Hey Folks,

I have an 87 Ranger 2.9 liter 5speed trans 4x4. Went to start truck & just got cranking. I turned the key to on & tested the volts to the coil. I came up with 12 volts going into the coil but no spark commin out of the coil. Also pulled coil wire off the distributor & off a plug & nothing. Is it the coil or something else?? Any help would be great!

Matt

 

Folks,

One more thing!I just replaced the coil & TFI less then a year ago. Today I replace the distributor cap & rotor. Also put a new TFI in but still no spark! What else is there? Could it be the coil? I don't have an ohms tester so is there another way to test the coil?

Matt

 

Both terminals get 12v+, one goes to ground telling it to fire. Try wiggling the harness on the dist.

 

You can temporarily hook the + of the coil directly to the battery, and have a loose wire hooked to the negative of the coil that will reach the negative of the battery. Plug the high voltage plug wire in the middle of the coil, and hold it very close to something metal on the truck body or engine block. While doing that, touch the loose wire to the negative of the battery, and then take it off. Everytime you touch the negative wire of the coil to the neg of the battery and then take it off, you should get a strong blue spark from the high tension wire you are holding close to the metal.

 

Ok,

I did the test & it worked,I had spark commin out of the coil wire after I lifted the - off the battery. So this means the coil is working fine? What is next? I get no spark commin out of the coil when the motor is cranking.I tested that by pulling the coil wire off both end while the motor was cranking. I also pulled #1 plug off while cranking & nothing. I'm at a loss for words.

Matt

 

Sounds like wire from the coil to the dist. Said see ya.
Do you have another one laying around to try?
How old are your ign.wires?

 

Ok,

Ok just bought a new set. I'll let you know how it goes.

Matt

 

well new wires are in & no luck just CRANKING . I ran a test maybe a valid one maybe not. I took the coil wire off the side that goes to the distributor. I hooked my volt meter to it with the key on I had 4 volts coming out of it. I then turn the key to start & I thought the volts would go off the charts! Just the opposite the volts went down to 2 volts while cranking. I did do the test from before to check the coil & got spark.I was't the fourth of july but I got spark.Could the coil be on its way out or is there somthing else to try?? Let's recap: All new TFI module wires cap rotor plugs! HELP ME PLEASE!! Ok I am done sorry had a moment of insanity.Any help would be great.

Matt

 

Take the dist cap off, and make sure the little wheel is turning inside the dist when someone cranks the engine.

You can also try replacing the pickup module inside the dist that picks up the little wheel.

 

ok,

What about the lack of volts comming out of the coil when cranking on my last test??


Matt

 

The coil wire you took off is the negative side of the coil. This system works exactly like your little test at the battery.

You have 12 volts on the coil + with the key in start and run. The TFI module grounds and then ungrounds the negative of the coil to make the coil spark.

When you put your meter on there, you should have seen the voltage go up and down when you cranked the engine. If the voltage went up and down, that would be the same as you touching the - wire to the battery terminal. From your readings it looks like the voltage is staying down. That could be the negative wire going to the dist is shorted to ground, or the TFI module is bad(it's new) or there is nothing telling the TFI module to turn on and off(the pickup module inside the dist).

 

Thank You,

Is there a way to test the pick up module?

Matt

 

Ok,

Tested the little wheel inside distributor. Its turning. So you think i should change the pick up Module?

Matt

 

ok,

This is killing me! I bought the pick up module for the inside of the distributor. I have the dist out & can't figure out how it goes in It looks like the top of it has to come off. Then it looks like the bottom of the dist has three clips on it to hold it together. This all started with a bad bearing in the trans!! If anyone can help it would be great.

Matt

 

Here's some info with some pictures.

http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBr...3d800f87f8.jsp