Car won't start!!!! - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

ericlee303 · 09-30-2002, 09:11 AM

Yesterday, I finally found the key to my DA Integra, so I decided to start it up, just to make sure it was still working (it was about a month or two ago). I turn it over and, no go. Stupid thing just keeps on turning.

OK so it's time to check for spark and fuel. I'm pretty sure fuel is present, as the spark plugs are wet when pulled. A friend told me to remove the spark plug / wire and look at the electrode while turning the engine over. No spark. So is it the plugs or the ignition? To figure that out, I pulled the old oscilloscope out of the closet and fired it up. I measured the electrode directly while turning it over and saw nothing. I believe you should see something in the order hundreds of volts if spark was present. There was some noise, but very low voltage.

I may have to dig a little deeper, maybe the coil is gone, or worse yet, the ECU??? Anybody ever had this problem? Anybody ever test a coil??

Thanks! I know this is not a 'Toyota' question, but I know you guys better than honda-tech or whatever.

Eric

88 LE · 09-30-2002, 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericlee303

A friend told me to remove the spark plug / wire and look at the electrode while turning the engine over. No spark.

Did you ground the sparkplugs? If not you won't get a spark.

Other things to check are the rotor, cap, coil, and wires.

ericlee303 · 09-30-2002, 10:52 AM

Thanks for the advice man.

When I tested for signal with the scope, I grounded it to the head ground stud. I didn't see any high voltage activity. I'll fool around with it some more this week and see what happens.

Nick · 09-30-2002, 11:55 AM

test the wires and the induction coils for continuity, just start at the plugs and work your way back testing for continuity

***REN69*** · 09-30-2002, 05:03 PM

WOW! nice garage u got there eric!!

anyways.. did you try taking the sparkplugs out and letting them dry off? they might have just been drenched in fuel and probably couldn't get a spark going.

ericlee303 · 10-01-2002, 10:29 AM

Man, I wish I had a real garage to put my stuff in. I live in an apartment and now they want to impose a max of 2 spaces per unit.

Thanks for the advice man!

Corbett · 10-04-2002, 12:06 PM

Have you checked the battery? It needs enough capacity to at least turn the starter motor and fire your plugs at the same time. A voltage check isn't enough because you need to test the battery under loaded conditions.

FYI, some places will perform battery checks for free so don't get ripped off at shops that charge $30 if you can get it for free. My local autostore (who performs free checks) hooks up a small hand-held device to the battery, has you start your engine and gets everything needed to know about the battery and alternator from the device. If the battery's weak, it'll tell you.