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I am a new member and have enjoyed the technical support of this forum for years and have now joined to hopefully give back a bit of info as well. I have a 1969 427/435 BB side pipe all numbers matching that I recently purchased. It was my fathers and used to ride around in it when I was a kid. He sold it 20 years ago. Owner recently died and I was able to buy it back. Owner put 200 miles on in over the 20 years. I had a local shop rebuild the engine. It had a 1962 corvette points distributor in it when I bought it back and after the rebuild ran well. Brought it home and have decided to put the TI ignition back on it. Bought the distributor and coil from Dave Feidler, the TI harness from lectric limited and installed the new TI module in the amplifier box purchased from Crane corvette. I have reviewed over and over again the wiring diagram, have used the chevrolet flow troubleshooting diagram for TI systems and the problem: NO SPARK I even bought a second amplifier with the updated module as a back up and tried that with no success. I jumpered the ground from the amplifier to the alternator ground to see if it was a poor grounding situation and no luck. Considering that everything is new and connected properly, I think its a voltage problem. I recorded the following voltages from different parts of the system and was wondering if anybody could help me determine if this is the issue:
Battery: 12.93 v
Pink ignition switch wire with key on: 8.86 v
Yellow wire with key on: 5.45 v
R terminal on solenoid with key on: 5.57 v
Coil + to ground with key on 2.22 v
Coil + to - with key on 1.92 v
Pink ignition switch wire on crank: 10.37
R terminal of solenoid on crank: 10.78
Yellow wire on crank: 10.55
Coil + to ground on crank: 4.30 v
Coil + to - on crank: 3.84 v
Checked the resistance of the distributor and was 640 ohms
Any help would be greatly appreciated!! I really would like to get the TI system working.
The pink wire coming from the ignition switch has a "Y" in it for the TI power, the other side of that Y is where the rest of the car gets it's power. Check that it's in good shape and then the ignition switch connector.
I would make sure it is the right coil. I'm sure Dave sent the right one, but double check. I just went through this myself with an aftermarket coil. A wrong coil will fry the ti module on startup. Went through 2 of the new style modules before determining it was the coil (non GM). Do you have a good module ground at the rad support?
Thanks for the reply. The coil Dave Feidler sent me and the one that I have been using has a 53 below the positive terminal. Is this correct? I also have another coil on the bench that I am not using with 269 below the positive terminal.
The pink wire coming from the ignition switch has a "Y" in it for the TI power, the other side of that Y is where the rest of the car gets it's power. Check that it's in good shape and then the ignition switch connector.
TimAT,
Thanks for the reply. Here is a picture of the ignition switch wire connected to the TI harness. Is the plug connector supposed to be plugged into anything?
You're going to need an expert for this one. The TI cars got different resistance wires than the regular cars. If your car was originally a TI car and it still has the original wiring, it should work. If it was a points vehicle, the resistance wire need to be installed properly for it to work as designed.
Can't say whether the module might have been damaged from non-standard wiring for the TI system. All components of that system must be right, the wiring must be right, and it must be installed correctly.
Of course, it might also be some other little quirk that is being overlooked. Make sure voltage is getting to the appropriate locations in the ignition system. Your best resource document would be the Chevrolet Chassis Service Manual for 1969. It should have all the detailed info on the TI system, its connections, and testing methods.
I would make sure it is the right coil. I'm sure Dave sent the right one, but double check. I just went through this myself with an aftermarket coil. A wrong coil will fry the ti module on startup. Went through 2 of the new style modules before determining it was the coil (non GM). Do you have a good module ground at the rad support?
3X2,
Isn't the correct coil # 263 for a 1969 427/435 TI? I also found these coils in the back of the shop.
I can look at my car tomorrow as far as to what is connected to the connector you pictured, which I'm assuming is the pink wire going into the other connector without a mating connector on it. On a side note, are you missing the headlight washer pump?
Thanks for the reply. Here is a picture of the ignition switch wire connected to the TI harness. Is the plug connector supposed to be plugged into anything?
In your picture, there is a plug with two connectors. This appears to be the harness plug that attaches to the TI dist. It does not appear to be connected to the dist.
I assume you have the dist. connected to the harness. Just asking...
I think Barry hit on something there. After looking through the wiring diagram, the connector with the pink and gray wires should got to the distributor pick up coil pigtail with the pink wire going to the white wire and the gray going to white wire with the green tracer (or green wire if an aftermarket pickup coil).
