No spark at coil 1993 Mazda Protege

Tiny
TINKERDEUX
  • MEMBER
  • 1993 MAZDA PROTEGE
  • 4 CYL
  • 2WD
  • MANUAL
93 Mazda Protege has no spark to the distributor. Was running fine and while changing the alternator blew the 80 amp main. Shorted across the main contacts where it blew and the car started fine. Unplugged the wire going to the coil and the coil wire in order to loosen the fuse box to get to one of the bolts holding in the main 80 amp fuse, Replaced the fuse bolted it in remounted the fuse boxplugged in the coil wire and plugged in the harness to the coil. Car cranks over fine but won't start. No spark to the plugs, no spark to the distributor. Replaced the coil wire, no spark. I am getting 10.3 volts across the harness plug contacts, and 12 volts from positive side to ground. A resistance check on the coil primary show.99 ohm, the secondary side is 12.3 ohms. The tach doesn’t move when cranking the engine. The only lights that come on when the key is turned on are the oil light and brake light. What else can I check? I really need to fix this ASAP because my son just blew the engine on my wife's minivan, and other than my pickup this is the only other car we have for 3 of us to use.
Saturday, April 16th, 2011 AT 5:49 PM

6 Replies

Tiny
RASMATAZ
  • MECHANIC
  • 75,992 POSTS
Yep it sounds like you blew out your ignition amplifier which is locate on the drivers side strut tower.

Here is a guide that will show you how to use a volt meter

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-use-a-voltmeter

Here is the test (diagrams below)

NOTE: This test requires Mazda Special Service Tools (SST) or aftermarket equivalents.
Disconnect igniter connector.
Connect adapter (SST #49 N018 011) between igniter and wiring harness.
Attach 4-pin connector of igniter checker (SST #49 F018 002) to adapter harness.
Connect igniter checker power leads to battery.
Turn ignition switch "ON."
Disconnect high tension coil lead from distributor cap and hold 0.20 - 0.39 in (5 - 10 mm) from a ground.
Flip SW2 "ON" and "OFF" and verify that strong blue sparks are discharged from the high tension lead.
CAUTION: Do not hold SW2 "ON" for longer than one second.
Replace the igniter if it does not perform as specified.
VOLTAGE TEST

Igniter Voltage Test

With tools connected as described above, turn ignition "ON."
Connect voltmeter to terminal of black wire on adapter harness.
Flip SW2 "ON" and "OFF" and verify that voltmeter pointer fluctuates. Do not hold SW2 "ON" for longer than one second.

Please let us know what happens so it will help others.

Cheers, Ken
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Saturday, April 16th, 2011 AT 8:05 PM
Tiny
TINKERDEUX
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  • 4 POSTS
I don't have access to a Haynes or Chiltons for this car. Nobody had the book in stock. I will need to get a voltmeter, my uncle has one.
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Saturday, April 16th, 2011 AT 11:15 PM
Tiny
TINKERDEUX
  • MEMBER
  • 4 POSTS
I tested the igniter and it tests ok.
Now I need to determine if it has a crankshaft position sensor. The thing that really throws me is the fact that it was running fine after I installed the rebuilt alternator and had jumpered across the blown main fuse. All I did after that was to unplug the wires going to the coil, remove the nuts holding the fuse box in place and removed the 2 bolts holding in the blown fuse. Replaced the fuse bolted the fuse box back down, and plugged the wires back into the coil, and NO SPARK! Everything thing tests ok so far. Volatge good to coil, coil resistance good, igniter tests ok, rotor turns but no spark, so something is stopping the trigger from working. I removed the igniter from the car to test it. I'm wondering if somehow one of the wires to the igniter is grounding out which wouldn't let the igniter go open, causing the coil primary field to not collapse which would cause no spark. But that is just a theory. I had things like that happen when teaching electronics in the Army years ago. Everything looked good and voltages tested good because you had both the pos. Voltage and gnd. But when the line needed to be open it couldn't happen because the gnd was still there.

It looks like I'm not getting a signal from the distributor. Can you test the distributor with it removed from the car to see if you are getting a "pulse" signal out to the ignitor? If so what is the needed setup? If I hook up the possitive side of the battery to the white red wire and the negative side to the black green wire and the spin it by hand shouldn't I get a "pulse" on the white wire?

Well I pulled the distributor hooked it up to a battery and it seems to be working fine. Hooked it back up to the car and it still isn't sending a pulse. So back to thinking I have a ground somewhere on the return side, because with the ignite, the coil and distributor all unplugged I'm still seeing a ground in that wire that should now be open. Back to chasing ghosts & I guess stripping out the wire loom to see if I can find anything there, sinde it looks like the distributor, the igniter, and coil all are testing ok. Any new ideas? The local Mazda service manager didn't have a clue of what to do after I told him all I had done and the test results.
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Sunday, April 17th, 2011 AT 5:10 AM
Tiny
WENDELL123
  • MEMBER
  • 23 POSTS
It still sounds like the ignition module is still bad, sometimes that can test good but still not work in service. Can you get a used one and try it?
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Monday, June 6th, 2011 AT 3:43 AM
Tiny
TINKERDEUX
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  • 4 POSTS
That was it thanks for the advice, this forum is great. I will tell my friends about this site.
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Monday, June 6th, 2011 AT 8:22 AM
Tiny
WENDELL123
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Please use 2CarPros anytime, we are here to help. Tell a friend please.

Cheers.
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Wednesday, September 21st, 2011 AT 6:09 AM

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