non-Rotary - 323 broke down.

[Martiny]

Hi all
Thi is obviously non-rotary, but I want to put it here because there are many technically savvy people on here.

Our 323 Estate broke down yesterday, with no spark.

It started fine, in the cold yeasterday morning after being outside for the night. I went off in the rex, and left the engine running, Meryl was going out in the 323 shortly. She said it stalled all by itself, because when she came outside, the engine was stopped. She tried the key, it turned over, but wouldnt start.

She left it for about half an hour, and then tried it again, and it started, so she set off, with the baby. About 3 miles from home, it stopped at a traffic light, and wouldnt start again.

When I got there, I did a quick check, but could not see anything obviously amiss. Removed a plug and checked for spark - nothing !  I even connected the plug straight to the coil, but there is no spark there either.

So we towed it home.
Its a 91 Estate, Injection, and I think what I will test next is the coil - see if its got 12v , and test for resistance on the 2 windings.

Could a breaking down coil behave like the symptoms above?

It seems temperature related at first, but could a broken winding go on and off a few times before it broke permanently?

Any thoughts appreciated.

[Grizzly]

I think your on the right track, Has the Coil got power? Fuses? is there anything else gone down (like the Fuel pump etc) if so have a look at the Ign Switch? Every things got a good ground? go through all the Plugs to do with the Coil and make sure they all have good conections (not Corroded pins etc)

[MikeLMR]

most likely thing is the igniter module in the dizzy it\'s a well known failure. (have a search on the net) Takes a few mins to fix but it\'s an expensive box of tricks What year car/engine is it Martin ? I may have a spare as I\'ve broken more than a few 323\'s and have my 1300 waiting to go to the breakers.

[MikeLMR]

er just noticed it says in your post ... what does the dizzy look like? I have 3 DOHC ones knocking about if they are the same module?

[Martiny]

I made a mistake Mike, it is in fact 1993.(K reg) I am not sure if the ignitor is in the dizzy. I am away and can only look again on Thu night.

[MikeLMR]

for diagnosis ... the igniter pack from the mx5 may be a similar unit. The engines all share parts.

[Bramble]

I cant believe a 323 broke down, that is a stunningly rare event. I have 2 of a similar age, never broken down. Mazda made them properly. The 1.6 is a SOHC engine, same as the 1.3 but bigger capacity. Distributors tend to often be a problem on older jap cars.

[Martiny]

Yeah Bramble, I was actually going to name the thread "oxymoron" !

I find it hard to believe myself. I recently had to replace a cv boot, which means loosening a whole lot of stuff, and I wonder if its related. I have driven it to Manchester and back since then, though - no problem.

Maybe I am just unlucky with the coil pack, and just maybe there are remnants of an alarm system, I will look for that, too.

[Martiny]

Right, so far....

There is 12 v at the coil.

The primary winding has continuity and correct resistance.

The Secondary winding has continuity and correct resistance.


In fact, if I quickly apply and release a voltage across the coil, i can make a very weak spark on a connected sparkplug.

So I should check the igniter next. How does one test that? The Haynes manual says "take it to Mazda"... not very helpful.

Whats the theroy behind the igniter? Does it produce a spark at the right time?

I thought the ecu does that, so why is the iginter in the distributor ?

[Martiny]

Ok, I have been reading up on this stuff !

Mike, my engine has a seperate coil, but it has an igniter in the Dizzy. WIll remove it later, then I could send you a picture.

Engine is 8 valve 1598cc , dont know if its SOHC or DOHC, I suspect its DOHC, because the rocker cover is not as wide as the (DOHC) MX-5.

Also, I think the MX-5 has different igniters and coils for each plug - according to the PArts list, anyway.

Would be great if you had a spare, I think just the Igniter is £90 on e-bay.

[Martiny]

Mike
Here is what my dizzy looks like. Do you perhaps have one,  or at least an igniter?

[MikeLMR]

does the dizzy you have, have the same 3 pin plug on the igniter. This will be the style of igniter I have a spare of. Not sure if they are the same but it is worth looking into.

[Martiny]

Mike
I have 3 wires, but I have a 2 pin plug, and a seperate 1 pin one.

Looks like SOHC and DOHC have different Dizzys  :-(((

Do you know of any way to test the igniter?

[Martiny]

Here are the igniter pieces.

[MikeLMR]

it really needs a special service tool to check it.

Have you seen the write ups on the net over switching to another type of igniter. Best bet is a pattern part though or a scrap yard. (they do commonly fail after 80-100K miles though)