression is good and spark timing is good, but the spark plugs are poorly gapped
i don't want to get rid of my car so any help is greatly apreciated

 

in a nutshell: car gets spark but won't reach the spark plugs

 

yes i read all the faqs, anyone have a clue?

 

Spark Plug Cables.

 

Rotor screw fell out, so rotor is not in sync with the sparks.

Cracked or burnt cap or rotor shorting out the sparks.

Or, if you only have weak yellow sparks from the coil to begin with, the coil is bad. With the cap off, you should be able to jump sparks from the coil spring to a grounded test wire at least 1/2 inch, and they should be blue or white.

 

will try new ones today, thanks

 

yeah, i used a test light, was getting consistant white sparks couldn't tell if they were yellow so i'll revise that again to see if any blue sparks will occur, thanks for the reply

 

checked my ignition coil, it's looks a bit cooked on the tip thatt connects with the distributor cap, should i be concerned with it?

 

It's got to be a loose connection. Same thing happened to me after similar work, it was a loose distributor harness iirc.

 

all my wires and **** to the distributor are soaked with oil can that also be a culprit

 

just finished rebuilding and cleaning the distributor see if ill get a stronger spark, still need to fix the distributor connectors from engine harness that are also soaking in oil, once i get to thaat i'll let you guys know how it goes...

 

so far i cleaned the connectors and plugged them up still no spark at the spark plugs so tomorrow i will try new spark plug cable, turn distributor 180 degrees if none of this works im leaning into buying a new igniter module or just settle for a new engine, or the car is gonna end in up the junkyard somewhere

 

Forget the tester thingies. Take cap off. Hold a simple grounded test wire 1/2 inch from the coil output spring. Have someone crank. See if blue sparks jump.

Generally a bad ICM will not fire at all. A bad coil may still make sparks but very weak ones. Coil failure is real common on these cars.

 

only got white or yellow sparks, the 88-91 doesnt have a coil spring just a hole

 

will a car turn on if the transmission won't engage (4AT)

 

got another ignition coil and flipped the distributor 180 degrees twice still nothing, it just misfired. i'm leaning to the thermostat housing ground and the icm, btw will a d15b7 icm work in a d15b2 ?

 

so today i cleaned up the thermo housing ground, rest of the other grounds then i cranked it got a cel, counted the blinks and got code #15......

 

was fixed a while ago

 

it was the icm, but replaced the distributor