NewZed Posted June 3, 2017 Share Posted June 3, 2017 12 volts doesn't mean that there will be enough current through the coil to make a spark. That's where the jumper wire on the negative post will tell you something. If you have the power to coil positive and you tap negative post lead to ground you'll make and break the coil circuit,just like the transistor would. If you don't get a spark that way you'll not get one with a new BIP373 either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baggedgoods Posted June 3, 2017 Author Share Posted June 3, 2017 (edited) Well I just dropped a new oem coil in but haven't manually discharged it because you'd think it would work just fine. And I tried starting it but still no spark. That's why I'm being lead back to the transistor. I'll let you know how everything goes when I put the new transistor in. Edited June 3, 2017 by baggedgoods Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewZed Posted June 3, 2017 Share Posted June 3, 2017 Understanding the basics of an ignition system will help you solve your problem. "Dropping" new parts in will get expensive. Good luck. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baggedgoods Posted June 6, 2017 Author Share Posted June 6, 2017 Took the old transistor out and found that the screw holding it on grounded to the wall of the transistor mounting hole. I had the plastic insulator installed but it seemed to arc just below the bottom of it. So, dropped a new transistor in and I'm about to test it out. Will update soon. Wish me luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickenman Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 Well... that would certainly do it. What are you using for a Thermal compound? You must be sure it's 100% non-conductive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baggedgoods Posted June 6, 2017 Author Share Posted June 6, 2017 Well... that would certainly do it. What are you using for a Thermal compound? You must be sure it's 100% non-conductive. It is heat sink grease. It's used mainly in putting processors into the motherboard's of PCs but I'm pretty positive it is non-conductive. Tried turning it over and it won't start. I believe I fouled out my plugs from trying to start it so much without spark. Gonna pick up a new set tomorrow and go from there. Crossing my damn fingers once again lol. Welcome to the race car world I guess Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickenman Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 It is heat sink grease. It's used mainly in putting processors into the motherboard's of PCs but I'm pretty positive it is non-conductive. Ummm..pretty positive is not really good enough. Many CPU thermal greases are electrically conductive. Does it have a brand name? Usually any of the white pastes are OK, but any thing that is grey or silver in colour usually contains Silver particles to increase efficiency. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baggedgoods Posted June 6, 2017 Author Share Posted June 6, 2017 I'll double check on it. You'd think if it was electrically conductive, it would have grounded out long before it did. Who knows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickenman Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 I'll double check on it. You'd think if it was electrically conductive, it would have grounded out long before it did. Who knows. This used to happen with computer CPU's all the time. Apply a bit too much thermal compound and it will flow over the edges of the CPU and onto electrical traces surrounding the CPU. It takes some time for this to happen though, as the CPU has to heat up considerably before the thermal compound thins out from heat. A lot of the cheaper ( and not so cheap ) brands still contain metallic particles ( Silver, Copper, Aluminium ) that can be conductive. AMD CPU's with the exposed flip chip were infamous for shorting out when too much Thermal compound was applied. I use Arctic Cooling MX-2 or MX-4 which is a non-conductive thermal compound on all my Computer builds now. Just something to double check... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 Hmm the driver should also be secured with a non conductive screw so that the short wouldn't be possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewZed Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 (edited) This is leading me to the megasquirt itself. I soldered in a bip373 into q16 and have js10 controlling spark Later post: the only modification I made was putting the bip373 in slot q16 controlled with js10. Did you replace a BIP373 or did you switch from the old transistor? Kind of reads like you changed a few things along the way to the BIP373. Could be that you just never had the BIP373 installed correctly in the first place. https://www.diyautotune.com/support/tech/other/bosch-bip373-ignition/ Edited June 6, 2017 by NewZed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baggedgoods Posted June 6, 2017 Author Share Posted June 6, 2017 (edited) I just installed what DiY gave me. Metal screw with plastic insulator. Alot of people tend to over look things so I have to say the same shit twice so they get all the details. But no, the only change I made to the board was the transistor installation. And no, there was nothing installed into q16 prior to me installing the bip373. Only js10 was to the center hole. I found a diagram for mounting the transistor and followed it to the letter which seemed to work for however long I had the car going. Edited June 6, 2017 by baggedgoods Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewZed Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 Don't use the word modification if you're not modifying and don't want to say the same shit twice. Grammar matters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickenman Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 Hmm the driver should also be secured with a non conductive screw so that the short wouldn't be possible. Yeah, that would make more sense. Buy DIY does supply a metal screw for some reason. They also supply a flanged plastic grommet to insulate the screw from the Driver. The larger diameter flange is suppossed to go against the screw head. I wonder if it is possible to put that insulator in upside down so that the tin collar is facing the screw head. Thta might cause the screw head to barely touch the case when tightened down. A bump in the Road could be all it took??? You can see the white plastic insulator collar and the flange that is supposed to seat against the screw head in the following picture. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 Don't do that...The "a lot of people" comment is superfluous. It is thinly veiled and obvious. No one is required to be here, there is no karma, there is no financial incentive. Attitude is a good way of alienating people real quick. Clarification is always appreciated. Especially there are no images to go off of, words can paint a different picture to different individuals. To me it seemed like you still had a problem with firing the coil. The assumption was that replacing it removed any and all problems in that entire circuit. If the driver was at fault then definitely a good thing to replace, with it functioning I would still like to see if you can trigger spark via the ECU. Ignition on should charge the coil. test mode, then fire the ignition output should cause a spark discharge in whichever wire the distributor is pointed at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickenman Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 I just installed what DiY gave me. Metal screw with plastic insulator. Alot of people tend to over look things so I have to say the same shit twice so they get all the details. But no, the only change I made to the board was the transistor installation. And no, there was nothing installed into q16 prior to me installing the bip373. Only js10 was to the center hole. I found a diagram for mounting the transistor and followed it to the letter which seemed to work for however long I had the car going. No actually you tend to give incomplete, confusing or even contradictory information which leads to confusion. Not flaming you. Just making you aware that you must be clear and concise in communications, and sometimes you aren't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 Yeah, that would make more sense. Buy DIY does supply a metal screw for some reason. They also supply a flanged plastic grommet to insulate the screw from the Driver. The larger diameter flange is suppossed to go against the screw head. I wonder if it is possible to put that insulator in upside down so that the tin collar is facing the screw head. Thta might cause the screw head to barely touch the case when tightened down. A bump in the Road could be all it took??? You can see the white plastic insulator collar and the flange that is supposed to seat against the screw head in the following picture. . Could be, being poorly tightened it could have moved. I want to say I saw nylon/plastic hardware for some of the drivers on my board. Might be worth investing in to stave off a similar occurrence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickenman Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 Could be, being poorly tightened it could have moved. I want to say I saw nylon/plastic hardware for some of the drivers on my board. Might be worth investing in to stave off a similar occurrence. Yes, I agree on that 100%. I've seen the Nylon screws and Nuts on MS Boards as well. .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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