Igniter check

Hey All,

My car died today, the main relay seems to work (I have two and they both worked before), fuel pump is running, but I don't seem to get any spark.

The distributer is newish and I replaced the igniter last year. The manual makes mention of some fancy test harness that attaches to the ecu to test the igniter but I don't have it (does anyone have it??). I'm going to test the coil tomorrow. My question is, does anyone know how to check the igniter with a voltmeter? You know, how much voltage should be at each terminal?

Thanks.

there was an integra that had to be repo from denver to OR. when they got it here it was dead. we bought it cheap :naughty: it had fuel and power but no spark. had a feeling it was coil or ignitor. i had the same question as you so i called a friend. he says pull a spark plug out, ground it, have someone crank tha car and watch for spark. i'm thinking :uhoh: so i check with my friend who has performance shop and he tell me the same thing.

we try this little experiment and there is no spark. take apart the dizzy and find 1 of the ignitor wires is discolored. we ran home and grabbed a good dizzy to rob for parts...drove the integra home :biggrin:

there was an integra that had to be repo from denver to OR. when they got it here it was dead. we bought it cheap :naughty: it had fuel and power but no spark. had a feeling it was coil or ignitor. i had the same question as you so i called a friend. he says pull a spark plug out, ground it, have someone crank tha car and watch for spark. i'm thinking :uhoh: so i check with my friend who has performance shop and he tell me the same thing.

we try this little experiment and there is no spark. take apart the dizzy and find 1 of the ignitor wires is discolored. we ran home and grabbed a good dizzy to rob for parts...drove the integra home :biggrin:

Cool, thanks for the reply. Yeah, we tried the same trick and no spark. All the internal dizzy wires looked ok though...

I don't have a spare dizzy at my disposal but I will try testing/replacing the coil and the igniter (again :( ). I will post what I find out.

Thanks again!

BTW, I gotta get some great deals like you!! :sunglasse

if you did the test and go no spark and the ignitor was already replaced, then my next guess would be the coil.

spare parts and cheap cars come from the old saying "it's not what you know, it's WHO." we bought an 89 sedan off the car lot for $300 two summers ago. it had a HUGE hole in the block, but for $300 who cares. before we left the lot i gave the salesman my name & number and told him to call if he ever got any other cars. he's called another 2 or 3 times since then. after you buy, fix, and resell a couple of times you will start to collect spare parts to help buy, fix, and resell cars in the future.

i hear people say "i wish i could find stuff like you do" all the time....you can. i'm in some tiny ass town. imagine what can be found in big cities!

Have you checked your timing belt - I broke mine last month and originally though it was the distro cause I wasn't getting any spark. Just an idea.

Have you checked your timing belt - I broke mine last month and originally though it was the distro cause I wasn't getting any spark. Just an idea.


Thanks for the reply. The belt is brand new (as of last year). I still haven't had a chance to check stuff yet, damn busy life!!

if you did the test and go no spark and the ignitor was already replaced, then my next guess would be the coil.

spare parts and cheap cars come from the old saying "it's not what you know, it's WHO." we bought an 89 sedan off the car lot for $300 two summers ago. it had a HUGE hole in the block, but for $300 who cares. before we left the lot i gave the salesman my name & number and told him to call if he ever got any other cars. he's called another 2 or 3 times since then. after you buy, fix, and resell a couple of times you will start to collect spare parts to help buy, fix, and resell cars in the future.

i hear people say "i wish i could find stuff like you do" all the time....you can. i'm in some tiny ass town. imagine what can be found in big cities!

I agree with you, if you get the word out that you're looking for this stuff it comes to you, I gotta start networking.

BTW, I live in a tiny ass town too (3600 people and 4 stop lights (and the fourth one is new))!!

BTW, I live in a tiny ass town too (3600 people and 4 stop lights (and the fourth one is new))!!

HOLY COW! that is a tiny ass town! is ure hope you have other towns near by :biggrin:

HOLY COW! that is a tiny ass town! is ure hope you have other towns near by :biggrin:


I'm in Central NY, there's plenty of stuff near by, but you have to drive everywhere (sometimes that's good and bad at the same time). :smile:

I'm in Central NY, there's plenty of stuff near by, but you have to drive everywhere (sometimes that's good and bad at the same time). :smile:

i'm kinda the opposite. maybe 30,000 people here but, it's 80mi to the next big town. shoot, it's 20-30 mi to the next small town :icon16:

it's still snowing :uhoh: