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Hello ETCG Forums!
I’m new here and thought I’d pick these forums to join the community around ETCG. Not sure if this is the right forum if so mods feel free to move to the right forum.
So I’ve gotten into the world cars about a year ago and it’s amazing!
So I brought a 1985 Mazda 323/Familia with a E5 engine off a mate for $500NZ that had a dying engine. It was overheating dramatically and he didn’t top the coolant/oil up in a long time. Finally it soon wouldn’t even start. So a had a few mates have a look at it with me and I took off the rocker cover and coolant was sitting there with the oil, not a good sign at all. Took the head off and guess what? 3 pistons had coolant sitting ontop of them. We knew by now the engine was history.
I found a E3 engine (The engine spec lower than the E5, 1.3l 8valve sohc) for $180NZ and went ahead and brought it. Ive read that you can run drop it straight in and mostly everything will be fine. So we dropped that into the bay and brought new clutch at the same time. After getting everything bolted in and secured we topped up the coolant/oil/tranny oil and I went to turn the key. NOTHING!
So the car has been sitting in the drive since. I had the battery fully charged with a bench charger overnight and it was purchased in January 2012, I cleaned the battery connectors and tried, this nothing. Now Im looking at the starter motor wiring, checked that out and that’s fine, decided to take the starter motor out and bench test and yes it engages and does spin freely.
We thought about giving it a roll start and therefore did that down a hill, that didn’t do the trick because the car wasn’t getting any spark either. tested the spark plugs and no spark and checked the ignition coil wiring and that’s fine and took the dizzy cap off and checked that out and it’s clean.
So I’ve got two problems now, nothing when I turn the key and no spark? I am getting a click from a relay however. Where should I go from here before getting a mechanic to check it out?
Anymore I have to provide?
Here are some progress pictures I took.
[url=http://www.iforce.co.nz/View.aspx?i=ffuj4vrk.4to.jpg]
[url=http://www.iforce.co.nz/View.aspx?i=bv5c250h.gc1.jpg]
[url=http://www.iforce.co.nz/View.aspx?i=j5sfpctn.2fr.jpg]
[url=http://www.iforce.co.nz/View.aspx?i=hcchnoyk.34m.jpg]
Many thanks!
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Thanks for the pics!
If you don’t have power to the system then you wont’ have spark either so look to the power for the system first. Check the battery connections and especially the ground connections. It’s likely to be something that isn’t hooked up or isn’t hooked up correctly. The rule here is ‘keep it simple stupid’ the rule of KISS as we call it. Don’t overcomplicate the situation. This video may help in your search. Good luck.
Thanks for the reply Eric!
So I have sorted the starter motor out and rewired the trigger wire to an external switch going to the battery then to a switch in the dash and the car is now turning over.
Next problem is spark, I’ve replaced and tested my spark plugs and Im getting 12volts to the dizzy and to the coil but no spark? Suspecting a dead coil? It’s one of them old school cylinder type coils.
Is it safe to use a different coil from a different 323 or similar?
Cheer s
You need to check for a primary signal going to the coil, it may have nothing to do with the coil. If the coil never gets a signal to fire it won’t work. Don’t just throw parts at it. This video is for a Honda but the principals are the same, look for the primary signal at coil negative while you crank, if you don’t have a signal the coil is NOT the problem.
I’ve used the test light on the negative and cranked the engine. Im getting a dim light which I’m assuming is good? Will it matter if Im using a condenser that is one digit off, the old one had a snapped wire so I went and got a new one off a mazda wrecker.
Just to get everything straight here this is what I have done:
-Swapped Coil
-New Condenser
-Tried a different HT lead
-Tested +/- terminals on coil with test light and getting a dim light from the negative
– Physically looked at the rotor and turned over to insure everything is allgood.Is there a possible way of trying to get a spark directly from the coil?
Here are some pictures!
[url=http://www.iforce.co.nz/View.aspx?i=jgwfebya.nzt.jpg]
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[url=http://www.iforce.co.nz/View.aspx?i=qrydculp.jqw.jpg]
Your test light if connect to the negative side of the coil while cranking should flash. That would be a sign of your triggering device working.
Should it flash with a bright light or a dim light? It flashes like you would see the interior lights dimming if you were to have a dead battery, I charged the battery over night and its a good battery. Just an example of what the light looks like when cranking
Yes the key is ‘flashing’ which would indicate that you’re getting a signal to the coil. However if you’ve already swapped it out with a known good coil and still don’t have any spark you need to turn your attention to the primary side of the ignition. Perhaps your distributor isn’t putting out a signal. BTW that’s not a condenser it’s a radio suppressor that’s there to prevent you picking up the ignition system on your radio as you drive. Modern ignition systems use a current limiting circuit in place of a condenser these days. This video may also help you.
just talked to my mates dad about it and he thinks the the dizzy being the old one from the 1.5l going into the 1.3l isn’t going a spark due to the timing being wrong?
Also the intakes and carbs are different and the original loom had three bundles cables coming out to the old carb and this new carb has one wire coming out and the plug is completely different, would the harness just be sensors?
These are the issues you run into when you change the type of engine that you had originally. It’s more and more difficult to do this with a modern vehicle due to differences in harnesses, computers, and components. That said you can still check for a primary signal at the coil as suggested to find out the root cause of the no spark condition.
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