Jungle HEI
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Aug 2022
Posts: 17
Likes: 1
From: Waterford, Michigan
Jungle HEI
I've been having issues with random missing on my 71 with a cheap Amazon distributor. I feel like the cheap dizzy is my karma. Anyone else have this issue or should I keep looking for another source. Thanks in advance.
Note:
I pulled plug wires off each cylinder one at a time, some make very little difference but others make a noticeable misfire. (as I would expect) Week spark?? Module? Thanks again
Note:
I pulled plug wires off each cylinder one at a time, some make very little difference but others make a noticeable misfire. (as I would expect) Week spark?? Module? Thanks again
Safety Car
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 4,746
Likes: 1,640
From: Fairfax Virginia
There are far better places to buy a new distributor other than Amazon.
Many things that happen to engines are frequently blamed on the ignition systems.There s a company called Davis Unified Ignition (D.U.I.) and they make the very best distributor you can get. They get some information about your engine and then they set the new timing curve and ship it to you. They are in Tennessee so shipping is fast. In your shoes I would be on the phone with them.
Go through your distributor, coil, rotor and every inch of the spark plug wires. Old wires and such will not help any engine. A great test is to open the hood of your car on a dark night and the start the engine and get out and take a look. Bad wires will make a nice Tesla show. I am going to make my own spark plug wires before I pay another $150 for a name brand set
The newer distributors frequently have a Hall Effect sensor in them and those don't fail very often in my world. I have a MSD Billet Pro Distributor on my 427 and it never misses a beat. Your distributor sounds like it might be an HEI unit, Right? There are so many coil packs that go inside them to work with specific applications. My 1988 C4 has a 5 pin module and there are 7 pin and other numbers of pins. Be sure that you are using the right one.
A lot of people clean off the gunk under the old control unit and slap the new unit in place with no heat transfer cream. Some units might last a week or more, most don't. It is critical to USE the heat transfer goop under the new controller but not on the pins.
If you are still having issues after you go through the engine it might be time to do a Good Compression test or even better a leak down test as it is a better test.
Many things that happen to engines are frequently blamed on the ignition systems.There s a company called Davis Unified Ignition (D.U.I.) and they make the very best distributor you can get. They get some information about your engine and then they set the new timing curve and ship it to you. They are in Tennessee so shipping is fast. In your shoes I would be on the phone with them.
Go through your distributor, coil, rotor and every inch of the spark plug wires. Old wires and such will not help any engine. A great test is to open the hood of your car on a dark night and the start the engine and get out and take a look. Bad wires will make a nice Tesla show. I am going to make my own spark plug wires before I pay another $150 for a name brand set
The newer distributors frequently have a Hall Effect sensor in them and those don't fail very often in my world. I have a MSD Billet Pro Distributor on my 427 and it never misses a beat. Your distributor sounds like it might be an HEI unit, Right? There are so many coil packs that go inside them to work with specific applications. My 1988 C4 has a 5 pin module and there are 7 pin and other numbers of pins. Be sure that you are using the right one.
A lot of people clean off the gunk under the old control unit and slap the new unit in place with no heat transfer cream. Some units might last a week or more, most don't. It is critical to USE the heat transfer goop under the new controller but not on the pins.
If you are still having issues after you go through the engine it might be time to do a Good Compression test or even better a leak down test as it is a better test.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 2,383
Likes: 385
From: Leland , North Carolina
There are far better places to buy a new distributor other than Amazon.
Many things that happen to engines are frequently blamed on the ignition systems.There s a company called Davis Unified Ignition (D.U.I.) and they make the very best distributor you can get. They get some information about your engine and then they set the new timing curve and ship it to you. They are in Tennessee so shipping is fast. In your shoes I would be on the phone with them.
