323 wont start - igniter?

[Martiny]

Hi all

I have 1993 323 wagon (estate) . It is 1.6 injection, SOHC.


I think I may have a faulty igniter.



It started fine, in the cold , after being outside for the night. I went off in the RX-7, and left the engine running, Meryl (wife) was going out in the 323 shortly. She said it stalled all by itself, because when she came outside, the engine was stopped. She tried the key, it turned over, but wouldnt start.

She left it for about half an hour, and then tried it again, and it started, so she set off, with the baby. About 3 miles from home, it stopped at a traffic light, and wouldnt start again.

When I got there, I did a quick check, but could not see anything obviously amiss. Removed a plug and checked for spark - nothing ! I even connected the plug straight to the coil, but there is no spark there either.

So we towed it home.

I have tested the coil, both windings look good. I also managed to connect a spark plug to the coil, and I hooked up 12v to the coil. When I disconnect it, the plug fires, (although the spark is very weak, but I assume this because I am bypassing the condenser?).

So, I think I may have a bad igniter. I have removed the distributor, and there just may be someone here (in the UK) in the RX-7 club who has a spare.

Can anyone help me test the igniter? Replacement from EBay is about $150, - obviously I want to be pretty sure its faulty before I buy one.

Thanks for any comments / advice

[Martiny]

Weird.

I went to go and test the wiring , and I connected everything. I had a plug connected and lying on the air filter, and the next thing, it sparked as I turned the dizzy ! ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

Put the dizzy in quickly, and the car started.... but only for about 3 seconds, then it died. No spark again.

I cleaned up all the connectors, and made sure of a good earth on the dizzy body.

When it was faulty, and connected, I get 12v on all three wires ? I dont think this is correct, none of those voltages change if I turn it.


Mazda quotes £30 for pick-up coil, £218 for igniter, and £400 for new distributor!
The 1 on ebay for £89 sounds like a bargain to me !!