No spark Somehow

[burnt_toast]

Hello all,
So I got my stock '92 Festiva back from my folks, and it was in need of some work. I swapped the water pump, timing belt, and alternator. Go to start the car and check for leaks, it wont start. Mind you it ran before I did the work; I drove it off the trailer and into the driveway.
After checking the timing about 6 times I pulled a spark plug to check for spark while cranking, and got nothing. The coil tested slightly out of spec on the resistance for the primary windings, so I replaced it with one from a Protoge in the boneyard, then a generic one (brand new) after that didn't work. I'm getting 12.9 volts from the wires going to the coil and ignition module. I even replaced the ignition module with one from the Protoge donor, but I'm still getting no spark. The battery cranks fine, and shows 13.2V across the posts.
What it the hell could cause me to lose spark by changing a freakin' timing belt, water pump, and alternator? I'm baffled. The only thing I can think of now if the ECU, but I haven't found much info on it. My assumption is that if 12V are going into the coil, and nothing is coming out, it should be the coil. Anyone more familiar with this system have any ideas?
Thanks.
-toast

[FestYboy]

clean the inside of your dizzy with brake clean, the IM can't do anything if it doesnt see a signal from the pickup in the dizzy.

the ECU does NOT control the spark, just the timing. also, make sure your rotor is on the right way (it can be in one of 3 positions).

[crazyrog17]

Make sure the distributor is rotating, it's sends the camshaft rotation signal to the ecu which controls the coil.

[milehighbear]

Yes check the distributor. i had same problem of no spark and replaced coil, module and still wouldn't start until I got new distributor, it started. Check plug on side of distributor and make sure a connector didn't get bent. Make sure its grounded good. Clean inside of distributor out as stated above. If still get no spark, change distributor. Mine is running great now since i changed distributor. I even have a spare now too. One thing you can do is take distributor apart and make sure everyting is tight. Its real easy. Just make sure when you pull it apart, when you take two screws out of front that holds front plate on, be very care of rubber gasket that goes around the plug. Hard to explain but you will see what i mean.

[georgeb]

Pull center wire out of dist and jam it some place that the spark can jump to ground. If you have spark there then it is the rotor, cap, plug wires or plugs that are faulty. If no spark it is coil, center wire, module, dist or ECM. Make sure cam and dist are spinning.

[burnt_toast]

Okay, sounds like disttributor is the first (next) place to look. I did pull the center wire from dist and ground; no spark. That's where I thought it must be coil. With it only slightly out of spec, I thought it might be it, but can't be with 2 different coils now and a different iggy module. Snowing today. Will have a gander at the distributor when the sun is out again, and let you all know. I did degrease THE HELL out of the engine (valve cover gasket leak for years), so maybe something ran in there. Did not touch it, but did thermostat replacement, and could have gotten water in there somehow.
-toast

[crazyrog17]

Yeah, especially if you used water to spray it off, it might have gotten inside the distributor and messed with the cps

[georgeb]

You didn't say in your original post that you sprayed the engine. It's relevant.

[burnt_toast]

It was contact cleaner. I only did it by hand with a rag. I did not degrease it with engine brite and hose it off, so it most definitely did not occur to me that it could get inside the distributor and persist for over a month.
I still havent been able to get out there and look at it either. This weekend isn't looking very good either.

[burnt_toast]

Well the distributor is turning. It looks on the up-and-up from a physical inspection.It had some slight corrosion build up on the rotor, which I cleaned off. The contacts on the cap looked good, but I cleaned them anyway. Still not spark. The wires for what I assume is the hall-effect pickup (3-wires that plug in at 12 o'clock) all looked good too. Might need to start looking for an ECU. Perhaps if it's not reading the signal coming from the distributor, it's not telling the iggy module to fire? I will bone up a little in the Haynes manual. Being a motorcycle of turbine engine mechanic for so long I must admit I don't deal with distributors a lot.
-toast

[Movin]

Note FestYboy above, The ECU is a innocent bystander..
You could plug a reman disty in the plug in, ground it and spin it with the key on.
You didn't install it so it is returnable if still no spark, do the same with a coil then buy the module and one of
those three should get you on your way!

From your post I assume you have checked for forgotten grounds and pinched wires,
or wires unplugged..

[burnt_toast]

Well I haven't pulled the wires apart out of their sheathing, but I've check the actual connectors, and the backside of the connectors where the wires are going into the connectors. At the boneyard I got a coil, iggy module, and whatever that third little part is (looks like some kind of resistor) for $22, so I've replaced all three of those culprits (though technically they are not known-good parts since they came from a boneyard). The dist and ECU are the only two parts (besides the wiring and the ignition switch itself) that I know of left to check. I have to sit down and read the manual though to get a better understanding of the system as a whole. It's very similar to fuel injected motorcycles from the late 90's, but it's not entirely the same.
My understanding of the ECU is it receives a signal from the distributor or cam postion sensor to turn spark on? Then controls the advance from there? I am really liking your idea of getting a reman distributor for testing though; that's more in my budget. Weather is looking good next couple days and the gas prices aren't, so it's time for me to get a move on! The Festy actually gets better mileage than my motorcycle, believe it or not.
Thanks,
-toast

[burnt_toast]

I started a new thread here:

http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/sh...736#post611736