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Spark Under Hood?

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Old 02-19-2008, 08:04 PM
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Default Spark Under Hood?

1995 chevy s10 blazer 4.3 4x4

Ok guys I have been troubleshooting on here for a couple days and i know your probably tired of me lol

I have not been able to make it to an auto store to get plugs and wires, cap and rotor yet because they were closed when i was off work

one of the guys at works said to look under the hood in the dark with the motor running and if you see blue sparks then you have bad wires, so i did and i see blue on the back drivers and passengers side and also around what im assuming is the coil on the passenger side top of the engine?

im not sure if its a coil but it has wires plugged into it and is electronic and its got blue sparks around it?
 
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Old 02-19-2008, 08:17 PM
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Default RE: Spark Under Hood?

ORIGINAL: newguy07

im not sure if its a coil but it has wires plugged into it and is electronic and its got blue sparks around it?
How many wires and are they plug wires? Sounds like a distributor cap if it's round and has 6 plug wires and a coil wire.
 
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Old 02-19-2008, 08:27 PM
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Default RE: Spark Under Hood?

the wires that are sparking blue are definitely plug wires ran behind the engine but the box that i was talking about is not the distributor or i would recognize that

it is a squar or rectangle box about 2"x4" or so with a wiring harness running into it and a couple wires out the back and its on like a silver heat sink type thing. Could it be the coil?
 
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Old 02-19-2008, 08:29 PM
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Default RE: Spark Under Hood?

That is the coil.
 
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Old 02-19-2008, 08:29 PM
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Default RE: Spark Under Hood?

sounds like the coil to me
 
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Old 02-19-2008, 08:35 PM
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Default RE: Spark Under Hood?

should you be able to see blue sparks under the hood or is that because the plug wires are bad?
 
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Old 02-19-2008, 09:12 PM
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ok so i found some pics online and it is in fact the coil and i guess the wires are bad for sure but has anyone noticed if the coil sparks?
 
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Old 02-19-2008, 10:59 PM
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Default RE: Spark Under Hood?

I have never seen a blue spark on a properly running engine, even in the dark.

Sounds like you found the parts that need replaced, verify that they are on correctly before you spend money on new ones. Spark pplug wires have a distributor end, and a spark plug end. Also use teh little clips that hold the plug wires away from the metal of the engine.
 
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Old 02-20-2008, 01:49 AM
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Default RE: Spark Under Hood?

Blue spark = bad wires and also if you see the same blue spark coming out of the coil replace that too!!!
 
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Old 02-22-2008, 03:43 PM
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Default RE: Spark Under Hood?

Ok guys so I actually had a day today when I could work on it and I got it done, I replaced the wires and cap and rotor. The weird thing is the distributor looks like a dang crab, the wire come out the side not the top like usual.

It is actually running better than it did when we got it with the exception that the check engine light has stayed on but I only drove it for about 10 minutes so im sure that will go off with a few drives

the coil turned out to be fine and the guy that tested it or did whatever they do with them lol said that the bad wires just grounded out and that is why everything was sparking
 


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