Warning! Your vehicle is equipped with a high-energy microprocessor ignition system (HEISS). The high-voltage wires carry approximately 40,000 volts, and although the low current is not life-threatening, a possible electric shock when testing the ignition system can have serious consequences. Therefore, if you handle a high-voltage wire with the ignition on, use a thick rubber glove or, at a pinch, pliers with insulated handles.
Note: Before checking the ignition system, place the gear shift lever in neutral and leave the parking brake on.
1. With the ignition off, check the integrity and fit of the high-voltage wires in the ignition coil sockets.
2. Check the serviceability of the ignition coil (see "Checking the ignition coil").
3. If the low-voltage circuit of the ignition coil is OK, check for spark at the spark plugs. Remove the high-voltage wire from any spark plug. Insert a spare spark plug into the tip of the wire and press the metal part of it to the vehicle's "ground" (for example, to the cylinder head). Ask an assistant to turn the engine crankshaft with the starter.
Attention! Reliable contact of the spark plug body with the "ground" is mandatory, since if an additional spark gap appears, larger than the gap between the spark plug electrodes, damage to the engine control unit or the high-voltage circuit of the ignition coil is possible.
Attention! Perform the specified check for no more than five seconds, so as not to damage the exhaust gas neutralizer if gasoline that has not burned in the engine cylinders gets into it.
4. If there is no spark, replace the high-voltage wires with new ones. You can first try to install not new, but tested ones, from a "working" car.
5. If after replacing the wires the spark does not appear, replace the ignition coil (see "Removal and installation the ignition coil"). If there is a spark, but the engine does not start, replace the spark plugs with new ones. You can also try to install not new, but tested ones from a "working" car.
6. If the engine still does not start, check the engine management system (see "Fuel injection system faults").
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