So I have been trying to trace this down and I can't figure it out. Ive replaced the coil and the ignition switch and the Ingnition control Unit that is next to the distributor. No spark. The coil checks out for resistance. I am getting voltage to the coil and to the ICU. No spark from the coil to the distributor. I checked all fusible links and the coil is tight and grounded. What else could cause no spark. ECU? I am not sure what I am missing.

1983 280zx N/A

 

You said you were getting voltage from the ECU. Do you mean it's pulsing from the ECU? NA or turbo (I'm assuming NA)?

 

it has voltage when the key is on the on position. I get voltage between + and ground. It is an NA

 

OK the signal to fire the coil comes from the ignition module on the NA (comes from the ECU on the turbo). You need to determine if the coil is getting switched on and off by the ignition module. The ignition module translates the variable reluctance (a hunk of metal passes by another inducing current to flow/voltage across the unit) which produces a low voltage A/C signal at low speed and a much higher signal at high RPMs. The ignition module produces a steady output to fire the coil. You should see the ignition module pulsing the coil when you turn the car over. If the reluctor setup inside the dizzy is fine and the pickup coil feeding the ignition module from inside the dizzy is OK then you should have an AC signal being produced going into the ignition module from the distributor.

So basically you should have an AC signal coming from the distributor into the ignition module. If that's good your reluctor set up is fine. If you're getting a pulse DC signal out of the ignition module then the module is fine and the only thing left is coil.

The ignition module is usually the issue and you can replace it with an HEI module if you are looking for a cheap replacement and can't find a reasonably priced OEM one.

Make sure your grounds are good. They will often cause chaos and typically make my own grounding kit for any new (to me) older vehicle I get to eliminate those pesky and difficult to find issues.