Checking HEI distributor with a meter
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 614
Likes: 0
From: Johnson City Tennessee
Yes, I installed the red rotor with the red cap. Put the brown rotor with the brown one with a brown cap.
The caps were a little different but the rotors looks the same. I kept the same colors together just encase something somewhere was different.
The caps were a little different but the rotors looks the same. I kept the same colors together just encase something somewhere was different.
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 24,125
Likes: 15
From: Columbia Missouri
Did you make sure there was a spring loaded contact button under the coil in the cap? If that is not there no power can get to the rotor.
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 614
Likes: 0
From: Johnson City Tennessee
Video of test, take a look & tell me what you think?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQeyjeBMfuk
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 614
Likes: 0
From: Johnson City Tennessee
Did test again. This time same housing but with the brown cap/coil. Zapped just like the video, that was COOL!!!
Unfortunately, the brown one wont fit on the car because it hits the breather.
SO, I now know the problem is the red cap or the coil in the red cap. After watching the video, which needs to be replaced? cap or coil or both
Unfortunately, the brown one wont fit on the car because it hits the breather.
SO, I now know the problem is the red cap or the coil in the red cap. After watching the video, which needs to be replaced? cap or coil or both
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 7,123
Likes: 433
From: Gladstone MO
C3 of Year Finalist (appearance mods) 2019
Is the red cap an MSD? I ask because I bought an MSD Pro-Billet dizzy(not HEI) for Ol' Red and had a "no start". Swapped to a cheapie Delco cap, and things were good.
In your video with the red cap, you hear the coil firing but don't see any spark. It may be the resistance of the cap material is good enough the spark has no place to jump from the terminals. THe spark takes the easy way to ground so it may be jumping inside. Use a stiff wire from the vise/ground and get it close to a terminal and try again. Stick a plug wire on the cap, put a regular spark plug in the wire and lay the plug on your vise.
In your video with the red cap, you hear the coil firing but don't see any spark. It may be the resistance of the cap material is good enough the spark has no place to jump from the terminals. THe spark takes the easy way to ground so it may be jumping inside. Use a stiff wire from the vise/ground and get it close to a terminal and try again. Stick a plug wire on the cap, put a regular spark plug in the wire and lay the plug on your vise.
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 614
Likes: 0
From: Johnson City Tennessee
Is the red cap an MSD? I ask because I bought an MSD Pro-Billet dizzy(not HEI) for Ol' Red and had a "no start". Swapped to a cheapie Delco cap, and things were good.
In your video with the red cap, you hear the coil firing but don't see any spark. It may be the resistance of the cap material is good enough the spark has no place to jump from the terminals. The spark takes the easy way to ground so it may be jumping inside. Use a stiff wire from the vise/ground and get it close to a terminal and try again. Stick a plug wire on the cap, put a regular spark plug in the wire and lay the plug on your vise.
In your video with the red cap, you hear the coil firing but don't see any spark. It may be the resistance of the cap material is good enough the spark has no place to jump from the terminals. The spark takes the easy way to ground so it may be jumping inside. Use a stiff wire from the vise/ground and get it close to a terminal and try again. Stick a plug wire on the cap, put a regular spark plug in the wire and lay the plug on your vise.
You got that exactly right. I hooked up my wires & plugs & zap zap zap, they all fire.
This is good & bad news for me. Good news being there is nothing at all wrong with my distributor. Bad news that I'm back to square one trying to figure out why I cant get a spark.
I'm gonna stick it back in there & try it just for the heck of it. Who knows, I might just get lucky.
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 614
Likes: 0
From: Johnson City Tennessee
I tested that little red wire several times the other day & got 12.13V consistently.
Just now I got between 3-5V depending on where I stuck the ground.
What does that mean?
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvette Engines RANKED by Peak Torque (70+ Years of Muscle!)
Joe Kucinski
Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvettes Coming to Mecum Indy 2026!
Brett Foote
Top 10 C9 Corvette MUST-HAVES to Fix These C8 Generation Flaws!
Michael S. Palmer
10 Revolutionary 'Corvette Firsts' Most People Don't Know
Joe Kucinski
5 Reasons to Upgrade to an LS6-Powered Corvette; 5 Reasons to Stay LT2
Michael S. Palmer
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 24,125
Likes: 15
From: Columbia Missouri
That could mean a few things. It could mean the tester has problems...some cheap testers do not give good readings. It could mean that the power wire to the distributor has a break or a problem...maybe at the plug...maybe further down in the circuit. It could mean the ground for the engine is not good and you need to run a ground strap from the engine to the frame and from the frame to the battery. If those grounds are not good then any accessories that ground through the engine will not have a solid ground.
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 614
Likes: 0
From: Johnson City Tennessee
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 24,125
Likes: 15
From: Columbia Missouri
When I put the new motor in I had to relocate the ground wire that goes from the block to the frame. Originally it was on the side of the old motor but on the new motor that hole had paint in the threads. Instead of bolting it to the block with its own bolt I stuck it on one of the motor mount bolts. Shouldn't have caused a problem but I'm having one so that will be the first thing I'll check.
That's a fine locations...any bolt into the block. You just have to make sure that the frame to battery ground is also as good. See the engine gets it ground from the frame, and the frame gets it's ground from the battery.
