Trying to diagnose a bad pickup coil on a 89 formula 350, have seen correct ohm specs to be 500-1500 and 800-1500 ohms, mine tested 780 ohms, but cranking ac volts were low, 0.798 ac volts. from what i could find should be closer to 3.000 volts ac, so would you guys agree the pickup coil is bad? Thanks for looking, and sorry if this is the wrong section.

 

And just to add, it has a crank but no start problem. Will start with starting fluid and run great after that. Fuel pressure is good. No SES codes. Dont think its vats since security light goes off like it should, and doesnt come on while running.

 

Sounds like a problem with the ignition coil if it will start with starting fluid. It's possible you have shorted windings, and aren't generating full ignition voltage. Do a spark check at one of the plugs while cranking and see what the spark looks like. A nice hot spark should be purplish-white, and easily arc from 1/4" away from a good ground. If the spark is weak, you will have to almost touch ground, and the spark will be yellow.

 

It has an Accel super coil, but have heard of people having trouble with accel stuff, I have a couple other coils I can try and see what happens. Thanks for the reply.

 

Tryed 2 known good coils and a brand new coil wire with no change.

 

Ohm your injectors. A couple bad injectors will cause a no start, but will keep running if started on starting fluid.

 

Thinking stuck or clogged injector maybe?

I would say intermittent spark module failure, but he should be computer controlled. My setup is large cap 4-pin HEI, and I've had multiple spark module failures. In his case, I don't know if there is another component besides the computer that does the same job as the module.

I still lean towards weak spark, but need more info to diagnose better.

 

Injectors ohm check fine. its a small cap external coil hei. MAF car. Like I said no SES lights, has fuel and spark. will start and run perfect after you get it running with starting fluid, put a noid light on every injector and checked fine. Plug wires ohm fine. fuel pressure is fine. Tryed to see if it would start with maf unplugged and still wont.