can any one help me out???

[static ruin]

ok heres my problem i have a 1990 acura integra that turns over but does not start i had a problem where the fuse for the ecu would blow up ever time i put one in. i fixed it so that problem is gone and i put a new ecu in it and im still not getting spark... all the distributor is brand new and an ignitor i put in today. im thinking my main relay is fried could this be true???

[zagrot]

test the relay if you think it is faulty. remove it and power the internal coil with 12volts; use a multimeter to check for continuity on the swiched contacts. sometimes there is a diagram printed on the relay, but if there is not use the continuity meter to find the two pins that have continuity and a decent ammount of resistance; this will be the coil, but low resistance is a set of normaly closed contacts.

[static ruin]

Originally Posted by zagrot

test the relay if you think it is faulty. remove it and power the internal coil with 12volts; use a multimeter to check for continuity on the swiched contacts. sometimes there is a diagram printed on the relay, but if there is not use the continuity meter to find the two pins that have continuity and a decent ammount of resistance; this will be the coil, but low resistance is a set of normaly closed contacts.

does there have to be power to the coil to read continuity between the two pins?

[zagrot]

if the switched contacts are normaly open yes.
if the swiched contacts are normaly closed no.
sometimes there is a diagram of the relays internals on the outside of the case. i assume that you are asking about the swiched pins. you should not apply power to the coil pins when you check the resistance. also, now that i think about it you may want to check the voltage required to actuate the contacts. since the relay deals with the computer it may only need 5 volts to operate. if it requires anything other than 12 volts it will probably say so. it depends on what circuit the relay is on. if the relay is to provide power to the ecu (activated by the ing. switch) then it probably uses 12v. if the relay is activated by the ecu then it probably uses 5v.