4AFE No spark.... frrickk!!!!!!

My moms car, 90 corolla. She was driving into town and the car just died. It turns over just fine but its got no spark. The rotor turns, plug wires are in specs and I didn't want to just start throwing new parts into it so I towed it to a mechanic... he said "secondary coil is bad and its cheaper to replace the whole distributor assembly". I took it home and replaced the coil $35.00... nothin'.... replaced the distributor assembly with a reman $195.00... nothin'... replaced main relay and still nothin'. I keep thinking I'm missing the obvious but after much research I haven't found much. Please help me before I set the stupid thing on fire.

Any suggestions???

Thanks a lot.

Paul

Reply 1 : 4AFE No spark.... frrickk!!!!!!

Just figured I'd make sure since you didn't mention it. You checked the EFI fuse correct? What state is the battery in? I'm not that familiar with OBD 1, but if it is anything like some OBD 2 systems its possible the computer blew. hopefully someone can chime in with a similar experience. Did you do a code check? it is possible to do it manually without the use of a computer.

Reply 2 : 4AFE No spark.... frrickk!!!!!!

You say you have no ignition. Have you checked visually for spark by removing a plug and cranking with wire attached and body of plug resting on engine block? What is condition of distributor cap/rotor and wires? Check fuses I think one is for ignition. Probably in big black fuse box underhood. You say rotor turns but this sounds very characteristic of broken or jumped timing belt. HAve you removed timing belt cover to inspect? Have you tried removing air intake tube and giving it a shot of starting fluid in throttle body to see if it starts?If it starts and stalls then redirect you troubleshooting toward fuel system.

Reply 3 : 4AFE No spark.... frrickk!!!!!!

I did pull the plug wires and test for a spark... so did the mechanic... its unanimously a no spark. I checked every fuse I could find in 4 different "fuse banks"... one on the pos bat cable... both of the banks on the driver side fender and one under the dash by the drivers left foot. I am thinking its a computer or fuse... some sort of electrical failure because the car went from running great to stone cold dead in 1 second and now it doesn't even think about catching when its cranking over. The battery is good... smells like fuel.

I have not gotten any codes... How do I go about doing that with a digital multimeter and test light?

Also, in my manual it says to "check the IGT signal from the ECU" but doesn't explain how to perform the test or what the signal should be. Can anybody shed some light on that?

Thanks a lot,

Paul

Reply 4 : 4AFE No spark.... frrickk!!!!!!

There are three fusible links in box attached to positive battery cable check to see if any are blow. Have you tried another cap/rotor wires? Here is link on checking codes.



http://www.troublecodes.net/Toyota/

Reply 5 : 4AFE No spark.... frrickk!!!!!!

Thank you that is helpful but the check engine light is not on. Is there a way to test the ECU or anything like that?

Reply 6 : 4AFE No spark.... frrickk!!!!!!

Codes can be stored without triggering the light . Doesn't hurt to check it out if it will help to pinpoint a possible solution.

Reply 7 : 4AFE No spark.... frrickk!!!!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by GMML My moms car, 90 corolla. She was driving into town and the car just died. It turns over just fine but its got no spark. The rotor turns, plug wires are in specs and I didn't want to just start throwing new parts into it so I towed it to a mechanic... he said "secondary coil is bad and its cheaper to replace the whole distributor assembly". I took it home and replaced the coil $35.00... nothin'.... replaced the distributor assembly with a reman $195.00... nothin'... replaced main relay and still nothin'. I keep thinking I'm missing the obvious but after much research I haven't found much. Please help me before I set the stupid thing on fire. Any suggestions??? Thanks a lot. Paul

Reply 8 : 4AFE No spark.... frrickk!!!!!!

check for oil in spark plug tubes the seals go bad and tubes fill up with oil and foul out plugs,also had oxegen sencer short out due to it just fell off because of rust and shorted out on frame and would blow efi censor every time I changed the fuse and didnt realize it and was just as frustrated as you seem to be

Reply 9 : 4AFE No spark.... frrickk!!!!!!

Well Thanks to all who replied... I figured it out and I always like reading forums with the conclusion so someone can benefit from lessons learned. After replacing the coil and distributor... it was.... $2.69 ROTOR!!! There is a little hair crack in it where the spark burnt the plastic.... Lesson learned is replace wearable parts like that before assuming bigger problems. Thanks for the help.

P

Reply 10 : 4AFE No spark.... frrickk!!!!!!

Glad you got it fixed and that you shared what fixed it with all in forum.

Reply 11 : 4AFE No spark.... frrickk!!!!!!

Yeah upon further examination, the spark was jumping through the plastic in the rotor and grounding on the distributor drive shaft. Guess that was less resistance than going through the plug wires.