1985 Mazda 323 No crank no start.

[alexhughes70]

Hello Oldschool!

I'm new here and thought I'd ask around here about my current issue. Not sure if this is the right forum if so mods feel free to move to the right forum.

So I've gotten into the world cars about a year ago and it's amazing!

So I brought a 1985 Mazda 323/Familia with a E5 engine off a mate for $500 that had a dying engine. It was overheating dramatically and he didn't top the coolant/oil up in a long time. Finally it soon wouldn't even start. So a had a few mates have a look at it with me and I took off the rocker cover and coolant was sitting there with the oil, not a good sign at all. Took the head off and guess what? 3 pistons had coolant sitting ontop of them. We knew by now the engine was history.

I found a E3 engine (The engine spec lower than the E5, 1.3l 8valve sohc) for $180 and went ahead and brought it. Ive read that you can run drop it straight in and mostly everything will be fine. So we dropped that into the bay and brought new clutch at the same time. After getting everything bolted in and secured we topped up the coolant/oil/tranny oil and I went to turn the key. NOTHING!

So the car has been sitting in the drive since. I had the battery fully charged with a bench charger overnight and it was purchased in January 2012, I cleaned the battery connectors and tried, this nothing. Now Im looking at the starter motor wiring, checked that out and that's fine, decided to take the starter motor out and bench test and yes it engages and does spin freely.

We thought about giving it a roll start and therefore did that down a hill, that didn't do the trick because the car wasn't getting any spark either. tested the spark plugs and no spark and checked the ignition coil wiring and that's fine and took the dizzy cap off and checked that out and it's clean.

So I've got two problems now, nothing when I turn the key and no spark? I am getting a click from a relay however. Where should I go from here before getting a mechanic to check it out?

Anymore I have to provide?

Here are some progress pictures I took.

Many thanks!

[Seedy Al]

So, does the engine turn over by key at all????

And if not, does it turn over by hand?

And if it is turning over on the key, remove the distributor cap and make your the dissy is actaully turning over.

Also make sure you have a good earth on the engine and that it wasnt left off at some stage during the engine swap.

Basicly. if the starter turns over on the bench. but not in the car, then

A) your power cables need addressing

b ) your earth cable is fucked

C) Your motor is seized and the starter cant turn it over

and maybe D) your starter is worn, will turn freely on the bench, but with any load on it it wont turn. Best way to test that is get it on a bench and jam some wood against the pioion gear to load it up.

[AllTorque]

If the engine doesnt turn over how do you know there is no spark?

Also check fuses. I think these have fuse wire for the main fuse?

Check with a test light both sides of the fuse.

Double check the basics.

Is the battery connected the right way?

Is the signal wire at the starter getting power when you turn the key?

[alexhughes70]

Thanks for the replies!

Nothing at all happens when I turn the key, just a click from the relay. I turned the engine over by hand yesterday and it has decent compression and no mechanical issues, There is one ground cable that is directly coming off the ground harness which I bolted in between the bellhousing and the gearbox. We roll started the car and tested for spark and nothing, I have checked the fuse box under the hood and under the drivers side kick panel, I'm assuming there will be more boxes hidden somewhere too. I'm certain the battery is connected up fine.

I'll go out and get a circuit tester this weekend and check over the fuses again and I'll do a voltage drop test/ check to see if there is power getting to the starter using the multi meter.

Cheers!

[alexhughes70]

So it turns out my ignition condenser was broken so I've replaced that and going to chuck it in tomorrow, would it being broken have any effect on the spark? Not quite sure what it does :\

[AllTorque]

The condenser would explain no spark but not why the engine doesn't turn over. May be worth trying some jumper leads for shits and giggles. Put the earth jumper lead somewhere on the engine in your car instead of negative battery terminal.

[alexhughes70]

So today I got the circuit tester and checked the ignition coil and starter and Im getting 12 to both of them. Suspecting a relay or fuse. I've got the engine to turn over now by jumping the trigger switch cable to the battery, used cleaner carb and nothing, Im now stuck with the no spark issue.

[alexhughes70]

I've used the test light on the negative and cranked the engine. Im getting a dim light which I'm assuming is good? Will it matter if Im using a condenser that is one digit off, the old one had a snapped wire so I went and got a new one off a mazda wrecker.

Just to get everything straight here this is what I have done:

-Swapped Coil

-New Condenser

-Tried a different HT lead

-Tested +/- terminals on coil with test light and getting a dim light from the negative

- Physically looked at the rotor and turned over to insure everything is allgood.

Is there a possible way of trying to get a spark directly from the coil?

Here are some pictures!