92 oldsmobile 88 3800 engine has no spark at cylinders 1 and 4. Changed the coil, ignition module, wires and plugs still no spark at only those 2 cylinders. Any ideas?

FIRST OFF LEARN THE RULES OF WASTED SPARK COIL PACKS
1-IF ONE WIRE OR PLUG GOES OPEN, YOU LOSE 2 PLUGS DEAD THAT IS BECAUSE 2 FIRE AT ONCE, AND IS WIRED IN SERIES
2-DO NOT MIX IF THE WIRES OR FIRING ORDER IS LOST (HORROR 1)

3- LEARN TO REPLACE HV WIRES 1 BY 1, NOT MIXING THEM UP EVER.
YOUR PACK IS 6 IN ONE, AND HAS 3 COILS INSIDE FIRING IN WASTED SPARK ORDER. IS THIS CLEAR? AND ANSWERS IT ALL.

4- WELL THE HV WIRES ARE FIRST TO CHANGED OUT WITH NEW SPARK PLUGS AS 17 OLD PLUGS AND HV WIRE SETS ARE NO GOOD UNLESS NGK MAG WIRE, NOW THAT IS A WINNER THOSE, NOT CARBON CORE OR SILCONE CORE JUNK WIRES EVER,SEE NOW MOTORCRAFT SAVED OUR BACON,

SEE PHOTO BELOW FOR FIRING ORDER.
ON TOP OF COIL CLEAR AS DAY 6" SEE 3 AND 4 THERE, THEY FIRE AT THE SAME TIME.
AS DOES 2/6 AND 1/5

5: CYLINDER #1 ON ALL V ENGINE IS THE ONE MOST FRONT
IT IS OFF SET TO THE FRONT MOST. BINGO #2
THEN WE GET ASKED THE FIRING ORDER.
6: THIS IS NOT GUESSING THIS IS SERVICE MANUAL FACTS .
BANK 1> 1,2,3
BANK 2> 4,5,6
VIN U) Firing order 1-4-2-5-3-6
SEE HOW ALL THIS MATTERS?

Locate the ignition coils - they are mounted on the ignition module. Remove the wide connector that goes to the module. You will have to unscrew it first. Spray some WD40 on the connector pins and try to scrub them with a tip of a small screwdriver. Be delicate not to brake or bend anything. Reconnect the connector. Start the engine and see if it still misses.
If it still does, try to touch/move each of the wires that go to the ignition module. BE VERY CAREFUL not to touch any of the moving parts of the engine as you have to do it with engine running.

If it still misses, do the following.
1. Engine off
2. Mark the ignition wires so that you reconnect them later in the same order
3. Locate the coil which gives spark for cyl 1
4. Switch locations of this coil with any of the two remaining coils
5. Reconnect the wires
6. Start the engine

If it now misses on another cylinder, you will have to buy a new coil.

What size engine?

Hi, here are some tests you can do to diagnose the problem. Please let me know if you have questions.

First, use a voltmeter or 12 volt test light to check for power on the red wire going to pin 8 of the ignition control module when the key is on. The module is in the left front corner of the engine compartment.




If there is no power, the problem is the ignition switch or EEC relay. If there is power, next, check the ignition coil as listed below.

IGNITION COIL TESTINGPrimary and Secondary Circuit Tests

1. Turn the ignition switch OFF , disconnect the battery, then detach the wiring harness connector from the ignition coil to be tested.
2. Check for dirt, corrosion or damage on the terminals.

PRIMARY RESISTANCE

1. Use an ohmmeter to measure the resistance between the following terminals on the ignition coil, and note the resistance:

Except 2.3L, 2.5L and 5.0L engines


B+ to Coil 1 B+ to Coil 2 B+ to Coil 3
The resistance between all of these terminals should have been between 0.3-1.0 ohms. If the resistance was more or less than this value, the coil should be replaced with a new one.