Go through your distributor, coil, rotor and every inch of the spark plug wires. Old wires and such will not help any engine. A great test is to open the hood of your car on a dark night and the start the engine and get out and take a look. Bad wires will make a nice Tesla show. I am going to make my own spark plug wires before I pay another $150 for a name brand set
The newer distributors frequently have a Hall Effect sensor in them and those don't fail very often in my world. I have a MSD Billet Pro Distributor on my 427 and it never misses a beat. Your distributor sounds like it might be an HEI unit, Right? There are so many coil packs that go inside them to work with specific applications. My 1988 C4 has a 5 pin module and there are 7 pin and other numbers of pins. Be sure that you are using the right one.
A lot of people clean off the gunk under the old control unit and slap the new unit in place with no heat transfer cream. Some units might last a week or more, most don't. It is critical to USE the heat transfer goop under the new controller but not on the pins.
If you are still having issues after you go through the engine it might be time to do a Good Compression test or even better a leak down test as it is a better test.
Many things that happen to engines are frequently blamed on the ignition systems.There s a company called Davis Unified Ignition (D.U.I.) and they make the very best distributor you can get. They get some information about your engine and then they set the new timing curve and ship it to you. They are in Tennessee so shipping is fast. In your shoes I would be on the phone with them.
Go through your distributor, coil, rotor and every inch of the spark plug wires. Old wires and such will not help any engine. A great test is to open the hood of your car on a dark night and the start the engine and get out and take a look. Bad wires will make a nice Tesla show. I am going to make my own spark plug wires before I pay another $150 for a name brand set
The newer distributors frequently have a Hall Effect sensor in them and those don't fail very often in my world. I have a MSD Billet Pro Distributor on my 427 and it never misses a beat. Your distributor sounds like it might be an HEI unit, Right? There are so many coil packs that go inside them to work with specific applications. My 1988 C4 has a 5 pin module and there are 7 pin and other numbers of pins. Be sure that you are using the right one.
A lot of people clean off the gunk under the old control unit and slap the new unit in place with no heat transfer cream. Some units might last a week or more, most don't. It is critical to USE the heat transfer goop under the new controller but not on the pins.
If you are still having issues after you go through the engine it might be time to do a Good Compression test or even better a leak down test as it is a better test.
Le Mans Master
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 9,063
Likes: 2,736
2022 C3 of the Year Finalist - Modified
I also had a DUI distributor....that after about 5000 miles the advance mechanism locked up. I sent it back to DUI, they rebuilt it,.....put it back on the car. And the advance mechanism locked up a second time. Off it came, and I bought an MSD Pro Billet. I have no idea why this happenned, but it did.
You decide if its worth the risk.
You decide if its worth the risk.
Safety Car
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 3,532
Likes: 1,185
From: Arizona - If you don’t know CFI, STOP proliferating the myths around it...
Every product has its issues, one time or another. I run a DUI and have been running it for a while now in my 82 and runs flawlessly, but maybe mine is the exception. I was having an issue with my original 42 year old dizzy and replaced it. I don't have a vacuum advance of my DUI, so maybe that is an issue with those? 
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Drifting
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 1,570
Likes: 485
From: Loud, Raw and Dangerous 1968 327 4S in Southern California
I've been having issues with random missing on my 71 with a cheap Amazon distributor. I feel like the cheap dizzy is my karma. Anyone else have this issue or should I keep looking for another source. Thanks in advance.
Note:
I pulled plug wires off each cylinder one at a time, some make very little difference but others make a noticeable misfire. (as I would expect) Week spark?? Module? Thanks again
Note:
I pulled plug wires off each cylinder one at a time, some make very little difference but others make a noticeable misfire. (as I would expect) Week spark?? Module? Thanks again
Last edited by Redvette2; Apr 17, 2024 at 11:15 AM.
Race Director
Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 11,923
Likes: 4,495
From: Virginia
Amazon is a fine place to buy a distributor. This 93440806 is what was in my 79, along with another $50- worth of parts to make it work not quite as well as a D.U.I. distributor.
Bonkers price, though. Try eBay with that part number.
Bonkers price, though. Try eBay with that part number.