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 614
Likes: 0
From: Johnson City Tennessee
The problem isn't anywhere on the ground side of the wire.
It's somewhere in the red wire but after several hours of digging my way into the guts of the fuse box I've decided that that will be enough of that! I'm going to put everything back tomorrow & just run a new wire from the battery.
I've had quite enough of fixing 1 thing & 2 other things breaking & I am not about to get real deep into this & have to replace the heart of the electrical system.
What guage wire & what size in-line fuse is the correct replacement for the pink wire to the distributor? Don't care about stock, just want my car to run, safely.
It's somewhere in the red wire but after several hours of digging my way into the guts of the fuse box I've decided that that will be enough of that! I'm going to put everything back tomorrow & just run a new wire from the battery.
I've had quite enough of fixing 1 thing & 2 other things breaking & I am not about to get real deep into this & have to replace the heart of the electrical system.
What guage wire & what size in-line fuse is the correct replacement for the pink wire to the distributor? Don't care about stock, just want my car to run, safely.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 7,123
Likes: 433
From: Gladstone MO
C3 of Year Finalist (appearance mods) 2019
Run a 10 Gauge wire from the fuse block-- IGN unfused. If you want a fuse, I'd go with a 30a and try it. I don't know what an HEI draws, but 30a will protect the car.
as far as the grounds go, are you using star washers? Put them under the bolt head and between the cable and the block. It really sounds like a ground could be the root problem.
as far as the grounds go, are you using star washers? Put them under the bolt head and between the cable and the block. It really sounds like a ground could be the root problem.
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 614
Likes: 0
From: Johnson City Tennessee
Run a 10 Gauge wire from the fuse block-- IGN unfused. If you want a fuse, I'd go with a 30a and try it. I don't know what an HEI draws, but 30a will protect the car.
as far as the grounds go, are you using star washers? Put them under the bolt head and between the cable and the block. It really sounds like a ground could be the root problem.
as far as the grounds go, are you using star washers? Put them under the bolt head and between the cable and the block. It really sounds like a ground could be the root problem.
When I was messing around with the fuse box I found a pink wire just like the one on the distributor. Not 100% if it was connected to the same place, because it was entering the fuse box in the front & I hadn't completely traced it but it tested 12V. If it is that wire then the problem is somewhere between the fuse box & the distributor in the pink wire. That pink wire is NOT coming out to be replaced. #1 too hard to work on from firewall side & under dash side & #2 its not meant to come out & if I force it I'm going to destroy the heart of the electrical system.
(I've refereed to this wire as being red several times above because it looks just like a sun faded red wire but it is in fact pink)
My guess is, the electrical system in this car is at that point where everything you touch is beginning to fail from age & corrosion all at once. I'm probably going to get a small auxiliary fuse box so that I can hook up this distributor wire & other stuff like the stereo & anything else that is new to the car & will undoubtedly tax the existing electrical system & have some empty slots in preparation for other things to fail.
I know some purists will be upset about this & may use the word "Bubba" but the way I look at it this car lost any hope of stock in the 80s & had one tire in the crusher (one foot in the grave) when I found it so its this or die & I've put way to much money into it already to just let it die.
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 614
Likes: 0
From: Johnson City Tennessee
Fooled with it some more today. Put all the electrical back together & ran out to Lowes & got a 10G wire with 30Amp fuse & ran it striaght from the battery to the distributor. Voltage problem solved, now its got 12.15V & got a great spark on all my sparkplugs.
Put the plugs in, rolled it outside & cranked it over a while. Unfortunatly, nothing happened. I may have the static timing way off because it didnt even sputter, even with priming the carb. Kinda depressed, I really thought it would start, or at least try.
I got an advance timeing light the other day so I'll have to figure out how that works & go from there, I guess.
Put the plugs in, rolled it outside & cranked it over a while. Unfortunatly, nothing happened. I may have the static timing way off because it didnt even sputter, even with priming the carb. Kinda depressed, I really thought it would start, or at least try.
I got an advance timeing light the other day so I'll have to figure out how that works & go from there, I guess.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 7,123
Likes: 433
From: Gladstone MO
C3 of Year Finalist (appearance mods) 2019
Pull the #1 plug, stick your finger in the hole and bump it over until it blows your finger out. Then turn it over a little more, watching the timing marks. When they get to O* pull the dizzy cap and see that it's pointing at #1 terminal on the cap. Should do the job.
Is this a new engine? Or has it got some miles on it??
Is this a new engine? Or has it got some miles on it??
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 614
Likes: 0
From: Johnson City Tennessee
Pull the #1 plug, stick your finger in the hole and bump it over until it blows your finger out. Then turn it over a little more, watching the timing marks. When they get to O* pull the dizzy cap and see that it's pointing at #1 terminal on the cap. Should do the job.
Is this a new engine? Or has it got some miles on it??
Is this a new engine? Or has it got some miles on it??
This is a newly rebuilt circle track 350 engine.
As far as static timing goes check out my other thread on setting the static timing.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=2142535
Now that the distributor is wired up straight to the battery it no longer cuts off with the key. Do I need to worry about anything? Fire, draining battery, shortening life of coil etc.