SECONDARY RESISTANCE

Fig. Fig. 1: Engine ignition coil harness connections-3.0L and 4.0L engines

1. Measure, using the ohmmeter, and note the resistance between each corresponding coil terminal and the two spark plug wire towers on the ignition coil. The coil terminals and plug wires towers are grouped as follows:

Except 2.3L, 2.5L and 5.0L engines

Terminal 3 (coil 1)-spark plugs 1 and 5 Terminal 2 (coil 3)-spark plugs 2 and 6 Terminal 1 (coil 2)-spark plugs 3 and 4

If the coils test good, move on the the crankshaft sensor.
Using a DVOM set to the DC scale to monitor less than 5 volts, measure the voltage between the sensor Cylinder Identification (CID) terminal and ground by backprobing the sensor connector. If the connector cannot be backprobed, fabricate or purchase a test harness. The sensor is okay if the voltage reading varies more than 0.1 volt with the engine running at varying RPM. (check both the blue and gray wires at the ignition module with the engine cranking.)

Fig. Fig. 3: CKP sensor wire harness connections for the 4.0L (VIN X and E) engines


If there is power and both the coils and sensor check good, replace the ignition control module.

Have you checked the spark plug itself? --- 5.7L Engine To Remove:
NOTE: Note spark plug cable original positions before removing.

1. Before servicing the vehicle, refer to the precautions at the beginning of this section.
2. Clean the area around the coil with compressed air.
3. Remove or disconnect the following:
   • Battery negative cable
   • Throttle body air intake tube and intake box (if necessary)
   • Coil electrical connector by moving slide lock and pressing on release lock
   • Secondary high-voltage cable from coil
   • Mounting bolts
   • Coil from cylinder head opening by twisting

To Install:

1. Clean area around spark plugs with compressed air.
2. Apply dielectric grease to inside of boots.
3. Install or connect the following:
• Ignition coil to cylinder head opening
• 2 mounting bolts
  1. Torque to: 106 inch lbs. (12 Nm)
• Coil electrical connector
• Cable to coil
• Throttle body air tube and intake box (if necessary)
• Battery negative cable

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Distributorless Ignition System General Information This vehicle uses two different types of ignition systems. The 3.7L, 4.7L, and 5.7L engines do not use a conventional distributor. The 5.9L engine uses a conventional distributor. The ignition system is controlled by the Powertrain Control Module (PCM) on all engines. Procedures in this section are for the 3.7L, 4.7L, and 5.7L engines; please see the section on Distributor Ignition Systems for procedures for the 5.9L engine.
Distributorless ignition systems (EI) are used on many current engines. This system uses the waste spark method for distributing secondary voltage. In a waste spark system, an individual coil is used to fire one pair of engine cylinders simultaneously. These cylinders are known as companions, since each of their pistons is at TDC at the same time. On a typical V6 engine for example, cylinder 1 is at TDC compression while cylinder 4 is at TDC exhaust. This is also true of cylinders 2 and 5 as well as cylinder 3 and 6.
The cylinder on the compression stroke is known as the event cylinder, while the cylinder on the exhaust stroke is called the waste cylinder. Since secondary resistance is very low in the cylinder on the exhaust stroke, little voltage is required to fire the plug. For this reason, the majority of available voltage is consumed by the cylinder on the compression stroke.
One spark plug is attached to each end of the secondary coil winding via the spark plug wires. This series circuit arrangement causes one of the plugs to fire in a forward direction (center electrode to outer electrode), and the other spark plug to fire in a reverse direction (outer electrode to center electrode). The firing voltage requirements on the waste spark ignition are significantly greater than a traditional ignition system primarily because it takes 30% more energy to fire a plug reverse polarity. When a spark plug is fired backwards, it fires from the outer electrode to the center electrode. This is a high resistance path since the electrons do not flow as easily from a cold, dull surface such as the outer electrode to a hot, sharp surface like the center electrode.
Since the coil and plugs are arranged in a series circuit, a typical plug gap of .050" results in a total gap of .100" for the whole circuit that includes two spark plugs for the companion cylinders. The waste spark can overcome this added resistance by producing high secondary output voltages due to low resistance in the primary winding. Another reason higher secondary ignition voltage is required is cylinder pressure; specifically, the lack of it. Generally, event cylinders require 10 to 12-kV to initiate current flow across the spark plug gap, while only 2 - 3-kV is needed to fire the waste cylinder. Therefore, the air gap in the waste cylinder creates no more resistance than the rotor gap does in a conventional ignition system.
There are two different methods used for coil trigger. One method sends the crankshaft sensor signal directly to the ignition module to activate the coils, while the other sends the crankshaft sensor signal to the PCM and the PCM controls ignition operation either directly or through a separate ignition module.
Waste spark ignition advantages

