When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
You have to set the points gap to get it to work. You might also need 2 wires going to the positive side of the coil. If the system was stock you would have a white and a yellow. One has power on crank and the other in run.
Look up how to set your points
According to this, it's the resistance wire and one going to the starter. I think I may only have the resistance wire on there which is why I was getting the 7ish volts
And yeah I figured I needed to adjust something, looking it up now!
I wanted to see that the Dist has points, verify the points gap is set correctly than run a 12V hot wire (from back of Alt) to the + side of the coil and start the car.
Run a 12V hot wire (from back of Alt) to the + side of the coil and start the car.
Is it ok to run a constant 12v to the coil? I figured the R terminal bought temp 12v and then the rest of the time it was sub 12v.
I have a constant 12v junction block mounted under the hood right next to the distributor that I can use if that's the case --
Is it ok to run a constant 12v to the coil? I figured the R terminal bought temp 12v and then the rest of the time it was sub 12v.
I have a constant 12v junction block mounted under the hood right next to the distributor that I can use if that's the case --
Yes to get the car fired off and engine running, then you will know you have wiring to sort out. The R terminal supplies 12V when the ignition key is held in the crank (start) position.
Yes to get the car fired off and engine running, then you will know you have wiring to sort out. The R terminal supplies 12V when the ignition key is held in the crank (start) position.
Yeah, but while I'm at it I figured I'd just either find out where the wire that's currently on my R terminal is buried (I cleaned up the wires in the bay) or just run a new wire from the R to the coil. I rang everything out when I was installing everything so I know it's around there someplace!
Is a transistorized car wired differently? Maybe those wires went to the control module and that single wire comes from that.
Can you post a pick of it. I just want to make sure its not the voltage regulator we are refering to
Its wired slightly different... See the post above with the wiring diagram. The pink wire gets thrown into the mix.
I'm 100% it's not the voltage regulator. I bypassed that when I went to an internally regulated alternator. Since then I've removed both the TI box and the regulator. For red, I can't find the TI box but this was the voltage reg
I rechecked my wiring... I have the R terminal wire connected as well as the resistor wire on the + coil. Tach and distributor on the negative. 12v voltage on the +side of the coil is there.
I adjusted the gap on the points to 0.019 I believe
Recorded a video with the cap off, of the points... Its getting spark. But still with the cap on and timing light on any of the wires, I get 0 flashes when I turn the car over. At one point ONE of the wires was getting slight flashes but I couldn't replicate that. I even took out some of the plugs and regapped them down to 0.035 (they were around 0.040ish) but that still didn't help.
It's driving me nuts! I mean I SHOULD be getting flashes with the timing light on any of these wires while cranking correct? At this point should I just go ahead and assume somehow the cap/rotor are bad?
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
2019 C3 of Year Winner (performance mods)
2016 C3 of Year Finalist
bad or just the wrong ones. Either your rotor isnt touching the rotor to the cap or the rotor tips are too low to get a spark to jump to the towers. Could be chinese junk possibly. Do you have an old cap you can measure the distances. If you have a junk cap cut the enter out with a hole saw so you can see what those distances actually measure at. I have a cap like that for solving timing issues
bad or just the wrong ones. Either your rotor isnt touching the rotor to the cap or the rotor tips are too low to get a spark to jump to the towers. Could be chinese junk possibly. Do you have an old cap you can measure the distances. If you have a junk cap cut the enter out with a hole saw so you can see what those distances actually measure at. I have a cap like that for solving timing issues
That's what I was thinking -- when I checked the distributor points gap, it was literally at 0 gap .... It never opened while everything spun. I was excited that that would be the solution...it wasn't haha. So it's possible that (or obvious that) the tips aren't getting the spark. Do you think I should replace the whole distributor with a top notch points version or just replace the cap/rotor with an OEM/AC Delco and see what happens? I have no problem blowing money at this point 😄😄😄
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
2019 C3 of Year Winner (performance mods)
2016 C3 of Year Finalist
WHo made the distributor thats in there now? If you want OEM original look at Tracey Corvette if money is no object.$$$$ If the current Dizzy is a gm model or a US reman then look for a good cap at NAPA or a good local supplier. . IF you can measure from the seated rim to the rotor you can measure one at NAPA to see if it is acceptable.
