Expert: Don Berlan - 8/3/2006

Question
hi Don,

I cant get my 86 325e to start. I am getting plenty of fuel. I did return line test by jumping the relay. No spark at the plugs though. We have spark to the coil, but only when we ground it from the negative terminal. The car has new cap, rotor, and the coil is new, but we cant get spark past the coil. Is there anything else that would cause it not to run? We also checked the fuse box-no problems or corrosion there. Any tests I could do? Any help would be great. Thank you.
Adam  

Answer
Sounds like the reference sensor located in the bell housing.There are 2 sensors one is the reference sensor(grey) the other is TDC sensor(black).It should read around 945 ohms.The sensor reads the teeth on the flywheel and determines when to spark(kind of like the old points thging)The other sensor,there is a pin in the flywheel that notes where number 1 cylinder is.