1986 Accord DX carburator no spark

[genericuser]

Hi,

I have been searching for answers to my problem for a few hours now and I have not found anything that will help. I am very excited to find this site, since it deals specifically with the 1986-1989 Accord...

I have a 1988 Accord DX. No fuel injection. It turns over all day long, but will not fire. No spark. Here are things that have been replaced:

New distributor.
New rotor/cap
New coil.
New radio condensor.
I have tested the ignitor per the Haynes manul and it passes.
I have tested the coil per the Haynes manual and it passes.

I have seen all sorts of post about the "main relay" but they do not apply in this situation because the "main relay" only exists in FI models of the vehicle.

What else controls the creation of spark in this year? I have 12v at the black/yellow wire from the battery when the ignition is in the on position. When the ignition is on, there is 12v at the leads going to the ignitor on the distributor (which is the toyo-denso model, not the hitachi model).

I have tried pulling the coil wire and testing for spark there while someone else cranks the engine. Nothing.

The coil connections are as follows: High voltage to the distributor. blue and black yellow to the ignitor on the distributor. blue to ??? (Haynes manual says it goes to the tach and the fuel pump cutoff relay). Black/yellow from the ignition switch (this is the one that is at 12v when the ignition is in the on position).

If anyone has any ideas I would love to hear them.

I tried searching the forums and either this has never been discussed, or I am not getting the right search terms into my query.

Thanks for your time.

[A20A1]

Make sure the ground wires are connected to the thermostat housing and the radiator support.

[lostforawhile]

also look at the wire going to the distributor where it attaches to the distributor with a screw thats the ground for the ignitor. have you checked all the wires from the coil to the distributor for continuity? last of all you could have a bad ignitor could be something electronic in it fried. i'm sure it's something electrical.

[genericuser]

Ok, thanks for the ideas.

There is a ground wire from the camshaft cover to the radiator cross member. That wire is good. There is a ground wire connected to the thermostat housing that goes into a cable bundle. On both of these wires there is continuity to the negative battery terminal.

The wire attached to the case of the ignitor goes to the ground side of the radio condensor. There will be no direct path to ground through the capacitor since a capacitor looks like an open circuit to DC voltage. However, I tested continuity from that screw head on the distributor to the battery ground terminal and it it continuous.

I pulled the ignitor and tested it according to the haynes manual (jump the input posts and verify there is a diode between the other two posts. It passed.

I put the ignition to the on position and there is a full 12v at both of the wires that come from the coil. There is also 12v at the coil itself at the blak/yellow wire on the ignition side of the coil.

It makes no sense to me. This ignition system seems very simplistic. This is how I am imagining it working:

When the rotor spins (which I have verified it does), the magnet spins inside the dizzy which is picked up by the pickup coil, transmitted to the ignitor and that changes the voltages on the wires going to the coil. When the pulse hits the coil the high tension voltage rises, and that goes to the dizzy to go the spark plugs.

It seems I have everything I need, but there is no high voltage being generated.

I just checked the resistances of the coil and they meet the specs.

Does anyone know of a manner to test the pickup coil inside the dizzy?

This problem is very frustrating...

Anything else I can check?

[biloyp]

I was just looking at the wiring diagram and there is a capacitor that is conected between the IG1 connection in Ignition switch and A terminal on coil (Black/Yellow? wire) and ground. This mat be a filter cap for the raido not sure) but if it is shorted which is probably not the case then you won't have the 12v you mentioned. If it were openned you probably wouldnt ever notice it. Hard to help on line but I would concentrate on not having any spark from the coil to the distributor. Sorry not much help. Maybe you got a bad or incorrect coil from the auto parts store??????

[LaurenAlexS]

One other problem with older electronic ignitions is 'magnet fade'.

The magnetic reluctor pickup has a small magnet that couples into the rotating interruptor on the distributor shaft. Once the magnetic field begins to fade, the output signal of the pickup drops to the point where the ignitor module refuses to recongnize the signal. I've seen this happen on many '80s motorcycles.

Most every 'permanent' magnet fades over time due to effects of localized magnetic materials (iron, tin, steel, etc.), high temperatures and the Earth's magnetic field.

The problem may be in the pickup assembly -- although the coil is OK. Try a visit to the junkyard and get another one.

[3G Jester]

he just said he got a new coil and cap and rotor and all that crap so i dont see what he should be having those problems. its verious misterious.

hows your fuel pump and filter? maybe its not sparking cause theres nothign to ignite?

[russiankid]

i agree with 3g jester, check the fuel pump/filter, i have a 89 accord lx, also has a carb, if i dont pump the gas 2 times before i start it when its cold i can try and start it all day, try pumpin the gas