Help! ignition coil!

ok, I got a 1995 Eagle Talon esi from a friend who was deploying to iraq, when it was given to me it didn't run but I quickly ruled the problem to be the ignition coil, so I ordered a new one. I just got the new part today and started to put it on when I realized the wiring harnes connection port (for lack of a better term) didn't match! I figured the company sent me the wrong part but before I go making aqusations (i don't know how to speel that lol) I wanted to make sure my wiring harness wasn't different from stock. the connection to the ignition coil I took off has 3 rounded prongs. the new part has three rectangular prongs.

I tried to force them to fit, (which was probably a bad idea to begin with) but it didn't work.

can someone with the same vehicle (or similar enough to have the same stock part) check their ignition coil plug to see what it looks like. thanx.

They made two different ones for our cars, the round ones and the flat ones. They should have sent you a new harness for the new coil. You'll have to cut off the existing harness and splice in the new one.

How do you know the old one is bad? Did you test it?

yah, i tested it first by holding the end of a spark plug to a grounding wire while it was still connected to the ignition coil... no spark. then i used a multimeter to see if anything was coming from the ignition coil itsself... notta. but when i tested the wire going into the ignition coil i got 11-14 amps, or ohms, or watts, or whetever it is coming from the middle prong.

and no they didn't send me the other wiring harness, is it safe to geddo rig it? as in cut the wires at the connection plug and sauder them in order directly onto the ignition coils prongs? do you know if the order of the wires is the same for both connection types?

I would not advise in doing that. Bring/send it back and see if they can get you the right one.

I agree with Thompson. If you spliced them the way you described they would be exposed to the elements, and would probably not hold up. Also that would probably cause more problems then worth it.

better to send it back and get the right one.

I understand. the problem is I live in Germany, I can't find the part anywhere in the country, it took a week and a half for this part to get here with express shipping, I would like to get it up and running before i leave for sergeants school in two weeks. so I really think i might just go ahead and do it. ...now don't get me wrong, i'm not just going to splice it and stick'em together. I'll probably have one of the armament (appache electricians and armamament specialists) guys help me out with it, and make sure the wires are properly secured and insulated.

I still don't think it's a good idea, what happens if that's not the problem and you need to remove the coil? Then you'll have to either un-solder them or cut the wires. If worse comes to worse, at least make your own harness for quick removal/installation. You should at least be able to find some square pronged universal connectors and make your own harness.

I understand. the problem is I live in Germany, I can't find the part anywhere in the country, it took a week and a half for this part to get here with express shipping, I would like to get it up and running before i leave for sergeants school in two weeks. so I really think i might just go ahead and do it. ...now don't get me wrong, i'm not just going to splice it and stick'em together. I'll probably have one of the armament (appache electricians and armamament specialists) guys help me out with it, and make sure the wires are properly secured and insulated.

I told you I used to work on helicopters right? Well I was an avionics guy IE electrician. It's not a good idea. But the decision is yours.

I think that you could probably get it wired up pretty good. But I also think it will give you problems in the future. If you are dead set on it, see if they can steal some of that good aircraft wiring from the shop. That crap is alot better made than most car wiring and is actually made to be spliced.

noted. i'll post the results when i'm done.

ok, i got my buddy to jurry rig it for me, and he did a hell of a job (most professional geddo riging i've ever seen.) I cut the plug that goes into the ignition coil off about 3 inches from the plug. he then cut the rest of the plug off from the three inch wires, dipped the wires in something (?) and soldered those wires to their corresponding prongs. then he slipped a small thin rubber tube over the middle wire and prong and heated it up with a lighter to shrink wrap it around the wire. he did the same thing with a bigger tube around all three wires all the way up to the prongs, then he used blue clamps to connect the wires that were now attached to the ignition coil to the wires in the car. After the wires were connected we "syran-wrapped" the connection point with the rubber too.

http://a226.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/110/m_ec78ca3f76dd872a3c1c1b1019eb3bd9.jpghttp://a637.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/114/m_90b35dc789aa21d22219d1aa2bec7ffc.jpghttp://a955.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/49/m_d7718e9079d2b7ff6f2a207e988aef4a.jpg (http://a226.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/110/m_ec78ca3f76dd872a3c1c1b1019eb3bd9.jpg)

(http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.editAlbumPhoto&albumID=1016139&imageID=10092812&MyToken=6deb9e01-18e3-48c5-880f-0ddddeadfa65)

ok, the ignition coil does the exact same thing as the last one did, (meaning i did unnecesary jurry rigging) so it must be something else... any thoughts?

the wire to the ignition coil is getting electricity, when the spark plugs, spark (very rare occasion), it's blue, so the spark's good. the darn thing just won't keep sparking!