WHo made the distributor thats in there now? If you want OEM original look at Tracey Corvette if money is no object.$$$$ If the current Dizzy is a gm model or a US reman then look for a good cap at NAPA or a good local supplier. . IF you can measure from the seated rim to the rotor you can measure one at NAPA to see if it is acceptable.
To be honest I'm not sure, but I'll roll with Chinese junk as it was like $80 haha. I think I'm going to try the cap/rotor swap 1st since it's the quickest, and if not I'll replace the whole unit. I'm pretty sure I tossed the one that was on the car during garage cleanup --
From everything you have done and check it should be working and yes if working property when the rotor passes the #1 tower the timing light should flash. There's not much to go wrong with this system, coil, points and condenser are the three failure items most of the time.
Assuming you have all the proper voltages now I would look at connection points on everything Dist related to include points, condenser and Dist wire lead for something grounding out the system. I would discount having a bad Dist as there is really nothing to go wrong, it just turns. Same for the Dist cap and rotor, yes they can get cracks and do weird stuff but yours are good I'm sure.
I think your ignition system is grounded out somewhere. While were spit balling I would try a different coil wire.
From everything you have done and check it should be working and yes if working property when the rotor passes the #1 tower the timing light should flash. There's not much to go wrong with this system, coil, points and condenser are the three failure items most of the time.
Assuming you have all the proper voltages now I would look at connection points on everything Dist related to include points, condenser and Dist wire lead for something grounding out the system. I would discount having a bad Dist as there is really nothing to go wrong, it just turns. Same for the Dist cap and rotor, yes they can get cracks and do weird stuff but yours are good I'm sure.
I think your ignition system is grounded out somewhere. While were spit balling I would try a different coil wire.
I didn't try another coil wire but I ohmed out the one I have. I forgot what it was but I remember it seemed good. I think it was like 5k or 9k or something like that.
Any ideas for possible (common) ground points? I'll look into that possibility today
Originally Posted by Mr D.
If you find yourself in a local auto parts store today grab a Lisle 20610 spark tester, good tool to have in your toolbox.
Any ideas for possible (common) ground points? I'll look into that possibility today
Common areas are the R terminal, points & condenser, coil + & - connections. If any of those attach points are touching metal or arcing to metal it will ground the system out and not produce spark. If the Dist lead wire (going to the points) is cut or chaffing inside the Dist it will also cause this.
That's why I suggested disconnecting the car completely from the Dist system a run a single 12V wire to the + side of the coil. Now you can focus on what's going on between the coil and the spark plug.
Common areas are the R terminal, points & condenser, coil + & - connections. If any of those attach points are touching metal or arcing to metal it will ground the system out and not produce spark. If the Dist lead wire (going to the points) is cut or chaffing inside the Dist it will also cause this.
That's why I suggested disconnecting the car completely from the Dist system a run a single 12V wire to the + side of the coil. Now you can focus on what's going on between the coil and the spark plug.
Ok, will do. I was going to disconnect the tach wire running to the Dakota digital setup too just to be safe. I'll report back in a few hrs!
Is it ok to run a constant 12v to the coil? I figured the R terminal bought temp 12v and then the rest of the time it was sub 12v.
I have a constant 12v junction block mounted under the hood right next to the distributor that I can use if that's the case --
I don't know if you are still running constant 12v to the coil, but if you do, don't leave the key in the on position with the engine not running. The coil won't like that.
I don't know if you are still running constant 12v to the coil, but if you do, don't leave the key in the on position with the engine not running. The coil won't like that.
Well here's something. I put my fluke on the coil + and ground and I had full 12v. When I was cranking, the power went down to 7 or 9v... I forget which. It was my assumption that the R terminal sent 12v ONLY when cranking and was dead the rest of the time, no?
I think I'm going to separate the 2 wires (I crimped the resistor wire and R terminal wire into one lug) and just verify what each individual wire is getting.
Also, as per my previous message, I tried with ONLY the distributor wire on the neg of the coil and the coil + I ran a jumper direct from the battery. I still had 0 spark on #1 wire, still spark on the coil. So I think we're starting to narrow things down. New cap/rotor is on its way for testing purposes.