Your wiring doesn't seem right to me. The colors on my wiring are getting quite faded, so yellows and whites are somewhat grey now.
My large white wire goes to the ignition/fuse pink wire, the one coming thru the firewall.
The pink/redish wire from "double" connector (The one connected to the dist.) goes to the yellow wire.
I don't think I'm seeing that in your picture.
Your wiring doesn't seem right to me. The colors on my wiring are getting quite faded, so yellows and whites are somewhat grey now.
My large white wire goes to the ignition/fuse pink wire, the one coming thru the firewall.
The pink/redish wire from "double" connector (The one connected to the dist.) goes to the yellow wire.
I don't think I'm seeing that in your picture.
I can look at my car tomorrow as far as to what is connected to the connector you pictured, which I'm assuming is the pink wire going into the other connector without a mating connector on it. On a side note, are you missing the headlight washer pump?
3X2,
I inserted a few more photos of the wiring harness with better visibility and labeled. I am missing the headlight washer pump, can you show me a picture of yours for reference. Also talked to Dave Feidler today and he said I should try a new TI wiring harness. Could be a factory reject. I read another post that showed that the wires to the plug that connects to the amplifier plug were incorrect and the fellow had to cut them and correct the orientation. Good lord, if this is the problem Instructor used to tell me when you hear hoof beats don't look for zebra. Maybe I do
The labels on the wiring are a big help. According to the colors, it appears to be wired correctly. It's very possible Dave is correct and you may have a defective harness.
If you disconnected the harness from everything, you should be able to ohm out the cable to verify that the colors and connections are correct.
This is kind of out in left field, when I upgraded my TI to a new amp, and new pickup coil in the dist. a few years ago, I had difficulty starting the engine. It would eventually start, however took a lot of cranking.
I won't get into all the details, however I fixed it and it now starts with a touch of the starter.
I disconnected the "R" wire to the starter. It makes no sense, however that fixed the problem.
Looking at your last picture, it looks like the distributor pickup connector is connected to the pink.gray wire connector. The single pink wire connector connects to the wire to the starter motor to give full voltage when cranking. Do you have two of the white colored resistor wires? One goes in through a hole in the firewall which I assume goes to the ignition switch. There is a small pink wired pigtail that got installed onto the igniton switch when the car was originally converted from points to TI on the assembly line. I'm sure the TI harness should run vertically downwards on the left side of the bellhousing, across towards the left, outboard of the clutch Z bar, under the vacuum can and upwards towards the wire harness/vacuum hose bundle, then forward.
It does look like you have the headlight washer part (sometimes called an anti drip valve) although it is mounted incorrectly. It should face towards the left fender. And the washer hoses are incorrectly routed. Trying to find the correct washer hose check valves, black in 69, is hard, but doable and somewhat expensive especially if you find functioning ones. The windshield washer hose "Y" fitting is next to impossible to find in the correct configuration and color. Here are some washer pump pictures.
So, if wiring is correct and all parts of the system are new I am back to the voltage question. I think the voltage with the key on is low at the pink wire (8.86v). The Positive side of the coil to ground reading is 2.22v. Dave Feidler said 2.5v is minimum. I am going to jumper from the horn terminal which gets 12.93v to the white wire in the TI harness and if that doesn't work I will ohm out the Ti harness. I have another one on order from Crane corvette. I set the timing to TDC on the compression strokerotated the engine and put it on 0 and aligned the rotor with the #1 post on the cap. Really at a dead end if the jumper and or the new harness doesn't work. Thank you guys so much for your help.
10-22-2017, 06:21 PM
Ti ignition problems
. I had a local shop rebuild the engine. It had a 1962 corvette points distributor in it when I bought it back and after the rebuild ran well. Brought it home and have decided to put the TI ignition back on it. Bought the distributor and coil from Dave Feidler, the TI harness from lectric limited and installed the new TI module in the amplifier box purchased from Crane corvette. I have reviewed over and over again the wiring diagram, have used the chevrolet flow troubleshooting diagram for TI systems and the problem: NO SPARK
I even bought a second amplifier with the updated module as a back up and tried that with no success. I jumpered the ground from the amplifier to the alternator ground to see if it was a poor grounding situation and no luck. Considering that everything is new and connected properly, I think its a voltage problem. I recorded the following voltages from different parts of the system and was wondering if anybody could help me determine if this is the issue:
Instructor used to tell me when you hear hoof beats don't look for zebra. Maybe I do 