• It has fewer components than conventional distributor-type ignition systems.
• No mechanical adjustments to set ignition timing.
• No mechanical load (turning the distributor shaft).
• No unwanted timing variations caused by gear lash or other worn distributor components.

Another advantage of waste spark is longer coil life. To illustrate this point, consider a six-cylinder engine with conventional ignition. At 3000 RPM, the coil must fire 9000 times per minute. This is calculated by dividing the engine speed by 2, since the cam turns at half crank speed, and then multiplying the distributor RPM by the total number of engine cylinders.
In contrast, the coils on a six-cylinder engine with waste spark only work a third as hard. This is because there's a coil for every two cylinders and each coil fires every crankshaft revolution. This means that at 3000 RPM, the coils only fire 3000 times per minute. This allows each coil to operate with less dwell (time that the coil is energized), resulting in less heat buildup and longer life.
Coil Over Plug System The coil over plug system was developed so that spark and spark timing could be better controlled on an individual cylinder basis. Each cylinder has an ignition coil mounted directly above the spark plug on the cylinder head cover. A short suppresser/connector replaces the spark plug wire and links the coil to the plug. There are different methods used for primary triggering. Some manufacturers use a combination coil/module, which means each coil has its own control circuit that is activated by the PCM. Others use remote mounted modules to trigger the coils.
Each individual coil is allowed to saturate while all other cylinders fire. For a V-8 engine, this allows a period of seven firing events for coil saturation, compared to three events for the same V-8 engine with a waste spark system. The coil over plug system also benefits from a minimum amount of energy lost, due to the resistance of spark plug wires.
Coil Near Plug System The coil near plug system also features multiple ignition coils. An ignition coil/module is mounted in proximity of each cylinder. There is a short length of spark plug wire between the coil and the spark plug.
Each ignition coil/module has its own control circuit and is activated sequentially by the PCM. All timing decisions are made by the PCM. This includes both ignition timing and duration of the spark.

Bad coil...you didn't list your motor size so it is either ignition module or coil.

cylinder 2 coil could be bad.cylinder 2 and 5 fires from the same coil pack.if coil 2 checks out good.you have a dirty injector or faulty injector to number 2 cylinder.

On dis ignition systems if you have an open circuit plug wire you will lose spark on both cylinders of the coil. So however you are checking for spark,(screwdrivers or spark testers) Check cylinders 1 and 4 at the same time. A good way to eliminate the possibility of a bad plug wire is to take both wires off the coil and start the engine. Spark should jump from the coil tower to the coil mounting bolts. If it doesn't replace the ignition module.

ignition timing or valve timing?

ignition timing not setable.

info:
The ignition system consists of an ignition coil, spark plug wires and spark plugs.
The crankshaft position sensor signal is the basis for ignition timing calculations. The alternating voltage signal from the crankshaft position sensor is digitized by the powertrain control module. This digitized signal is then used to position the closing time of the primary circuit of the ignition coil.
Ignition angle is determined by the powertrain control module in response to engine operating conditions. Once ignition angle has been determined, the powertrain control module interrupts the current to the primary circuit of the ignition coil thus triggering the ignition spark which is supplied to the cylinders through the spark plug wires and spark plugs.
The ignition coils are triggered by the powertrain control module in pairs (cylinders 1 and 4 and cylinders 3 and 2) sending one ignition spark to the firing cylinder and one ignition spark to the corresponding cylinder on the exhaust stroke. This make sures that any unburnt fuel residues remaining in the cylinder on the exhaust stroke are re - ignited to provide cleaner exhaust emissions.
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ignition mod. grounds,pcm or timing belt could all be it but, I would have to look at timing first.