89 carb 4 speed NO spark

[adsprague83]

Hello I'm Adam and any help I could get would be much appreciated. I have a 1989 Ford Festiva L with a 4 speed manual tranny in it. Car suddenly died a week ago. Suspected fuel pump so I checked the carb to see if fuel was being delivered. No fuel was going to carb. While waiting for the fuel pump to arrive I tried to restart the car. Twice after waiting a day or more it started for no more than 2 seconds (that's a side note) fuel pump arrived and I replaced it. Fuel now is entering carb. Tried to restart and it would not. Suspected the ignition coil. The ignition coil resembles a big AA battery or an old school squeeze ketchup bottle. There is what looks very similar to a spark plug wire that runs from the top of the ignition coil to the the distributor. I unhooked the wire from the distributor and tested for spark from the distributor side groundining on the negative battery post at night and saw no spark when turning over motor. I went to autozone and they were able to give me a universal 12v ignition coil. The universal matches the one that was in there almost exactly, only difference is about 1/2 inch in height. I hooked up the new coil and tried to start. Still no start and no spark coming from the distributor end of the wire when I ground through negative post on battery. I removed the distributor cap and and examined a plastic price with metal tabs that pulls out from the center of the distributor cap and I can see no Visible problems and the distributor cap looks fine also with no obvious cracks or holes. This is were I'm at. I'm frustrated and confused. The week before it broke down I took a 200 mile round trip through the mountains and Steve (Steve the Festiva) ran like a top. I averaged 38.8 miles per gallon and not a sputter hiccup or any issues. Opinions? Suggestions? Thanks for taking the time to try and help me out. Cheers,
Adam Sprague
458.212.1522
Southern Oregon

[FestYboy]

Easiest thing to do: grab a can of NON-CHLORINATED brake clean, remove the dizzy cap, rotor and dust cap, and hose down the inside. If there is contaminate blocking the pickup, this should flush it out. This is assuming that's there is power to the coil and that the harness is intact.

[adsprague83]

There is power to the coil, just no spark coming from the distributor end of the wire connecting the coil to the distributor What do you mean of the harness being intact? I'm on the west coast so it's still dark out. Working on the street so I'll be back at it in a few hours and run some more test. Thanks for the input and I'll be communicating and posting results

[WmWatt]

If you have a volt/ohm meter you can check the resistance in the high voltage wire going from the coil to the distributor to make sure the conductor is not broken. Look up the standard procedure on the Internet. Also pull back the rubber caps on each and inspect ends for deposits. I crimp the ends a bit for a tighter connection. Before pulling back the rubber cups spray with WD-40 or water to help them slide up the insulated wire. Hope that works.

PS If the high voltage wire is shot they are cheap to pull off a car at an auto wrecker's.

PPS The ignition control module inside the distributor is involved in creating the high voltage spike which fires the spark plugs but I don't know just how that works. Something about cutting the current to the coil so there is a jump in voltage. Perhaps a bad module is preventing the surge in voltage. Someone here might know or you could look it up on the Internet to see if the problem could be in the module. Good luck.

[FestYboy]

The coil is nothing but a transformer taking low voltage high current to high voltage low current. It does this by 2 separate windings within the housing. The primary winding which has only a few coils, develops a charge field when power is passed through it. The circuit for the primary is controlled on the ground side by the ICM. When the ICM is commanded to open the circuit, the charge field needs to go somewhere, so it collapses onto the secondary winding which has many more coils upping the voltage, and then goes off to the distributor and spark plugs.

This is a basic description of its operation.

[adsprague83]

Hello and good day! So it's been a while but I'm checking back to let everyone know that after a bit of a headache the issue ended up being the distributor. Bought a new one and I put it in and it has fired right up ever since! Thanks for the help on here I really appreciate it!

[Timothy]

It's always nice to see a thread end with a happy ending. Glad to hear you are up and running again.

I suffered from a similar condition a couple of months ago and it drove me absolutely batty.

[greenmonkey]

Please help!! I have the exact problem. I have already replaced the distributor and coil. I have ohms tested the wires also. I checked the small harness from the coil to the distributor it all seams fine. I have 12v from the ignition to the + side of the coil when the key is on.
What else can I check or double check? I've been battling this for 3 weeks, THANKS


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[Timothy]

Try unplugging the vane air flow meter and see if it runs. For some reason if I unplugged it it would start and idle but not run. This helped for me. Also try replacing the 10v fuse in the fuse box. While some on the forum did not agree or understand how it would have helped, it is what got my car to fire up again. This got me on the road again. These issues suck. Other part might be the ignition control module, but that sucker is $85. I wish I would have done more diagnosing before buying random parts.

Also try doing a voltage drop test. There are lots of good YouTube videos on this subject. This is the best way to figure things out because when you test certain partd they need to be under electrical load. For instance the starter neeess to be actually cranking ect....

[greenmonkey]

Mine is an 89 carbureted model, I don't have the vane meter. Thanks I'll try some of these!


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[greenmonkey]

Does anyone know where I can find a wiring diagram of the ignition? Thanks!!


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[Timothy]

IMG_0100.jpg
Hope this helps.

[greenmonkey]

Is this a condenser? Is there anyway to test it? It runs from the positive terminal of the coil to the housing of the distributor.

Thanks for all the help!!!!


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[greenmonkey]

Another question, There is a blue and yellow wire that comes from the main harness and goes in to the distributor. It never seems to have power to it. That kinda makes me wonder if that's the problem. You would think at some point that would probably need 12v to make everything work. I'm curious what that wire comes from, it's not the coil.


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[FestYboy]

That is the condenser, it's much like a capacitor in how it's tested.