IGNITION PROBLEM: Arcing Sparkplug

[Phoenix7]

Well I asked on the other club a while back and didn't get much help and the problem was never fixed.

Backstory: Visible current on the outside of the sparkplug on my friend's vert. He replaced wires, plugs, and the problem is down to the L2 sparkplug. The Leading plug of the second rotor was ARCING badly. Now it's stumbling too.

Well he has been working on it all day and decided to use the LED ECU CODE CHECKER (http://www.rotarycarclub.com/showthread.php?t=1475) to see if it was throwing any codes.

None. :dunno:

We checked his timing and it was way off so it was brought back to specs. It was still stumbling and we weren't expecting the arcing to stop which we believe might be causing the stumbling.

Next he decided to test the coils. We checked the FSM (http://www.rotarycarclub.com/showthread.php?t=1790) and it tells you to do a voltage test to make sure the coils were getting plenty of power. Did Steps 1-3 and read the warning about causing damage if you do not unplug the battery before removing the voltmeter probes.:o15:

It tested at 14.4V.

FSM (http://www.rotarycarclub.com/showthread.php?t=1790) SPECS: 12V

OK, so the coils are getting pumped with 14V and causing the arcing?:dunno:

Maybe a ground?

Well I found a nice article on team FC3S.org about the ignition system (http://www.teamfc3s.org/info/articles/demystifying.html) A GREAT READ!:icon_tup::icon_tup::icon_tup:

Well, it got me thinking that we might as well eliminate the CAS as a possible cause of the ignition issues. Well the FSM (http://www.rotarycarclub.com/showthread.php?t=1790) says that the G1 and G2 signal should be between 110Ω–210Ω and the same for the NE1 and NE2. Well the CAS is coming at 168 and 168.5 respectively.

It's fine electrically. tomorrow we're going to pull it out and make sure it's set properly and recheck the timing and keep tracking down the problem.

Any thoughts or input would be greatly appreciated.

KEYWORDS: FSM, FSM*, LED, CODE, CHECKER, ARC, ARCING, SPARK, PLUG, LEADING, COIL, CAS, CAS*, STUMBLING, MISSING, TIMING

[RETed]

What kind of wires?
What kind of plugs? NGK BUR's I assume?


-Ted

[Phoenix7]

yup, NGKs.

[Ender]

Did you check the resistance on your plug wires? It's best just to make sure... This one has me confused, I had the same problem, but it was fixed with new plug wires.

[Phoenix7]

they're new NGKs so I didn't bother, I'll check them today.

[Kentetsu]

It sounds like you've covered everything other than engine grounding. Might want to run a temporary ground to the motor just to see if it makes a difference...

[Phoenix7]

That's what Higgi was recommending I do also. I'll keep updating and adding pics if I find anything.

[Apac tii]

Check to make sure your grounds are good this could be your issue.

[Phoenix7]

I'll definitely do this before pulling anything else apart.

[Max777]

Damn,... did this ever get fixed? Sounds dangerous, and reminds me of when I let my car run for like 10min with a spark plug wire disconnected!:D

[Phoenix7]

No, he just drives the van. He's pretty busy and doesn't work on the FC very often, only when he has free time.

[JunpoweR]

It could also just be the wires.
Try another set or ground everything always fixes everything.
I hear of that problem happening sometimes with cheap wires and sometimes Magnecore do that also.
Never ever happened to me tho.

[Phoenix7]

I dunno, I haven't talked to him about his car in a while. He replaced the wires and plugs with NGK so I dunno.

[TehMonkay]

Did you check that the threads were clean in the housing? I dont know how much of an impact that would have but it's worth checking.

[Phoenix7]

well, he says it's a bad ground so he's getting that fixed right now. He's thinking of selling it after it's fixed so he can finish his TII instead of upgrading the vert.

[Phoenix7]

ok, so would a bad spark plug hole cause it to arc??
My friend thinks the sprak plug hole could be damaged or something.

He's replaced the plugs and wires and I even tried one of my GOOD wires and it's still arcing.

He's been working on it for days and can't find anything.

[Phoenix7]

he was tracing the wiring back to his main relay and is looking to find the problem still. NO luck but he's actively searching for a solution now.

Any ideas would be great.

[RETed]

Additional grounds didn't work?


-Ted

[Phoenix7]

I don't think he added any. He checked to make sure the original grounds were intact though.

I'm looking for a document (list) of all the grounds and where to ADD any as of now though. I'm gonna help him focus on the ignition grounds first to see if it fixes it.

If anyone knows of a well documented list of where to ground what just let me know. I'll keep looking.

[RETed]

I think it might be a good idea to start adding some...

Put it closest to the spark plugs with the other end to the battery ground if possible.
Also, add extra grounds to the coil packs - the coil body itself needs to be grounded.
You can remove the coil body from the coil pack aluminum bracket to check if the metal surfaces are clean.


-Ted

[Phoenix7]

I think it might be a good idea to start adding some...

Put it closest to the spark plugs with the other end to the battery ground if possible.
Also, add extra grounds to the coil packs - the coil body itself needs to be grounded.
You can remove the coil body from the coil pack aluminum bracket to check if the metal surfaces are clean.


-Ted:biggthumpup: I'll let him know. Thanks.

[Phoenix7]

well, he went ahead and cleaned up a bunch of grounding points and the car stopped arcing!!!!!!!!!

After about 10 minutes it began to do it again though. Not as much as before but it did come back. Now He's going to add the extra grounding recommended and hopefully fix it for good.

[MazdaMike]

Arcing from the metal part of the plug to the block? WTF?

This is just me guessing but is it possible the voltage regulator has anything to do with it? Are the voltage regulators inside the alt? If so check the alt, I'm just trying to help not sure if it has anything to do with it.

[Phoenix7]

yup, from the block/sparkplug. The electricity covers the plug and I saw some come off the wire. Very odd.

I don't Know about his alternator. I'll put the voltmeter on it Saturday to see what current it's pushing. Who knows. I'm not sure it's related but It won't hurt to check.

[MazdaMike]

That would scare the shit out of me, good luck hopefully its the alt.

[Phoenix7]

That would scare the shit out of me, good luck hopefully its the alt.yeah, it would be simple. The fact that the car STOPPED for a little bit after cleaning up the grounds is good too. We'll see this weekend.