Ignition Key Switch & Coil

BROKENEGGS

MEMBER
1987 DODGE DAKOTA
3.9L
6 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
20,000 MILES

I Know I Have Power From The Battery Reaching The Ignition Switch, Since I Can Turn The Engine Over By Using The Ignition Key Switch. Why Is The Ignition Key Switch Not Sending Any Power To The Coil, The Way It Is Suppose To Do?

Tuesday, March 25th, 2014 AT 11:14 AM

4 Replies

WRENCHTECH

MECHANIC
20,757 POSTS

Yes the ignition coil is powered by the switch, Here is a wiring diagram so you can test the switch and a guide to help as well.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-use-a-test-light-circuit-tester

Check out the diagrams (Below)

Please let us know what you find. We are interested to see what it is.

Cheers

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Tuesday, March 25th, 2014 AT 12:16 PM

BROKENEGGS

MEMBER
198 POSTS

I looked at the Diagram For The Current Flow To Coil For This 1987 Dodge Dakota, And It Shows from The Battery To The Ignition Key Switch To The Coil To The Distributor To The Spark Plugs. Does This Seem Right To You? I Do Not Have A Electronic Spark Advance System. I Have Checked The Battery And It Has A Full Charge, I Checked To See If Their Was Power To The Key Ignition Switch And Was Able To Turn Engine Over So I Came To The Conclusion That It Did Have Power Since I Was Able To Turn Motor Over By Using The Key Ignition Switch, If Left The Key Ignition Switch In The On Position And Went To The Coil Location And Placed The Negative And Positive Wires Together And There Was No Spark, So I Reached The Conclusion That There Was No Current Coming To The Coil. Having Found There Was No Power To Coil, I Came To The Conclusion That Their Was No Need To Check Anything Else Until I Could Get Power To The Coil. If I Can Get You To Realize That The System On This Truck Does Not Have Anything Fancy. This System Appears To Me To Be The Very Same System That Was Used Back In 1950. The Fuse Box Does Have A Lot Of Fuses And Other Round And Square Things Plugged Into It That Does Not Say What Any Of Them Are For, So I Have No Idea About These Fuses Are Other Plugged In Things That I Have No Way Of Knowing What They Are For.

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Tuesday, March 25th, 2014 AT 2:43 PM

WRENCHTECH

MECHANIC
20,757 POSTS

Never connect the coil wires together. That is a great way to burn out the ignition module. This is not the same system used since 1950, not even close. It has electronic ignition, not points. It has temp controlled vacuum solenoids that control fuel mixture at certain situations.

Whenever you are testing for power you need to use an LED type test light. Don't look for sparks.

Your first step here is to use a spark tester and test for spark at the plug end of the wire. If none found, test at the coil wire. If none found, test for power supply at the coil with a test light. If you have power there, then you need to test for ground pulse using a noid light.

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Tuesday, March 25th, 2014 AT 4:27 PM

BROKENEGGS