Hi all,

This past week I've been trying for first start with no joy. Engine is Forte’s 302 with Terminator EFI. I've also posted this thread on the other forum to maximize the number of folks who may be able to help.

What I know:
- My TFI coil (MSD 8227) isn't sparking. This I think is the first problem to be solved; with luck it's the only problem.
- I'm using an MSD 8546 distributor.
- Forte ran the engine on his dyno before shipping it to me about a year and a half ago. He delivered all the components (coil, distributor, EFI) that he ran. So everything was good at that time.
- I’ve got an unusual wiring set up. I’m using the RF EFI/Coil wire to power my EFI computer, and using the EFI computer to power my fuel pump (these appear to work flawlessly). I’ve re-purposed the RF fuel pump circuit to power my coil. This circuit includes a relay, which may be contributing to the voltage drop at crank. Any thoughts on this?
- I've got a Digital Guard Dawg push button start system. I don't believe this has anything to do with the problem, but include the information for completeness.

What I suspect:
- Because the coil isn't sparking, my Terminator EFI isn’t getting an RPM sync signal, and so won't even try to start the car.

Troubleshooting efforts so far:
- I determined that my Optima batter, which had just sat for 10 months, wasn't fully charged. That has now been corrected.
- I confirmed that the coil is getting power. 12.5 volts at key on (with fully charged battery) and ~10.5 volts at crank.
- On Tuesday, I was getting a single spark. Today, I got no sparks whatsoever.
- I tried jumpstarting the car. ~14 volts at key on and ~11.2 volts at crank. No joy.
- I tried powering the coil straight from the battery. No joy.
- I tried powering the coil from the battery at jumpstart. No joy.
- I measured the resistance between the positive and negative terminals (primary resistance) of the coil at 1.2 ohms. I measured the resistance between the positive and output terminals (secondary resistance) at 4.96K ohms. This matched the resistance between the negative and output terminals of the coil at 4.97K ohms.

Forte’s engine builder isn’t ready to say the coil is bad; he said that usually if a coil suffers infant mortality it dies immediately, not after a short period of runs on the dyno. He also said that if I get one spark I should be able to get more. He suspects that I’m getting voltage back feed through a ground due to the relatively large drop in voltage from key on to crank.

CraigS suggested the following (which I’ll probably try tomorrow):
“Remove the 2 wire connector from the coil. Rig 12V to the + pin. Rig a jumper to the minus pin which will be touched to ground but temporarily let it hang and be sure it doesn't touch anything. Pull the center wire out of the distributer (leaving the other end in the coil) and hold it 1/8-1/4 inch from a ground. With your other hand grab the - jumper, touch it to ground for a second or two. Remove it from ground. At the instant the ground circuit opens you should get a spark from the coil lead to ground. What you are doing is replacing the low voltage part of the distributer w/ your jumper wire system.”

Any other thoughts?


John