Starting Issues

ibertone86

ibertone86

Daily Driver
I am looking for advice...

1980x with electronic ignition will not start. Starter runs but there is no spark...no power to the coil when checked with a test light. Any thoughts on diagnosis or trouble shooting steps?
 
Low hanging fruit; did you check if there is power to the ballast resistor? Power comes from the battery, through the ignition switch, through the ballast resistor and finally to the positive side of the coil. The ballast resistor is mounted right next to the coil. This is assuming that by "electronic ignition" you mean the stock Bosch system (not sure if this is what a 1980 came with).

Next step would be to check the 4 pin connector at the ignition switch. One wire here should have battery voltage at all times, two should have battery voltage in "start" and "run", and the last one should have battery voltage in "start" only.
 
Thanks you for the reply. No power to the resistor...checked the connections back to the pink wires...no power. Is there a fuse or relay that can go bad?
 
Pink is fed from underside of relay panel (2nd pic) - so maybe Fuse N or O (coolant Fan?)

Screen Shot 2020-06-20 at 7.53.50 PM.png


Screen Shot 2020-06-20 at 7.46.26 PM.png




Screen Shot 2020-06-20 at 7.45.54 PM.png
 
ibertone86 said:
Thanks you for the reply. No power to the resistor...checked the connections back to the pink wires...no power. Is there a fuse or relay that can go bad?
Click to expand...

Power to the ignition system is not fused, nor does it go through a relay. Did you check for power all the way back to the ignition switch? A quick test you can do is to turn the key to "run" and check if the alternator light comes on. The alternator light is fed from the same set of contacts in the ignition switch as the ignition system, so if the alternator light comes on, the switch is probably OK.
 
Update: Checked ignition. Brown wire has power. Blue wires energized in run and red wire energised in start. Swapped coolant fan relay with others and found accessories work with all relays. Still no power to the radio or coil.
 
ibertone86 said:
Update: Checked ignition. Brown wire has power. Blue wires energized in run and red wire energised in start. Swapped coolant fan relay with others and found accessories work with all relays. Still no power to the radio or coil.
Click to expand...

Sorry, as per the diagram, the connection is under the relay, in the feed wire (85) - so as Bjorn pointed out, it's not fused. Sorry to add to the confusion. I don't recall where the blue feed to the Ign. module & ballast connect to the Pink wire. Did you find that connector? Perhaps near the right strut tower?
 
2 pink wires come out of the wiring harness below the coil. They join to a female connector that mates with a male connector that has the blue wire to the ballast resistor and the lead to the ignition module. No power at the pink wires in every condition. The pink wire from the radio connector leads into the fuse panel
Screenshot_2020-06-21-21-40-14~2.png

and according to the diagrams should meet up with the coil - pink wire at the fan relay.Am I reading the diagrams right?
Screenshot_2020-06-21-21-39-35~3.png
 
Yes, that's what my diagram above shows, just easier to read, IMO

The connection is under the relay panel, there will be two wires crimped together forming the power feed (85) to the relay(S). I would say you need to track the blue/black wire, as it is highly unlikely to be the crimp spade terminal. That said, in your diagram it looks like bl/blk feeds fuse A - which is fed off the ign switch, so back to the 4 (or is it 6) pole connector off the ign sw.

index.php


Screen Shot 2020-06-21 at 10.35.42 PM.png




you can download the 80-81 diagnostic manual here
 
Last edited:
Its 4 wires off the ignition. Fuse A circuit has power at the ignition connector and at the fuse panel. Is the connection between the blue/black wire and the pink wire relay dependant or are they just crimped together? Is it possible a bad relay could cause the condition?
 
ibertone86 said:
Its 4 wires off the ignition. Fuse A circuit has power at the ignition connector and at the fuse panel. Is the connection between the blue/black wire and the pink wire relay dependant or are they just crimped together? Is it possible a bad relay could cause the condition?
Click to expand...

They are crimped together in the spade that powers the relay - the relay itself has no bearing on the circuit continuity. I don't know what the early relay panel looks like, however you need to remove the backside of the panel & check the wiring continuity where the bl/blk connects to the pink
 
So I would start by removing the existing power wire to the coil, I would then run a wire from the battery to the coil and see if the car will start.

If it will start and run then you need to work backwards to figure out where the power drop out is.

If it won’t start then the problem is somewhere in the engine bay.

Stupid question, have you verified the wire to the distributor is properly connected? I have been bitten by this in the past where the wire running from the coil to the distributor was disconnected and no start.

Another stupid question because I am exactly this stupid: have you verified that the distributor is actually rotating the rotor? Is the timing belt actually going around? When my car’s timing belts teeth sheared off at the crank, it looked like the ignition system wasn’t working when in fact the idiot owner (me) hadn’t verified the engine was actually turning over and therefor sparking. Just a question from a compleat idiot...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top