I purchased a 1969 corvette that will not start. Have to use a remote trigger to spin the motor. I have 6 volts to the + side of the coil when the ignition is on. Have put in new plugs and coil and still no spark to the plugs ( I use and inline plug tester). My next step is to put new points and condensor. Other than that, any other ideas?

 

How's the fuel and compression?

 

Do you have fuel at the carb? Do you have power to the distributor? Check the point gap; points could be closed or too wide; could be burned.

What's the static timing? 4 BTDC ought to get you close enough to start.

 

Please ignore my previous post, I finally read the whole original post:o, and the edit feature will not load for me.

 

I have not done a compression test. As far as fuel, I don't know if the pump is working. I just pour a little gas down the carb just to see if it will pop (which is does not). I guess that i could put the spark plug tester between the coil and the distributor to see if there is power.

 

i think you need closer to 8.5 - 9 volts instead of 6 at the coil.

my advise, is to upgrade to an electronic conversion... would be the best investment you would ever make as far as dependability, ease, performance and longevity.

 

Is the distributor original? Maybe the points need to be replaced

 

You say that you have 6v at the coil, which sounds low, should be closer to 8 or 9, but do you have a full 12v when the engine is turning over? There should be a second lead running from the starter to the coil to give full 12v during cranking to get it fired.

As a quick test, to make sure that the points are making and breaking, disconnect the positive lead on the coil, and hook a test light to a positive batter source, probably from the lug on the starter, and put the probe end on the negative side of the coil. Turn the engine over and the test light should go on and off as the points make and break the ground.

If you get no light, then the points aren't closing or you have a bad lead from the distributor, and if the light never goes out, the points are badly burned or misadjusted.

Good luck.

 

I only saw one lead to the + side of the coil. I think it was a white cloth covered lead. Any idea what the other lead color should be?

 

I think it's pink.. but I don't remember for sure. The white cloth covered one is the resistor wire from the ignition switch. There should be two wires on either side of the starter solenoid, one purple one which is from the 'start' side of the ignition switch and the other one is the pink one (I think) that runs up to the + side of the coil.

 

First, 6 volts at the coil sounds wrong, as others have said.
Second, you know you have fuel, since you dumped some in the carb, you know you have comperssion since you tested it, I'll assume that there is nothing preventing air from entering the carb, so we are comfortable with 3 of the 4 things needed to fire the engine, we must be missing spark.

I'm assuming since you just bought it, that it was running before, then it was parked, and now it won't start. If this occurred while you were working on the electrical system, 90% of what I am about to write will not be applicable. You have been warned.

Assuming that your battery is good (has sufficient cranking power) and is fully charged (might be a good idea here to test the voltage across your battery, 12.6 - 12.8 volts sounds good to me), connect one contact of your voltmeter to the hot contact on the coil and the other to the block, turn the ignition switch to "on" (as in not "start" or "accessory") and look at the voltage. If you don't have close to 12 volts, you have a bad connection somewhere between the battery and the coil (note: the connection runs through the starter motor). If you get 12 volts or close, turn the engine over with the starter and watch the voltmeter. If upon turning the engine, the voltage at the coil drops, same conclusion as before, bad connection somewhere between the battery, starter and coil. If the voltage remains 12 volts, but you get no fire in the engine, you have a bad component somewhere between the hot connection to the coil and your spark plugs.

If in the above example, the starter motor turns fine and the voltage drops at the coil, I would bet a nice cold Budweiser that you either have a bad wire or a bad connection between the starter and the coil. Getting 6 volts to start off with could also be caused by this so if my assumptions above are correct, I am getting ready to put a pilsner glass in the freezer. Off the top of my head, the wire I speak of on my '70 is yellow (meaning, I would appreciate not being shot if it is wrong). I don't remember if it was the same color on my '69 or not, but they didn't seem to change those colors very often.

If my assumptions above are wrong, please give us more background on how you came upon this problem.

PK

 

I did not start the car before purchasing because of the dash being removed and the battery being dead and therefore have not checked the compression. Before hammering on me about why I didn't try starting the car before purchasing, I purchased it so cheap it was not even funny. The previous owner told me that it was running good before he parked it a couple of years and and he seemed to be very honest (his hours were cut way back at and work and he seemed pretty emotional as I was loading it on the trailer).

 

Well, my powers of deduction are spot on (guessing that the car ran, then sat for a long time and now won't start), but my powers of reading comprehension leave a lot to be desired as I see you already stated that you had NOT checked the compression. Sorry about that.

Anyway, if the car ran and then sat for a few years, I doubt anything magical happened to cause it to not have any compression, so if it was my car, I would be comfortable with the assumption for the time being that it still has enough compression to run. That being the case, we are still at the point we were at my previous post. You can check for spark by taking a spark plug out, reconnecting the spark plug wire to it, grounding it to the block and turning the engine with the starter and looking for the spark. If it was me, and I only had 6 volts at the coil, I would think my time was better spent elsewhere though.

 

will anything turn at all? will it atleast try to start? you need spark and fuel and air that thing should start. otherwise if you have no movement its the battery i would assume dead after all this time sitting.

 

I put a good battery in it when I got it home, hence spinning the motor with a remote trigger from first post. New spark plug and tested with spark plug checker and still no spark. My guess is that the point or condensor are bad so I will replace both this weekend and see what happens.

 

I have put new points and condensor and still have the same problem, no fire.

 

Have you verified that the distributor is actually turning? There might be more wrong than it appears.

Did you try my suggestion earlier in the thread to verify that the points are making and breaking properly?

Have you also replaced the coil?

Do you have any pictures of the engine and components... we might be able to see something that's wrong.

 

The distributor does turn. I did put a test light from the + on the alternator to the - on the coil and turned it over. It did flash as I turned over the engine with the remote trigger. I am beginning to wonder if its not the rotor and the distributor. Both look brand new but it looks like there is no wear what so ever on the rotor button contact nor the distributor cap contacts.

 

Just for fun, put the spark plug checker on the coil wire, just to verify that the coil is putting something out.

If that works take a dab of white lithium grease (or equivalent) and put it on the top of the rotor where it contacts the center of the cap, and on the end where it contacts the terminals on the cap. Then gently put the cap back on and bump the engine over a couple of times. Take off the cap and check to see that the grease transferred to the terminals on the cap. If so then you've proved that the cap and rotor are working as they should and the car has no reason not to have spark at the plugs.

 

Last night I put a spark plug checker on the coil wire and it lit up so I think I am fine with the coil. Will check with a dab of lithium grease tonight when I get home.