no spark problem

[xrjoe]

1990 323 has ignition problem, im looking/studing a friends manual showing coil test, we tried another recommended igniter, now im looking at the distributor, we ordered oreillys replacement and it was different, 3rd one we ordered looked different, had same connectors and was clocked correctly for mounting but still no spark, the schematic shows 4 wires on the distributor, and ours has 3, I found a related 3 wire dist, in '91 4x4, the first oreillys dist, had a hall type stator, the next one that was close had optical pickup, ours is a different looking optical, being the book shows a special ignition tester is there another way to diagnose this ignition, or should I be looking for another distributor? thanks for any help.

[xrjoe]

wow, no response from anyone, no techies looming on this site? without any guidance, and no "mazda" ignition checking tool, im left only to hit a pick a part to replace all ignition components.

[Brody]

Just remember the ecu is looking for a particular signal, if it doesn't see it you won't get fire. That being said I don't think you'll get spark until you find the right replacement disty. Just my two cents. What engine does it have? I'm not familiar with the later models.

[xrjoe]

1.6 and a lot of part changes in production within a couple years, im agreeing with you on the distributor, just don't know anything with compatibility

[azgtx]

First I would not have bought a new disty. Hit the wreckers first. Most all of the BG 323's (90-94) we see here are the 1.8L so you might try looking at a BF (86-89) disty as they were all 1.6L motors. How did the problem start? just all of a sudden or was it intermittent? It could be as simple as a broken engine ground wire on the head next to the disty....that will shut it down right away.

[xrjoe]

when he broke down, he got under the hood wiggling wires and in disturbing the loom near the mass air flow sensor, got it running, he got home, and it hasent run since. I continuity checked dist-igniter-ecu, grounds look good, are there any located away from dist? I took the new dist back, ill do a pap run Monday and see if I can come up with something similar, thanks for the thoughts.

[Brody]

Also look at the maf connections. i know the maf causes a lot of problems if not 100% correct.

[azgtx]

From the wiggling you talk about I would bet a bad wire somewhere.

[Brody]

The coil power wire is located in that loom that got wiggled, there is also a ground cluster for that part of the harness under the brake booster that gets pretty corroded. It's more than likely a simple fix bit a headache to track because the wiring on these cars is redundant in a lot of places. The wire quality isn't the best in the world and cracks pretty easy. So that being said I would go through and check all the wires in the ignition system and vaf (mass air flow sensor). Make sure you aren't overlooking a simple problem before changing parts. That being said I just swapped over to cam angle sensor and have a couple dizzys laying around if you end up needing one. Good luck.

[xrjoe]

ill be looking at those ground and maf wires this am, thanks for the help!

[BFMRGTX]

The pins on the maf connector can be pushed back or corroded. That's been my experience.

[xrjoe]

maf pins look good, that multi-ground behind the battery was ugly, but all circuit dependant grounds have continuity according to schematic, same for ignition switched power at coil/igniter/dist. and ecu, no continuity crossing between circuits. when you say redundant, is that in reference to secondary grounding for same circuit? and please explain the cam angle swap, I do still need to decipher the maf circuit for continuity next.

[azgtx]

Check the distributor connector. If your disty o ring is leaking it can fill that connector with slop and cut the continuity. That one took me a week to chase down once.

[Brody]

I was mainly referring to the wiring in general that runs places that you would never think of. As for the swap, I'm swapping the factory engine management for a megasquirt2 so the cam (crank) angle sensor is to run wasted spark and to simplify the integration of the new ecu.

[xrjoe]

I got the maf and tps checked out, continuity between connects and ecu good, azgtx-what oring do you speak of, on the disty, below the pickup plate? if so wouldn't oil be present in the cap?