No coil signal

  • Thread starter Thread starter Boost Pimp
  • Start date Start date
B

Boost Pimp

Hey guys/gals

1st post :D

My GF has a 94 Protege with the 1.8L SOHC engine. A couple weeks ago, it decided it would just die out of nowhere; no particular symptoms leading up to it dying, it wouldn't sputter out, it would just stop... as if turning off the ignition. So I checked it out, replaced the coil, and it ran fine for the last couple of weeks. Never died or showed any other symptoms of the previous problem. Then on Friday, she was on her way home from work when it did the same thing. She had CAA tow it to her house so I could check it out. I brought along a spare ignitor and coil, hoping it was either one of those. Turns out it wasn't.
Now, I'm gathering the distrubitor is supposed to send out some sort of signal to the ecu and then to the ignitor, then coil. The unit inside the distributor looks to be some sort of infra-red switch... am I correct here? It takes +12v & Ground and looks to have a signal output... nothing that would show up on my meter while cranking and probing the white output wire (on my meter in RPM setting or frequency setting). I also tried using positive and negative as a reference point when checking the disty with my meter.
Is there a sure-fire way to check that distributor sensor or ignitor? I'd like to narrow it down before I go picking up parts for it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks alot! :)
 
Boost Pimp,

It sounds like the hall effect sensor inside your distributor has gone bad.

The best way to check it is to hook up a voltmeter to the Ne and G signals coming off of the 4 wire plug. These colors might not be the exact same for the SOHC but here you go:

Ground - Black/Green
Power - White/Red
Trigger (Ne) - White
Home (G) - Yellow/Blue

You should see a steady 180rpm during cranking, the signal off of the distributor is a Line-Wave form |_|-|_|-|_| style. It will generate a voltage but easier if you have inductive pickups. You can pull spark plug #1 and verify spark when cranking as well..

Good Luck.
 

New Threads and Articles

Back