EA82 distributor

[mfolsom]

I don't post often but always turn to USMB when my 85 GL Wagon acts up. Thanks to all who post problems and solutions.

 

Sunday we were on the way to the grocery store in the Sub when it just quit running. I was able to turn in to a driveway safely and started to look for a problem. The car would crank but not fire. I pulled a plug wire and cranked the engine but there was no spark. There was nothing more I could do on the side of the road so the nice folks that lived where I stopped gave me a ride home.

 

The next day a friend helped me tow the car home and I began looking into why it would not start. The distributor was turning when I cranked and there was compression on passenger side so that ruled out timing belts. I put a new coil on and it still would not start.

 

I had picked up an ignition module at the AutoZone when I picked up the new coil so the next thing was to install that. I had no idea how to change it so I took the distributor out and went to the workbench with it. In another thread on this board I found one little snippet about testing an ignition module.

"...you could put a small low current 12V bulb (so we're not talking about a headlight or tail light - just a Radio Shack 12V bulb) between the +12V and the output of the igniter. (envision hooking it up across the coil but taking the coil out of the circuit).

If the bulb flashes when cranking, your igniter is ok. If not, it will take a little detective work to make sure that you indeed are getting a periodic input on the igniter."

I tried that with the old module and nothing happened so I figured out how to remove the old and install the new. That part was very simple and I would not have had to take the distributor out if I had known it. I tried the little test above but it still did not work. I may have misunderstood the instructions. I did notice the light bulb lit very dimly this time.

 

I reinstalled the distributor, held my breath and turned the key. To my pleasure the car started up so I set the timing and all is well once again. What a great little car!

 

I hope others who have the same problem find this note and it helps them.

 

Mark

Edited May 20, 2009 by mfolsom