I tried to get new spark plugs and wires today but none of the shops around carry them (i'm in Germany) so I'll have to order them, but I think the ones that are on there are good.

oh i did hear a weird roar like bubly sound coming from the rear of the car to the front, so then i figured maybe the fuel pump wasn't pumping enough gas and the ground i was checking the spark with wasn't good enough or something so i sprayed some starter fluid in and it still didn't ignite (atleast not enough), so i really think it's just not getting enough sparks.

The actual car machanic on post said that the cam gears might need to be re-timed. I understand why that might keep the engine from running, but i don't see how that would effect the spark. is he just an idiot?

The timing gears wouldn't effect spark strength, just the timing of the spark. Does is spark constantly or is it a sort of intermittent deal where it will spark for awhile here and then quit and then spark again? I'm confused by your second to last post. Before you said that they sparked, but two were weaker, and now you say that they hardly ever spark.

ok, put it this way... say you turned the key and held it for 3 minutes. in that 3 minutes 1 of the plugs would spark for a quick second, 5 different times.

(I only checked 1 plug at a time, thats why i put "1 of the plugs", I'm sure the others are sparking around the same amount of times.)

Then you either have an ignition switch problem or a crank sensor problem. Check and make sure the connection with the crank sensor is good, also check for any cracked/split wires or anything of that nature. And you cranked the car for 3 minutes constantly? You are drastically reducing the life of your starter. For every 15 seconds of starting the car, you're supposed to let the starter cool for 30-45 seconds.

no, i didn't crank it for 3 minutes, lol. that was just a scenario.

I talked to one of the guys I used to work with at AMP, he sais the only other thing he could think of, other than what you just said, is that maybe there is to much resistance in the engines ground.
Other than the engine mounts there should be a grounding strap somewhere right? I can't seem to find it, little help?

no, i didn't crank it for 3 minutes, lol. that was just a scenario.

I talked to one of the guys I used to work with at AMP, he sais the only other thing he could think of, other than what you just said, is that maybe there is to much resistance in the engines ground.
Other than the engine mounts there should be a grounding strap somewhere right? I can't seem to find it, little help?

Yes the black cable coming off your battery is the main power ground.

Yes the black cable coming off your battery is the main power ground.

There are two cables that come from the neg. battery pole. One goes to the chassis (strut tower I believe), and IIRC, the other one goes down to one of the main bolts that holds the tranny and engine together, I believe it's on the top, front bolt, right under the EGR valve.

There's also a little "ground strap" on the intake manifold that goes straight back to the firewall. It's the silver thing that looks like it's labeled #38.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=23593&stc=1&d=1075583994

There are two cables that come from the neg. battery pole. One goes to the chassis (strut tower I believe), and IIRC, the other one goes down to one of the main bolts that holds the tranny and engine together, I believe it's on the top, front bolt, right under the EGR valve.

There's also a little "ground strap" on the intake manifold that goes straight back to the firewall. It's the silver thing that looks like it's labeled #38.


Yep. But the battery cable is still the main power ground. That grounding strap is just a chassis ground.

If we want to get technical there are grounds all over the car. But the battery cable(s) are the main grounds. I would imagine there are two for redundancy in the system.

Yep. But the battery cable is still the main power ground. That grounding strap is just a chassis ground.

If we want to get technical there are grounds all over the car. But the battery cable(s) are the main grounds. I would imagine there are two for redundancy in the system.

I wasn't disagreeing, I was letting him know that there were two of them so he didn't get mixed up. It's alright though, I accept your apology. :D

I like technical.

I wasn't disagreeing, I was letting him know that there were two of them so he didn't get mixed up. It's alright though, I accept your apology. :D

I like technical.


Haha I know. ;) I was just elborating on your elboration!