No Spark...any ideas?

[Silenceo0o0]

1988 Festiva. Just finished replacing the motor in it with a lower mileage b3. Turns over good, has good compression, has fuel to the carb, but has no spark. At first, I suspected the fusible links so I replaced those with straight wire. Nope not that. I have power to the coil when the key is on and the coil is grounded well. I thought maybe the battery didnt have enough umph so I tried hooking up a running car to it as well, still no spark. I have no spark at the coil!!! I can stick a test light down into the socket and turn the car over and it never lights up. All my grounds seem to be tight and I can't find any unplugged wires that should be plugged up. I need help, someone please help me get my festiva back on the road.

[slomoe]

have you checked the timing belt?

[Silenceo0o0]

Put on a new timing belt, its good. But, the distributor is loose right now because I didnt mark where it was when I took it off...I need to get it running to use my timing light and set the distributor in the right place. I don't think that the distributor being loose would cause the coil not to spark though, so any more ideas? I will try anything!!!

[mattswabb]

That might be your problem - you didn't mark the distributor. You have a 50/50 chance of installing it correctly into the block and a 1/3 chance of the rotor being in the right spot. Then there's the adjustment range.

[Silenceo0o0]

I followed the haynes manual and have the distributor in the block correctly, Also I have the rotor pointing at the number one wire with the #1 cylinder at tdc, so that should be fine as well. Even with the distributor out of adjustment or the rotor pointing the wrong way it would still spark.

Alright so the coil has power and sends that power to the distributor, when the distributor spins, it completes a circuit which grounds it and the coil and that is what causes the coil to fire. Is that right, or do I have it backwards. Either way, if the distributor is completing a circuit and hence making the coil fire, I need to check and see if I am getting power to the distributor and then see if it is grounding and completing the circuit. I am starting to think that something electrical in the distributor is wrong (some kind of sensor or regulator or something) and is not allowing the distributor to complete the circuit and thus let the coil spark. Am I totally crazy or on the right track? Thanks!

[Silenceo0o0]

Car fixed. It was the ignition module inside the distributor. $140 later, the festiva is on the road again. Although they weren't the problem, thank you two above for the suggestions. As for the rest of you, thanks for the help (sarcasm)

[warlocke]

glad to hear it

[Silenceo0o0]

Hey warlocke, I see you had a gremlin. Why in the world would you get rid of that thing? They are soo fun!

[warlocke]

had to, one reason was the mpg, only got 7 lol, other is needed money. wish i didnt tho i miss that thing, so much eaiser to replace stuff on it. i replaced the alt in 30 min on that thing.

[WmWatt]

Just for the record...the distributor rotor has to point to the #1 spark plug wire at TDC *on the compression stroke*.

[miami man]

i thought the module was mounted next to the coil not inside the distributer.

[miami man]

my family had a gremlin in 1977 and a friend had the gremlin x

[Pu241]

i thought the module was mounted next to the coil not inside the distributer.

He's got a carbed unit and they were inside the disto and expensive!
All the EFI units were exteral to the distro and next to the coil as you said.
Someone correct me if I'm mistaken.

[WmWatt]

Did you bed the ICM in dielecric heat transfer grease?
I had mine replaced at a service station but it burned out after a few thousand kilometers and had to be replaced again under warranty.
They had put it on dry. I did some research and posted the information at www.ncf.ca/~ag384/Cars/htm .

PS There is only one manufacturer of the Festiva ICM and it comes with a 5 year, 50,000 km replacement warranty so hang onto the receipt. The warranty is on the paper inside the box.

[festerzilla]

years ago I had a no spark that was fixed by a garage, they replaced the distributor, a couple weeks later it died again and I did the tests in Haynes that pointed to the ignition module, a big hassle and a few weeks later they replaced the distributor again. WmWatt, where were you able to get the carburated ICM separated from the distributor? (Hoping this is an internet thing, now that I noticed you're a canadian) What brand was it? Thanks