No spark
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 1,078
Likes: 0
From: Santee CA
No spark
Tonight we tried to get the Vette to fire over; we got the wires connected, replaced the points/condenser with a Borg-Warner 1 piece points/condenser, replaced the cap & rotor with an MSD cap & rotor, and put a new battery into the car (Optima Red Top).
We tried cranking the motor, and the engine turned over, but nothing fired at all.
I pulled a plug, had my dad crank the engine, and no spark whatsoever.
We took the cap off to see if we were getting a spark under the cap at the points/condenser; nothing there, either.
I'm wondering if we've got wiring on the coil wrong, or if the coil's bad; that's the only thing with the ignition system that we haven't replaced yet.
Anyone have any clue what could be causing the problem? Any suggestions?
We tried cranking the motor, and the engine turned over, but nothing fired at all.
I pulled a plug, had my dad crank the engine, and no spark whatsoever.
We took the cap off to see if we were getting a spark under the cap at the points/condenser; nothing there, either.
I'm wondering if we've got wiring on the coil wrong, or if the coil's bad; that's the only thing with the ignition system that we haven't replaced yet.
Anyone have any clue what could be causing the problem? Any suggestions?
Drifting
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 1,995
Likes: 110
From: Garland Texas
Get a test light. Put the clip on the positve post of the alternator. Hold the test light on the negative side of the coil. It should flash rapidly with the engine cranking. Steady light: Points or coil are shorted to ground. No light: Points are not grounding coil.
Mike
Mike
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 1,078
Likes: 0
From: Santee CA
Originally Posted by tracdogg2
Get a test light. Put the clip on the positve post of the alternator. Hold the test light on the negative side of the coil. It should flash rapidly with the engine cranking. Steady light: Points or coil are shorted to ground. No light: Points are not grounding coil.
Mike
Mike
Hadn't thought about that; I wasn't the one who installed the points/condenser, unfortunately, so I didn't think about grounding out.
I'll throw out those suggestions to my dad, though.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 6,640
Likes: 287
From: Ann Arbor Michigan
Justwent through this with my 71'. It was a bad starter solenoid. Note that there is a yellow wire that comes up from the starter to the coil (also a black resistance wire from the harness). The yellow wire feeds 12V to the coil during the start mode. Black feeds about 9 volts in run mode. I was getting zero volts in start mode.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 1,078
Likes: 0
From: Santee CA
Originally Posted by Duke94
Justwent through this with my 71'. It was a bad starter solenoid. Note that there is a yellow wire that comes up from the starter to the coil (also a black resistance wire from the harness). The yellow wire feeds 12V to the coil during the start mode. Black feeds about 9 volts in run mode. I was getting zero volts in start mode.
Grrr...This is why I don't like 70's era vehicles; too many solenoids!
I'll check that as well; hopefully that's not bad.
I just found out as well that we have to re-do our valve adjustment; my dad was setting it up for the wrong position of open, because he was rotating the crank in the wrong direction. This is what I get for not being home when he was working on the engine...
Oh well; minor things to adjust!
