Spark when testing but not cranking
Spark when testing but not cranking
when grounding/ungrounding the white wire I get spark from the ignition coil. if I crank the engine I get no spark from the ignition coil.
I have a tpi swapped in my 240sx, no vats, msd 6btm, msd street fire coil, jegs replacement distributor with Accel ignition control module. the car has been sitting for a year and luckily my battery was disconnected and the Odyssey battery is still good...no spark though
I followed the MSD diagnosis to test for spark by grounding the white wire and I get spark, then no spark when cranking...
I have had two ignition control module's fail. first the one in the jegs distributor, then the original from the gm distributor. I don't remember if I should get spark when testing with the white wire when the icm has gone bad.
I have a tpi swapped in my 240sx, no vats, msd 6btm, msd street fire coil, jegs replacement distributor with Accel ignition control module. the car has been sitting for a year and luckily my battery was disconnected and the Odyssey battery is still good...no spark though

I followed the MSD diagnosis to test for spark by grounding the white wire and I get spark, then no spark when cranking...
I have had two ignition control module's fail. first the one in the jegs distributor, then the original from the gm distributor. I don't remember if I should get spark when testing with the white wire when the icm has gone bad.
Last edited by 540sx; Mar 24, 2015 at 03:28 PM. Reason: new information I found made a statement inaccurate in my post
Re: Spark when testing but not cranking
icm tested good at autozone although I had to help the guy test the part he was not grounding it properly and tried telling me the part was bad. after I had him move the ground to the proper bolt hole it passed. pick up coil has .950 oms. everything was checking out. I very carefully put everything back nice and tight(connectors, bolts, etc.) fired right up. I am thinking that either the two prong connector from ignition to ICM was loose, the the pickup coil connector to icm, or the ground on the icm. I have the accel ICM and the bolt that grounds it has a bit of raise where the bolt goes through. compared to the metal surrounding the whole for the bolt to connect with for the ground. I have used two small washers stepped in size to make sure I am getting a proper connection there since that was a problem before. I think I had the washers in the wrong order so I was not getting a good connection.
works great now.
works great now.
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 2,093
Likes: 175
From: Milwaukee
Car: 92 Firebird, 77 Trans Am SE, 86 Z28
Engine: 5.7 HSR, T/A 6.6, empty
Transmission: T-5, TH350, T-5
Axle/Gears: 3.08 posi, 3.23 posi, 3.23
Thanks for sharing your experience, hopefully it'll help some one in the future. Glad it worked out for you.
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