3sfe no spark - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

birddog1148 · 09-17-2005, 04:17 PM

I race a 90 camery at a local dirt track and now the car has no spark. I have checked everything a Haynes manual said to check and replaced the primary coil and the ignitor, still no spark! Where should i look next?

Mike Gerber · 09-18-2005, 10:32 AM

I would pull the rotor off the shaft of the distributor and check it for hairline cracks, especially underneath the rotor where it goes on the shaft of the distributor. I have seen a few of these with cracks there that short themselves out to that shaft. I would also check the distributor cap itself for hairline cracks while it is off, if you haven't previously done this.

Good luck.

Mike

foompla · 09-18-2005, 01:48 PM

do you have a check engine light?

birddog1148 · 09-19-2005, 08:12 AM

I dont have a check engine light, The car is totaly striped, aluminum dash with gages mounted in it. I thought I could identify the wires coming out of the ECU that went to the engine light but when I hooked a bulb up to it I get nothing. I hooked into the wire and ran the other side to a positive or hot wire.

JetspeedCamry · 09-19-2005, 10:26 AM

Check the ECU connections, plugs going to the ignitor/coil and distributor, and check the distributor's rotor button.

Do you have any pictures of this Camry?? Sounds cool.

foompla · 09-19-2005, 11:48 AM

check your email (shrink2u@hotmail.com) for ecu diagrams and engine light diagrams

in exchange for some pics

ecm is fried or its not getting power

Kep · 09-19-2005, 01:14 PM

Have you verified that your timing belt is OK? Take the distributor cap off and turn the engine over. If the rotor doesn't move your timing belt has broken.

Kep

birddog1148 · 09-20-2005, 11:02 AM

thanks for all the advice so far guys, everything I have checked has checked out ok. Rotor and cap are good, timing belt is good, dist gets power and I had a multimeter on everything the book said to check, even the air gap is within specs. There is power going to the ECU. I have a Venom Module on the car but the red light dont come on when I step on the gas like it should and it works off the throttle position sensor. One strange thing about the car is that the fan comes on as soon as the ignition is turned on, even tho the motor is cold. I will try to get some pics on here or send them to whoever wants them, both when the car was fresh and after a yr and a half of racing. Been doin some rubbin, lol. next season the car gets a 3sge motor an manual trans, thanks again.
Birddog

88 LE · 09-21-2005, 02:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by birddog1148

I have a Venom Module on the car but the red light dont come on when I step on the gas like it should and it works off the throttle position sensor.

Quote:

One strange thing about the car is that the fan comes on as soon as the ignition is turned on, even tho the motor is cold.

Check the relays for the fans. They stick closed sometimes.

Theres 3 of them and their located in the fuse box behind the battery.

a/c fan relay no. 3

a/c fan relay no. 2

rdi fan relay no. 1

JetspeedCamry · 09-21-2005, 04:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 88 LE

Check the relays for the fans. They stick closed sometimes.

Theres 3 of them and their located in the fuse box behind the battery.

a/c fan relay no. 3

a/c fan relay no. 2

rdi fan relay no. 1

I had this problem. To test it, remove the Fan relay, tap it on the car, then put it back in. If it's sticking it should work now. Otherwise, it could be totally stuffed, in which case, grab another new one, or 2nd hand one from a wreck and pop iti in.

birddog1148 · 09-21-2005, 05:06 AM

Ok I will try pulling those relays, and if that dont work for the fan I will just run a switch, fuel pump already runs that way.

88 LE · 09-21-2005, 05:14 AM

If your careful, you can try removing the plastic cover from the relay and cleaning the contacts.

What happens is that the contacts will stick together from arcing. A relay has a coil inside of it and when the coil is engergized theres 2 contacts that connect together.

After you get the plastic cover off take a little piece of fine sandpaper and slide it between the contacts. Squeeze the contacts together so that it sandwiches the sandpaper. Pull the sandpaper back and forth so that it cleans the contact.

Repeat the above for the other contact. Flip the sandpaper around.

Don't go crazy with the sandpaper, the contacts are copper. The idea is just to clean them up.

birddog1148 · 01-09-2006, 09:12 AM

thanks for all the advice, ended up the ECU was bad, running now