bluemazda

i g2g ill be back in like 5 hours. thanks guys

White 87 13B

Good Luck! Wiggle Test!!!

WAYNE88N/A

By "read" I mean read the resistance, like you did on the CAS circuit...I'll turn ya into an electrical guru yet, LOL...

White 87 13B

That's where I am heading...in the past month I have learned SO freakin much about these cars!

bluemazda

what do you mean by read the resistance? i imagine i should do something with the multimeter right?

bluemazda

how would i go about reading the resistance?

WAYNE88N/A

Basically what you're gonna do on the coils is run a calibrated electrical current (from the meter's 9v battery), through the coil wiring itself, and the meter will display the resistance, in this case I don't think it will be much...Anything close to zero ohms is considered a short, or to have continuity...Anything above about 1 megaohm (1 million ohms) is considered an open, or no continuity...Don't know where you're at as far as electrical troubleshooting knowledge, that's why I'm trying to simplify it for you, so don't take offense...If you read out the CAS circuit from the ECU correctly (and the numbers you gave suggest you did), then you're going to be using the same basic procedure on the coils. One meter lead on one wire/terminal, & the other on another wire/terminal. After about 4 o'clock Houston time I'll have the schematics with me & can tell ya the wire colors & terminal locations, unless someone beats me to it...

bluemazda

ok, thanks

White 87 13B

I read out my coils by connecting the multi meter leads to the pins on the coils themselves. On the rear of the coil there are two wires connected via small bolts. You need to pull the little plastic cover off and you will see them there. After connecting the mm leads to the bolts you should read somewhere between 2 and 5 ohms...I believe...

Low resistance will most likely result in a weak or absent spark. Too much resistance will most likely lead to the current having too much trouble jumping that resistance. Please correct me if I am wrong.

White 87 13B

Here is the thread!

WAYNE88N/A

IIRC, you should be reading less than 1 ohm (you gotta remember, the coil is nothing more than a wire wrapped around a ferro-magnetic core...)...2 to 5 ohms, hmmm...Also note that the battery neg terminal should be disconnected during ANY resistance test...When a coil goes bad, usually it will read open (no continuity)...

White 87 13B

Maybe my Coils are bad. I could have sworn that the book told me it was right...maybe I am mixed up...I will have to double check!

WAYNE88N/A

Dude, if you're getting 2 (or 5 even) ohms, I wouldn't worry about it too much...Do you have a zero adjustment on the meter (with the leads shorted together)?

White 87 13B

Meaning when I hit the leads together it read OL? If so then yeah!

WAYNE88N/A

It shouldn't read OL (open lead) with the probes together- it should read 0 ohms (or something damn close, like 20 milliohms or something like that)

bluemazda

first off, when i hit the two leads of the mm together the reading goes off the scale, is this normal? second, i should i have the mm set on "X1K" or "X10"(in ohms)
?

bluemazda

i found an adjustment on the mm and now when i touch the two leads together it moves just a tiny tiny bit. is this right?

WAYNE88N/A

Are you using the simple analog variety of meter? With a needle that swings across in an arc, with different scales for different settings? If so, it should have a "zero adjust" **** on it somewhere. x1k means "times 1 kilo-ohm", in other words if the needle moves to 5 on the scale, then you're reading 5 kilo-ohms (5,000 ohms)...Use the scale that meets your needs, for instance, if we wanted to read out the coils, which should have about 1 ohms of resistance, you would use the "X1", or scale readings times one...Anyway, put the probes together with the meter on X1, if it swings off scale, adjust the needle to zero...Resetting zero is required as the battery voltage starts to fall in the meter...

bluemazda

yea, i have an analog meter, and the lowest the setting goes is 10X

bluemazda

is it possible for me to use this meter if the lowest setting is X10?

WAYNE88N/A

All right, go to 10X, put the probe tips together, and adjust the needle to 0...Your set to go...Remember to multiply by 10 any scale readings...Gotta go, good luck...

bluemazda

thanks

bluemazda

setting the mm to zero is with the needle all the way to the left right? if so, i did this. when i touched the prongs on the mm together the needle would move a tiny bit. when i connected the prongs to the coil the needle moved the same amount as when i just touch the prongs together. i double checked this by setting the meter to 130 ohms( or what i think 130 ohms is ) and when the prongs were touched together. i then put the prongs on the coil pack bolts and then got 130 ohms, just like i did when i touched the prongs together. does this mean anything? would anyone beable to tell me where the reading for ohms is on the muiltimeter? i might be reading the numbers off the wrong line.

WAYNE88N/A

Just find the scale on the meter that has the ohms symbol (kinda funky greek omega looking thing), or says ohms, it shouldn't be rocket science...From what you've described, it looks like the coil you read out was good- the closer to 0 ohms, the better...Read the rest of 'em out now (2 more on the trailing), then we rule those out also...Isn't troubleshooting fun?

bluemazda

oh yea, nothing i'd rather be doing. LOL