TEST 2: Testing For Spark At The Ignition Coil Pack
IMPORTANT: This test section only applies if you got a no-spark test result from one spark plug wire (in TEST 1).
If you've reached this point and found one spark plug wire that didn't spark in TEST 1, chances are either the wire is bad or the ignition coil is at fault. Don't worry, we'll figure it out in this section.
To determine cause of the no-spark result, we'll remove the non-sparking spark plug wire from the ignition coil. Then, attach the spark tester directly to the coil's tower.
Once the test is set up, we'll crank the engine and see if the ignition coil tower sparks. If it sparks, then the non-sparking spark plug wire is bad and the entire set of spark plug wires need to be replaced.
If the ignition coil does not spark, then you can conclude that the ignition coil itself is bad.
NOTE: To connect the spark tester to the ignition coil pack tower, you'll need a small piece of vacuum hose as indicated by the orange arrow in the photo above.
These are the test steps:
- 1
Remove the spark plug wire that did not fire off spark from the ignition coil pack.
- 2
Connect the spark tester directly on the ignition coil pack tower using a small piece of vacuum hose (the arrow in the photo above points to the small piece of vacuum hose I'm using).
NOTE: The piece of vacuum hose must be small enough so that the spark tester makes metal to metal contact with the ignition coil pack tower (see photo above). - 3
Connect the spark tester with a battery jump start cable to the battery negative (-) terminal.
- 4
Have your helper crank the engine while you observe the spark tester.
CAUTION: The engine may start, so be careful. - 5
You're gonna get one of two results: spark or no spark.
Let's take a look at what your test results mean:
CASE 1: You got spark. This result lets you know that the ignition coil pack is good and that the spark plug wire that did not spark is bad. Replace all of the spark plug wires as a set.
CASE 2: You got NO spark. With this test result you can conclude the ignition coil pack is bad.
Replace the ignition coil pack to solve the misfire issue and/or the misfire code lighting up the check engine light (CEL) on the instrument cluster.
If the spark plug wires are as old as the ignition coil pack, I recommend replacing them too.
TEST 3: Testing For Spark At The Ignition Coil Pack (Paired Cylinders)
IMPORTANT: This test section only applies if you got a no-spark test result from two spark plug wires that connect to two "paired" cylinders (in TEST 1). These two spark plug wires would connect to cylinders #1 and 4 or cylinders #2 and #3.
If you've reached this point, then in TEST 1 you had two spark plug wires connected to "paired" cylinders #1 and #4 or #2 and #3 that didn't spark.
What we'll do in this section is test each coil tower for a spark, one at a time. First, we'll remove one of the spark plug wires from the ignition coil and attach the spark tester directly to the coil's tower.
Second, we'll crank the engine and see if the tester sparks. Once we've gotten our spark result, we'll repeat this process for the other coil tower.
NOTE: You'll need a small piece of vacuum hose to attach your spark tester to the ignition coil tower you need to test for spark (the orange arrow points to this piece of vacuum hose in the photo above).
These are the test steps:
- 1
Remove the spark plug wire that did not fire off spark from the ignition coil pack.
- 2
Connect the spark tester directly on the ignition coil tower using a small piece of vacuum hose (the arrow in the photo above points to the small piece of vacuum hose I'm using).
NOTE: The piece of vacuum hose must be small enough so that the spark tester makes metal to metal contact with the ignition coil tower (see photo above). - 3
Connect the spark tester with a battery jump start cable to the battery negative (-) terminal.
- 4
Have your helper crank the engine while you observe the spark tester.
CAUTION: The engine may start, so be careful. - 5
You're gonna get one of two results: spark or no spark.
- 6
Reconnect the spark plug wire to both its ignition coil tower and its spark plug.
- 7
Repeat the spark test on the other ignition coil tower whose spark plug wire did not spark in TEST 1.
Let's take a look at what your test results mean:
CASE 1: You got spark on both towers. This result lets you know that the ignition coil pack is good and that the spark plug wires that did not spark are bad. Replace all of the spark plug wires as a set.
CASE 2: You got NO spark from one ignition coil pack tower (the other one sparks). The ignition coil pack is bad and the spark plug wire of the sparking tower is bad.
Replace the ignition coil pack and the spark plug wires with a new set to solve the misfire issue and/or the misfire code lighting up the check engine light (CEL) on the instrument cluster.
CASE 3: You got NO spark from both ignition coil pack towers. This test result usually tells you that the ignition coil pack is bad but you'll need to do one more test to make sure.
The next step is to make sure that the individual ignition coil (inside the coil pack) that supplies spark to these two towers is getting an activation signal. For this test, go to:
- No Spark Cylinders #1 and #4: TEST 6: Checking The Activation Signal For Cylinders 1 And 4
- No Spark Cylinders #2 and #3: TEST 7: Checking The Activation Signal For Cylinders 2 And 3
TEST 4: Testing For Spark At The Ignition Coil Pack (Non-Paired Cylinders)
IMPORTANT: This test section only applies if you got a no-spark test result from two or more spark plug wires and they DO NOT connect to "paired cylinders" (in TEST 1). For example, you got no-spark from cylinder #1 and #3 spark plug wires (these are "non-paired cylinders").
If you've reached this point, then in TEST 1 you had two or more spark plug wires connected to "non-paired" cylinders that didn't spark.
In this section, we'll individually check each coil tower for a spark. To start, we'll disconnect one spark plug wire from the ignition coil and directly hook up the spark tester to that tower (via a small piece of vacuum hose).
Next, we'll have a helper crank the engine while checking for spark from the spark tester. After we get our result, we'll do the same for the remaining coil tower.
NOTE: To connect the spark tester to the ignition coil pack tower, you'll need to use a small piece of vacuum hose (as indicated by the orange arrow in the photo above).
Let's get started:
- 1
Remove the spark plug wire that did not fire off spark from the ignition coil pack.
- 2
Connect the spark tester directly on the ignition coil pack tower using a small piece of vacuum hose (the arrow in the photo above points to the small piece of vacuum hose I'm using).
NOTE: The piece of vacuum hose must be small enough so that the spark tester makes metal to metal contact with the ignition coil pack tower (see photo above). - 3
Connect the spark tester with a battery jump start cable to the battery negative (-) terminal.
- 4
Have your helper crank the engine while you observe the spark tester.
CAUTION: The engine may start, so be careful. - 5
You're gonna get one of two results: spark or no spark.
- 6
Reconnect the spark plug wire to both its ignition coil tower and its spark plug.
- 7
Repeat the spark test on the other ignition coil tower whose spark plug wire did not spark in TEST 1.
Let's take a look at what your test results mean:
CASE 1: You got spark from all towers. This result lets you know that the ignition coil pack is good and that the spark plug wires that did not spark are bad. Replace all of the spark plug wires as a set.
CASE 2: You got NO spark from one ignition coil pack tower (the other one sparks). The ignition coil pack is bad and the spark plug wire of the sparking tower is bad.
Replace the ignition coil pack and the spark plug wires with a new set to solve the misfire issue and/or the misfire code lighting up the check engine light (CEL) on the instrument cluster.
CASE 3: You got NO spark from both ignition coil pack towers. The ignition coil pack is bad. Replace the ignition coil pack.
If the spark plug wires are as old as the ignition coil pack, I recommend replacing them too.
