If one of the windings is bad, could it not cause weaker spark in one of the cylinders?

 

Of for God's sake, give it a rest

 

Not til I fix it or sell it.

 

I've had coils fail completely (no spark) but I can't recall one working with a weak spark. I'm sure it's possible, but not sure how likely. I'd be more likely to say it's the wires or plugs, but you can use an adjustable spark tester to check the relative strength of the two coils and supporting parts. You open up the air gap until it fails to spark. Best done in a dim shop so you can see the spark. Be aware that it may arc in unwanted places if there is a weak point in the wire insulation anywhere.

 

Thanks. Was hoping I could just stick my multimeter probe into each terminals and see if the the spark is the same voltage in each.

 

Not unless you have a meter that can handle extremely high voltages. Like 50,000 volts.

Besides, the problem is usually resistance related and a direct measurement like that probably wouldn't reveal a problem. Similar to a battery that has good static voltage but can't crank over an engine.

You CAN use a normal DVM to measure coil resistance, though. There is a test procedure in the FSM.