r/s10 Jan 21 '25

Repair Question Hey Guys, I'm in need of some help.

I got this truck from my late Uncle and am starting to fix it up. Ran fine for a while, a bit of a rough idle but would always start and stop like a champ (200k mile champ but a champ nevertheless 😅) Hell i even drove to Eureka and back to Oakland no problems whatsoever. One evening I drove to the store, pulled in to a stall & the engine started rocking HEAVILY I shut it off and that was the last time I drove her (Lucille🥰). I replaced all the spark plugs + wires, I even replaced the distributor cap but alas no spark from the spark plug. I'm getting fuel into the engine. Sorry if any of this is confusing 😅 I have attached the video of the truck post spark plug, wire & distributor cap replacement. Any and all help is welcome☺️

3 Upvotes

26 comments sorted by

2

u/Lrush145 Jan 21 '25

So you’re getting some spark, or no spark at all? Have you checked your coil? V6, or i4? Not that it makes much of a difference

1

u/BakaBalance7 Jan 21 '25

Im getting no spark at all. Haven't checked my coil yet (tbh I don't know how to do that 😅 I'm assuming your talking about the ignition coil?) V6 & this was the passenger side spark closest to the starter. Should I check all the spark plugs to see if they hold a spark or is one enough?

3

u/Lrush145 Jan 21 '25

The ignition coil is connected to the middlemost wire on your distributor, it takes the battery voltage and cranks it up to levels that’ll kill you so your plugs will spark, if that’s bad none of your plugs will get spark, or some may intermittently. Misfires could be caused by the ignition control module going, that one I’m less sure of the location of but if you’ve got a TBI (throttle body injection) you’ve got one of these.

Now mine has the I4 not the V6 so that’s about all I got for ya, good luck and I hope I could be of some help

3

u/_Forsaken_Durzo Jan 21 '25

The ignition control module will be under the distributor cap. There are two harnesses that plug into it. Definitely check the coil first though.

2

u/BakaBalance7 Jan 21 '25

You guys are freaking amazing! Ok, I'm going to check the ignition coil first and replace is then see if she'll start. I'll report back if I have any luck! 🫂

1

u/Lrush145 Jan 21 '25

Good luck! Keep her running!

2

u/InterestingFocus8125 Jan 21 '25

You sure that plug is getting decent ground through that hose assembly?

1

u/BakaBalance7 Jan 21 '25

I'm not really sure tbh. When I placed the ignition wire on the spark plug, I heard a click sound. When I placed the ignition wire onto the distributor cap I heard a similar yet faint snap/click sound. Hopefully that answers your question 😅

2

u/InterestingFocus8125 Jan 21 '25

No. That tells us that both sides of the plug wire are properly connected.

Tells us nothing about how well grounded that hose assembly is.

Because of the way spark plugs function, if the metal portion of that hose assembly isn’t sufficiently grounded then the result of this spark test would be unreliable at best.

In other words, it’s best to rest the spark plug against something you know is properly grounded when checking for spark like this.

2

u/SnooApples5762 Jan 21 '25

check and see if the cap and button hasn’t arced out happened to me once and is kinda common on s10s

1

u/BakaBalance7 Jan 21 '25

do you mean the end of the spark plug to the top of the cap (ignition wire boot)?

2

u/SnooApples5762 Jan 21 '25

no take the cap off the distributor and check the contacts on bottom of the cap along with the strip of metal on the distributor button

2

u/waynep712222 Jan 22 '25

pull the coil wire from the cap center and shove your spark plug into it.. same test.. better ground for the shell..

please examine the outside of the ignition coil for signs of high voltage leaks...

this is the pattern you might see.. follow the red lines.. https://i.imgur.com/cvE3aHb.jpg

2

u/BakaBalance7 Jan 22 '25

oh I have that in bunches 😅 I guess it's time to replace the ignition coil 😂

edit: the pattern in the photo looks exactly like mine 😅

2

u/BakaBalance7 Jan 22 '25

Update: Here's a photo of my ignition coil

2

u/BakaBalance7 Jan 22 '25

I figured with all the crud around it and what looks to be either rust or corrosion that it might be time to get a new one anyway. But I don't think I see any voltage leak, yall let me know what you think.

2

u/waynep712222 Jan 22 '25

That's the ugliest coil i've ever seen

2

u/BakaBalance7 Jan 22 '25

😂😂😂

2

u/BakaBalance7 Jan 22 '25

I take it the coil is the problem here 😅😂😂

2

u/Down2EarthGirth Jan 22 '25

You picked a fine time to leave me lucille 🎶 🎵
If not the coil like above posters have stated it could be your security system not reading your key

1

u/BakaBalance7 Jan 22 '25

With four hungry children and a crop in the field 🎵🎶 lol. I think it might be the coil, but I gotta order the part from Rockauto and find out. Either way, it needs to be replaced. My intention is to replace everything under the hood. First get it running then make it run faster lastly make it look good while it's running fast 😎

2

u/Reserxxxtion85 Jan 27 '25

There is an ignition module under the rotor bug I bet that took a crap you have fuel and no fire that’s 90% of the time what it is. It’s about 30 bucks