'88 Celica Won't Start

[neevosh]

I have a an '88 Celica with a 3S-FE and it's not getting any spark. I searched the forum but am still unsure on what to do. I was driving the car and it died all of a sudden. Now it doesn't want to start. Car has new plugs, distributor cap and wires, and a new coil. Here's what I've checked so far.

Pulled a plug wire and there's no spark.

I've checked the coil and the resistance seems to be within spec. Checked the voltage and it's the same as the battery.

Checked the pick up coil resistance and it's out of spec. Factory says between 140-180 ohms and I'm getting 230. Doesn't seem that far off to cause no spark.

Checked the ignitor plug and it's getting a signal.

Pulled off the distributor and coil. Coil doesn't seem to have any cracks. Distributor has a little bit of oil in it, I think.

I'm stuck out here in Hawaii and have no way of getting around the island. I don't have much money to fix the car so I don't want to just buy parts without being sure that is the problem. There aren't too many junkyards and they don't keep older cars. Are there any other tests that I can do to see what the problem is? I'm not very familiar with distributors or ignition problems. Just trying to learn as much as I can.

[oldman1958]

Have you checked your timing belt? this will cause a no fire condition because the cams are not turning.

[19Celi87]

The pick up is like a boost if I understand what I think I know. And yes 230 in resistance is way, way out of speck. Ignition to the combustion engine is what it is all about, especially in EFI CCS systems.

[maxpower_hd]

Since the pick up is clearly out of spec, I would replace it with new or swap it with a known good one.

Have you checked the timing belt yet? It is a simple and free check. Simply take off the distributor cap and turn the key to see if the rotor turns. If the belt is broken it will not turn at all. Also, a tell tale sign of a broken belt is unusaullay easy cranking. Does it turn over much more easily than usual?

If those things check out ok then you're back to the pick up.

Good luck.

[neevosh]

Thanks for the replies. I replaced the distributor with one from www.rockauto.com. It was a reman and came with a new coil. Put the car back together and it started right up. But now my alternator took a crap on me. Argh, more money into the car.

[maxpower_hd]

Glad to see you are back up and running.