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1977 No spark!

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Old Sep 4, 2015 | 09:05 PM
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Default 1977 No spark!

I bought a 77 a few months ago. Put a few hundred mile on it and ran great. 64k on it. Driving to the store last week just died. Like it ran out of fuel. Had it towed home and I have no spark. Have read all the posts I can find on the subject. Have replaced the cap and rotor, the coil and had the module tested at autozone and it was good.
I have power at the red wire to the cap. It does go down to the 9v range when cranking, so I jumped a wire as suggested from the alternator to the cap. Nothing. Disconnected the brown tach wire still nothing. Any direction from here would be greatly appreciated. Love the forum btw..
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Old Sep 4, 2015 | 09:19 PM
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What condition is the battery in? Have you checked the terminals / ground etc. to make sure they are good?

My first thought was module honestly.
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Old Sep 4, 2015 | 09:24 PM
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Battery is great. Will crank over continuously. That was what my first thought was also.
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Old Sep 4, 2015 | 09:32 PM
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Have you tested the coil, even though I think you said it was new along with the cap and rotor - those apparently can be bad right out of the box sometimes.

Only other thing I can think of is the ignition switch might not be supplying full power in the crank position.
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Old Sep 4, 2015 | 09:36 PM
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Will check the new coil, though I had my old one tested after I got the new and it tested good. I have been reading about the ignition switch thing. No idea where to start on that.
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Old Sep 4, 2015 | 09:37 PM
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Usually it's the module, and no matter what the guys at the Zone said, I would try a new Delco unit first.

The only part left is the pick up coil. To save pages of posting, you-tube has some good videos on this.
Type in GM HEI troubleshoot.

Let us know what you find.
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Old Sep 4, 2015 | 09:37 PM
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WOW.Went thru the EXACT same thing a couple weeks ago. Checked and rechecked everything.

Back in the spring I bought a new distributor and it had a 1 yr. warranty. Emailed the guy I got it from and he sent me a new one. Stabbed it in and it fired right up.

One thing you could check is the connector in the harness going to the starter, check the connections there. (If your year has one)

Good luck. And if you find what's wrong, Please let us know. Drives me nuts not knowing what caused it.
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Old Sep 4, 2015 | 09:40 PM
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Great info. Thanks a lot. Will get a module tomorrow and let you know.
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Old Sep 4, 2015 | 10:00 PM
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I have found many "module" failures weren't the module failing at all but rather loose connections AT the module. So I suggest squeezing the 1/4" female spade terminals a bit so they plug into the module a lot tighter and try it. That may solve your problem for no expense.
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Old Sep 4, 2015 | 10:10 PM
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Will go try that right now. Thank you. Is there any way to check the pick up coil while in the vehicle? All the videos show it on a bench... Not discouraged at all. Love getting to know my car..
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Old Sep 4, 2015 | 10:20 PM
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Thank you mr. toobroke.. I checked the connection and noticed that one of the pick up coil wires is broken off. I am guessing that could be it..
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Old Sep 4, 2015 | 10:24 PM
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Originally Posted by mvirgue
Thank you mr. toobroke.. I checked the connection and noticed that one of the pick up coil wires is broken off. I am guessing that could be it..
Yep. Won't work without it.
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Old Sep 5, 2015 | 12:33 AM
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For the next guy- If you connect a 12v testlight to the TACH terminal on the cap after you unplug the tach, and crank, the testlight will blink if the module and pickup coil are doing their job. Quick and dirty test for module and pickup coil.
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Old Sep 12, 2015 | 09:16 PM
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She runs again. New distributor.. Thanks for all your help. Love this site!!
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