91 Eclipse GS 2.0L has no spark, cranks okay...ideas??

Hello everyone.....

My '91 GS 2.0L non-Turbo cranks fine, gets fuel fine, the battery is fully charged, the spark plugs are new but I get no spark at all....I tested the coil pack (3-pin plug) and the primary resistance is 1.1 ohms (the manual says it should be between 0.75 - 0.90 ohms is good) and the secondary resistance at the coil is within specs (13.5K ohms).....I also tested the power transistor for the coil (7-pin plug) and according to the repair manual there should be NO Continuity between pin 1 and pin 3 when there is no voltage applied.....My Power transistor HAS Continuity between pins 1 and 3 with no voltage applied....Does it mean it's time to replace the transistor or am I doing the test wrong??? I have taken those parts out of the car when taking measurements.

I have tried another USED set of a coil pack and power transistor and I get the same readings with an ohmeter and again no spark and no start when installed in the car...

Has anyone else tested their 3-pin coil pack and their power transistor out of the car??? Are your tests the same as mine??? Should I replace the coil pack AND the power transistor with new parts ($350 + $125 = $500)......I'd like to get some ideas before spending a good amount of cash to resolve this problem.....This car has been sitting idle all summer but it started and run okay before then....I have changed the spark plugs with new Champion plugs. The plug wires look okay.

Thanks for your ideas and help on this problem......VK

A few other quick checks. Make sure the MPI fuse is still good. You wont be starting withoiut that. Check to be sure the cam angle sensor is still good. Take it out, turn the key to the on position, and turn the CAS by hand. You should hear the injectors firing. If you dont, its the CAS. The ECU wont fire the plugs or the injectors without a CAS signal. When you put it back in, you'll need to redo the base timing though since you moved the CAS.

Thanks for your suggestions....I have checked many things but not the CAS yet...Is there an easy way to check without taking the CAS out and messing up the timing???

If you know of an easy check please post it here for other's to learn as well....I will look in the manual if there's a procedure on how to check the CAS.

Thanks again - VK

Taking it off is the only way I know of. Cranking the motor does the same thing, but its impossible to hear the injectors clicking over the noise. One thing you could do is scribe a mark on it and the head, so if its good you can put it back in the same place. But it only takes 5 minutes with a regular timing light to set it properly. Bad base timing can also prevent a car from starting too.

You dont really need a timing light, just put it back in and center it, then when you get it running, adjust it until it idles fine. Which should be right around the middle.

Its not really that simple. The ECU can adjust timing as hte engine idles. In fact this is how it fine tunes idle speed. The ISC motor is just a rough adjustment, and the BISS is only there to center the ISC while idling at the ECUs taget speed which is 750 unless you have DSMlink. So you can have timing off and still idle fine. This is how a few of my friends have lost motors. On 1g, any timing you add to base is also there at WOT. So if base timing is 10 degrees, you could be seeing 30 by redline even though your logger may report 25 ;) I would spend 15 bucks on a cheap timiung light and get this right...