Looks OK to me. Very slow cranking though. Best start by checking the battery.

 

Wouldn't you say a little weak? The color is not blue which is what you would want to see. At least that’s what I generally judge .

 

Sparks colour is a strange thing. They use the term Inductive (blue) Capacitive (yellow) and I'm not sure what really matters. It seems fat enough but the colour may be caused (guess) but the battery voltage low. If the alternator is not charging it may be contributing to the cause but it's early days with this one.

 

Thank you guys for the replies. I have the car hooked up to jumper cables to another car that’s on when I was doing these tests to try and insure I had good voltage. But I will hook up my multimeter while cranking and ensure it is over 12v

 

It’s not about the so much the starting voltage as it is the coil out . We can see this on an oscilloscope that when the spark plug is tested when orange and then compare to a scope and measuring spark energy the orange like in your picture shows that the coils are not producing the best energy. This does not mean the engine won’t start and run and for low RPM ranges run seemingly well. However it does indicate that you would not have the best mpg or supportive engine power because the spark plug would not receive the coil energy levels to produce a good spark kernel under power or engine load .
The bottom line is based on the info so far your issue is unlikely coil related . But at some point your coils and spark plugs should be replaced together.


As for cranking voltage this goes to needing to load test the battery. Now if your battery is say at least 12.5 volts and the cables are clean with good connections , and the stater is at least presumably in good to fair condition, then testing the start voltage drop is inconclusive unless the voltage dips into the 10s . But that would indicate a battery needing to be replaced , and the load test of the battery would have shown that and why always check the battery first with anything that is problematic and needs battery power.

 

An oscilloscope is absolutly the best way to see what's happening with a coil but how many workshops still have one. From memory you look for 5 coil oscillations after the spark duration less than that the coil voltage is collapsing and is usually caused by the wiring insulation inside the coil breaking. I loved using the scope on cars because you found out so much but alas scan tools are all the go now and everyone thinks they have the diagnostic skills to fix their car. IF it's got the old style oil filled coil a bush test is to shake it and if you can hear the oil inside sloshing around it's a good chance it's OK. I still think the spark looks OK and would be looking in other areas. Perhaps make a short video of how it starts when cold might help tell a story.

 

Many high end scanners have them. My *Snap-on Solus has one. I would not have anyone working for me that did not have their own professional shop grade and quality scanner.
The spark in the picture only really shows that the spark is "ok" not the best but nothing beyond that without a live video and naturally more info. I did suggest ruling out the coils and spark plugs and only mentioned that they should be serviced at some point .

BTW most Automotive technical institution (even Motorcycle tech and schools) at least here in the USA still teach and train students becoming Automotive mechanic or Diagnostics technician the use of scopes. And at least on getting ASE certification the test has a few questions pertaining to using a scope. And the current L3 certification to work on electric vehicles it's required to know how to use a scope.

 

I know they have scopes but are they capable of viewing the high voltage secondary voltage? The ones I have seen like Hanatech are a bit more dedicated than most scantools. Here in Aust dealers have the scanning equipment required for their vehicles and some brands won't let the dealers buy outside equipment even if it's superior. My son previously worked for a Mazda dealer and when they get a different make of car still call him out to do the scanning. I don't know what scanning equipment they have in their shop. Most places supply all the scanning equipment and techs are only required to provide basic hand tools. Unfortuatley modern cars don't lend themselves to the easy access like the older 1 coil 6 plugs etc designs where it only took less than a minute to hook up a scope and view primary and secondary paterns and with little knowledge diagnose problem areas. I love the old scopes and have a 12 volt portable one I bought over 30 years ago. Don't use it much except for my own cars where all but 2 (being diesel) can be looked at with the scope. I suppose it's like exhaust gas analysers. We used to heavily rely on them as a diagnostic tool and now it's looking at fuel trims or for HP tuners the wideband O2. Anyway you got me ranting.

 

Well that’s an easy answer. Dealerships are independently owned business. Although contracts are met from the auto manufacturers most do not require a long list of required tools and equipment. And as for there mechanics the better real ones come with most of thier own tools an other equipment like high end scanner.

This is also why not all Mazda dealerships will do every service related warranty work.

For me in my area it’s bonus for work mostly in summer and winter . A couple dealerships like your son. Last time my home insurance wanted an up date he valued my tools at just over 45k . Think about that, and that’s not my original investment cost was when new.