sluggo99

I have owned a stock 350ci '73 for a year now and it has always started with no problem. The last time I refueled however, I forgot to replace the gas cap. The car started and ran fine on the way home from the station which is about 8 miles, but later that same day I couldn't get it to start. I eventually figured out I'd left my cap at the station and luckily when I went back to retrieve it, it was still there. I figured that was the reason for the no-start problem, but now that I've put it back on, the car still won't start. It turns over but won't fire up. Could driving without a gas cap have caused this problem or is it just a coincidence? Any recommendations on fixing it? Any help with this would be greatly appreciated -thanks!

cobrachuck

On a 73 gas cap or no gas cap it should start.
So that leaves spark or gas. Can you see fuel in the carburetor? Remove the air cleaner open the linkage you should see fuel going into the engine. Also remove an easy to get to spark plug lay it on the exhaust manifold have someone turn engine over you should see spark across the bottom of the plug.
Proceed from there.
Hope this helps.
Chuck

sluggo99

Plenty of gas going in. Will have to wait till my wife or son get home to test the spark. Thanks for the reply!

sluggo99

I don't seem to be getting any spark. Suggestions on where to start?

OzBeast

I'm just spit balling here, for more experienced heads to tell me I'm full of balcony.

Is it possibles that by leaving the cap off the pressure diff allowed the engine to be flooded after you shut it down? If so, and the plugs are wet, you will get no ignition.

I don't know, seems weird (but possible) that the cap left off and no start are completely unrelated so I'm just trying to think of a correlation.

cobrachuck

Ok
Fuel is good now we need to burn it,no flame it won't run
Old engines are easy. Do you still have points & condenser? They need replaced every other year or so cheap maintinance.

OzBeast

Also, I went through the "turns over but won't fire up" for a while a few months ago. Bit the bullet and bought a new battery (Optima red top) and now it starts every single time.

My old (costco) battery seemed to be fine, but evidently wasn't.

sluggo99

I had the distributor cap off last night and am honestly not sure if it's points and condenser or not. I will pull it off again tonight and go a little further into taking it apart. Sorry for my lack of knowledge, but I very much appreciate everyone's responses. As far as the battery goes, I put in a new red top a year ago when I bought the car and pretty much keep it on a trickle charger except for weekends so I think we can rule that out. Thanks again to all.

Franks73

You probably have an ignition coil next to the distributer, the center cable on your distributer goes to it. Good connection on both ends there? Are the small wires coming from the coil original? Mine were, and the small diameter wire (I think it was green) from the coil to the distributer was toast. That was enough to kill everything. Good Luck

sluggo99

After looking at everything a little closer I've decided to just replace the distributor and coil at this time. They both look pretty old and beat and I plan on keeping the car probably forever so figure it's a worthwhile upgrade. Thinking the MSD 8360 ready to run distributor is the way to go, and it doesn't look too be a difficult job to make the switch. If anyone has any other suggestions on what to put in it, I would appreciate hearing them. Thanks for all the replies and if I need help getting this done I know where to come for great advice!

MelWff

I hope you havent ordered the MSD 8360 because it is not made with the connection for you tachometer cable.

sluggo99

Ok, haven't pulled the trigger on it yet. When I plug my model/engine into the spot on their website it comes up with the 8360. Is there another MSD that would work better, or another brand/model? Most of their dizzies require using their ignition control module and this one doesn't so I thought that would be the easiest change out. Any performance gains that I get would make me happy, but mainly I just want it to start and run smoothly. The intake and exhaust are stock so I'm pretty sure everything inside is too.

MelWff

the correct MSD in that series that works with the mechanical tach in your car is 8572, see link below. Personally I would first find out why your car doesnt start before installing a new distributor.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ms...model/corvette

OldCarBum

There are several things I would check before replacing the coil and distributor. First, check your battery voltage. If it is low, give it a full charge and make sure it is putting out a full 12 volts. Next, I would measure the voltage across the ballast resistor with the ignition key in the on position, you should see about 10.5 to 11 volts. Check the voltage at your ignition coil. You need a minimum of 10.5 to 11.0 volts to fire the coil through the distributor and to the plugs. Make sure your points are opening and closing. If you have electronic ignition you still need the minimum voltage at the coil, which should be higher if you don’t have a ballast resistor. Check the voltage at the coil with someone turning the engine over. It should be the same. Next, check battery voltage at the starter with the key on. It should be the same as you measured at the battery. If it is less, you could have a loose, corroded, or bad battery cable. If you see a voltage drop do a resistance check on the cables, and check that the connections are tight. The ignition system and starting systems work together. If you are reading low voltage at the coil while spinning the engine, your starter or solenoid could be getting ready to go out and they could be pulling the voltage needed to fire the coil in order to spin the motor. Have the starter and solenoid checked and replace if needed. Have Fun…

augiedoggy

Really? a whole new distributor instead of just replacing the points and condensor for $5? They really are a normal wear and tear tuneup maintenance item... and with no spark they are always the first thing to replace and the condensor just goes randomly... I carried an extra with me in my last car after breaking down once because of them.. It sounds like you have never changed them before... its really easy to do.

I have a $50 tack drive no name performance distributor on my 74 I put on a few years back since the coil was a mess and they dont make the oil filled ones in the US anymore so i figured if im going with a chinese coil why not go with HEI ignition, nothing else on the new engine I was building was going to be original so..
(http://www.ebay.com/itm/Chevy-Big-Sm...tSvf4g&vxp=mtr)
now and have had no problems short of a $20 ignition module fail last year but many complain of quality issues with both the cheap ones and the pricey versions alike ... I believe they all come from the same two companies in china whether they are $450 with a big namebrand on them or $50 generic direct myself... I decided if it need going through to make it right and recurve it if needed. I'd rather do it anyway rather than spend 5-10x the price for someone to go through it for me.

vimzzz

I just had the same issue after rebuilding my engine this winter.

My setup is a MSD ignition box, a ignition coil and a msd distributor.
What you want to do is to find your self a multimeter and start measuring.

First I measured the coil. Put one end on the coil +side and one to the block or something else grounded (as I did), I had no power there. The next thing then was to check the MSD ignition box. It had power, but it has to + cables going to it. One constant power, and one which activates the box when the ignition is on. This was my issue. The cable that was supposed to give it power when the ignition is on, didn't. So I tried wiring up a new one. Measured it and got 13 volts (wohoo?), nope still no engine firing. This was because the cable I had laid to the MSD box, lost power while cranking the engine. So this is also something worth checking. Power while not cranking vs power while cranking.

Anyhow, as mentioned above, old engines are real simple, they need air, fuel and spark. If you have air and fuel, just find a multimeter and start digging in. Where is the power lacking, and if its not, then yeah, either a new distributor, or new cables.

sluggo99

I got sidetracked for a couple weeks by a leaking fuel pump that needed replacing but finally got around to changing out the points and condenser yesterday and it fired right up. Starts and runs as good as ever now. Glad I didn't mess with changing out the distributor and wanted to say mucho thanks to everyone who responded to my plea for help!