weird problem when changing distributor

turbulence23 · Post by **turbulence23** » October 17th, 2006, 5:37 pm

ok...

first of all, if i say something bad in english, i m sorry, because im from holland..

heres the problem..

4 weeks ago i was driving on the freeway, when going to the exit my tach suddenly dropped to 0 RPM.

i have read many stories, and knew this was it.. the ignition failure... 1 minute later i could start the car and continue my travel..

only when i rev it above 4000 rpm the engine will die, and at that time when you check for spark, there isnt any.

so i knew i needed a new ignition..

I first tried out the HEI mod, looked good and easy to install. when done, and when we tried to crank the car it didnt do anything. it would turn over, but still no spark. ( we cut the orange wire as said in the FAQ here) when we reconnected the orange wire it would fire up without a problem, but would still die when revving it to 4000RPM.

so that didnt work as planned.

because of these problems we removed the HEI module, and went on with just the stock settings ( NO hei is in the car @ the moment)

so i bought a other ignition from a wrecked mx3 from a member from our board, hoping that this would solve the problem..

and what happend when i placed it.. nothing... no spark, engine turns over, but it gives no spark at all..
then we placed the old ignition back, and damn, it just started up at once...
so we thought, well maybe the have broken it when they mailed it to us...
so we ordered a brand new one, thinking that this would solve all problems.. well no, that wasnt the case..
same problem as with the other one.. engine turns over, but it gives no spark at all..

and offcourse, when replacing it with the old ignition it would fire up at the first time...

when measuring @ the 3pin connector it reads nice 12V when the car is on contact.

what did i replace before i placed new ignition:

* new sparkplugs
* new cables ( really needed those, my old ones where really off)

what do i now have

* old ignition ( works, but dies @ 4000 RPM
* junkyard ignition ( no spark, nothing)
* brand new ignition ( no spark, nothing

the ignitions i bought are for a pre 94 mx, kl-01 /T0T57071, so they have to work you would think.

hope anybody here has an idea, because all the guys @ http://www.mazdamx-3.nl dont know it anymore..

mx3autozam · Post by **mx3autozam** » October 17th, 2006, 6:06 pm

I would say do the HEI with External coil. but if your having issues like thsi even with a new disty. I would suspect maybe crank sensor..If tahts abd you won't have any spark.

turbulence23 · Post by **turbulence23** » October 18th, 2006, 1:28 pm

ok..

supposingly lets say its the cranksensor...

why does it fire up at the first time when placing my old ignition?

thats the weird thing...

i already did the hei mod without external coil, but indeed, when this doesnt even work, will that then work?

max kl · Post by **max kl** » October 19th, 2006, 12:35 am

some thing is missing here. there is gota be somthing else goin on. exccsivly lean mixtur takes more igniton power to burn so mabey the kv has to be to high for the other coils you tryed. check fuel pressure and read the plugs. i would set the plug gap to 1mm or lower just to see if the engine will rev above 4grand.

ooo exhaust backpressure that also soaks up kv and limits rpm the catalytic converter is suspect. try un bolting the exhaust before the cat and see if it runs better and revs higher.

the new and used distrubtor may both be junk i loose money and time every day from new parts not working and me doubting my dianosis. so that may also be a possabilaty.
if you can find a known good part or another masda to install 1 of yor other [good] parts in another car to see if it will work at all. and while its out of the other car dont plug theres in you may have somthing going on
with your wirring or ecm grounding out the modual or sumthin.

recheck and tripple check all the connections made during the hei mod something may be wrong.

the crank sensor on the crank is not used to run the ignition it checks the timming & missfires and crank speed. the car wont run without it tho so get out you ossilascope and test its wave pattern. or pay a shop to do it.

i hope i can help.

n e w stands for Never Ever Worked dont let [new] parts screw you around!

max kl · Post by **max kl** » October 19th, 2006, 11:03 am

did the new or used distrubtor come with a diffrent cap & rotor? if not then replacing them would be a good test . if the tower on the cap that goes into the coil if brrned it will only make a connection with the orginal coil and not the coils in the other distrubtor you have tryed. it would also require realy high kvs and would limit the rpm band like you are describing

turbulence23 · Post by **turbulence23** » October 19th, 2006, 12:32 pm

the cranksensor is located on the left of the engineblock right?

if i am correct, there is a 3pin connector situated just below the fillercap on the hose of the coolant...

i found out that my fillercap was leeking, and because of that the plug i just talked about was filled with coolant when i opened it.

its a 3 pins connector, one wire is going down next to the block, to the drive belt pulleys, the wire coming from the other end is going to the top, where it goes in to the wiring harnass together with a wire coming from the fillercap ( coolant temperature or something like that)

could this be my problem then? i cleaned the 2 connectors who where filled with coolant, but still nothing happend.

when i look in the manual on page b2-25 i can make out that it is the cable that there is called: ''crankshaft position sensor'' i have read many pages, and when looking close to the images, that looks like the one who was filled with water

can i read this cable with a multimeter? ( ohm/voltage meter) and if this is possible, what values should i get then?

and is the sensor located on the bottom of the block ( because there was a wire going down)

do i need to take of the bottom plate, to reach it, because i cant follow the cable all the way down, when looking at it from the top...

i will check the plugs tonight, they where new, and i set them to the correct value ( 1mm)

but still, lets suggest i have a bad backpressure or bad plugs, i still need to have at least a spark on the 2 other ignition modules ( if they are not broken if you say)

turbulence23 · Post by **turbulence23** » October 20th, 2006, 12:34 pm

and then it became quiet..

anybody got an idea?:

turbulence23 · Post by **turbulence23** » October 24th, 2006, 6:26 pm

nobody???

anybody thinks it could be the cranksensor, when this sensor is broken, could this cause the engine not to get a spark

ariesdude · Post by **ariesdude** » October 24th, 2006, 6:34 pm

When you did the HEI mod - did you take the stock ignitor out?

max kl · Post by **max kl** » October 24th, 2006, 8:08 pm

max kl wrote:s
ooo exhaust backpressure that also soaks up kv and limits rpm the catalytic converter is suspect. try un bolting the exhaust before the cat and see if it runs better and revs higher.

the new and used distrubtor may both be junk

recheck and tripple check all the connections made during the hei mod something may be wrong.

the crank sensor on the crank is not used to run the ignition it checks the timming & missfires and crank speed. the car wont run without it tho so get out you ossilascope and test its wave pattern. or pay a shop to do it.

i hope i can help.

i went quiet because i already posted the info you wre asking about. so i no you are not reading my posts and i cannot help you if you wont read.