Quick no-spark troubleshooting question

[mspiegle]

Hey all,
My car ('87 IS) just recently has had troubles starting. First thing I checked was spark and didn't get anything. I then checked for voltage at the coil which I do have. The resistances on the coil seemed slightly high, so I swapped it just to make sure.

Next, I wanted to rule out the distributor/rotor as being the culprit. Is it reasonable to take a spark plug wire directly from the coil and place it near a ground to test for spark? Or, do I need to go through a spark plug in order to get spark? I tried it just now, and didn't see any spark but I'm not sure if it was a valid test.

Tomorrow morning, I'll check the crank sensor and ECU.

Thanks in advance!

[lordofthewaters]

Yes you'll need a spark plug. Just pull one and lay it on your shock tower. That's what I do, of course sometimes it's too bright to see the spark the first time.

[mspiegle]

Sweet! It was the crank sensor. Parts cars are a DIYers best friend :)

The situation was getting dire. For the past week, law enforcement has been chalking my tires because they thought the car was abandoned. I had been going out late at night and washing the chalk off, then rolling my car down the street a little (i'm on a steep hill). They started getting smart and marking the tires very close to the ground where you couldn't see it unless you were really looking. They'll probably be wondering how I managed to "push" the car UP hill!