Race Director
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 13,176
Likes: 7,780
From: Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
2025 C3 of the Year Finalist - Modified
2024 C3 of the Year Finalist- Modified
2022 C3 of the Year Finalist - Modified
Cruise-In VIII Veteran
I run a DUI distributor. Hands down the best thing I did for my engine! Bloody awesome distributor.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 3,181
Likes: 732
From: Texas City, TX Texas
Your distributor sounds like it might be an HEI unit, Right? There are so many coil packs that go inside them to work with specific applications. My 1988 C4 has a 5 pin module and there are 7 pin and other numbers of pins. Be sure that you are using the right one.
A lot of people clean off the gunk under the old control unit and slap the new unit in place with no heat transfer cream. Some units might last a week or more, most don't. It is critical to USE the heat transfer goop under the new controller but not on the pins.
If you are still having issues after you go through the engine it might be time to do a Good Compression test or even better a leak down test as it is a better test.
A lot of people clean off the gunk under the old control unit and slap the new unit in place with no heat transfer cream. Some units might last a week or more, most don't. It is critical to USE the heat transfer goop under the new controller but not on the pins.
If you are still having issues after you go through the engine it might be time to do a Good Compression test or even better a leak down test as it is a better test.
Drifting
Joined: Oct 2020
Posts: 1,566
Likes: 574
From: Wisconsin
At the risk of jinxing myself, I’ll provide a counterpoint: I’ve got about 4,000 miles on a $56.00 eBay sourced (brand new) H.E.I. distributor with tach drive. Probably China made, I dunno. (KMJ Performance??). I did, however, take about 30 minutes before installing it to tweak the rotor contact so it just missed all the cap contacts while spinning. It was pretty far away before I did that.
To throw salt on the wound, I paired it with a $26 (!) set of extra long plug wires so I could run them underneath the headers, fully expecting the whole shebang to give me fits.
Darn if it didn’t fool me and has been running true for thousands of miles. <shrug>
To throw salt on the wound, I paired it with a $26 (!) set of extra long plug wires so I could run them underneath the headers, fully expecting the whole shebang to give me fits.
Darn if it didn’t fool me and has been running true for thousands of miles. <shrug>
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Aug 2022
Posts: 17
Likes: 1
From: Waterford, Michigan
Thanks for all help I really appreciate it.
I found a couple vacuum issues (vacuum relay) and intake was a bit loose. Getting those tightened up has helped quite a bit. So yeah it may not be a great distributor but its not completely at fault. After hearing some of the experiences others have had with higher priced units I'm going to make sure the one i settle on is a good product so I'm not second guessing myself later.
PS That's a great tip on the cap and rotor contact clearances. I'll check that out.
I found a couple vacuum issues (vacuum relay) and intake was a bit loose. Getting those tightened up has helped quite a bit. So yeah it may not be a great distributor but its not completely at fault. After hearing some of the experiences others have had with higher priced units I'm going to make sure the one i settle on is a good product so I'm not second guessing myself later.
PS That's a great tip on the cap and rotor contact clearances. I'll check that out.
Drifting
Joined: Jul 2022
Posts: 1,359
Likes: 822
From: Wisconsin
2024 C3 of the Year Finalist- Modified
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Drifting
Joined: Jul 2022
Posts: 1,359
Likes: 822
From: Wisconsin
2024 C3 of the Year Finalist- Modified
2023 C3 of the Year Finalist - Modified
2022 C3 of the Year Finalist - Modified
Drifting
Joined: Oct 2020
Posts: 1,566
Likes: 574
From: Wisconsin
Found a current link. Rather astonishingly, it has gone down slightly in price:
https://www.kmjperformance.com/i-316...tegory:1459341
https://www.kmjperformance.com/i-316...tegory:1459341
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 2,383
Likes: 385
From: Leland , North Carolina
You mention HEI, coil packs, and control units. Are you referring to the module? I have been blowing them left and right on an O'Reilly H.E.I. distributor, I even went as far as finding some N.O.S. GM modules, same problem. I got so I could change them in the dark. I always used the heat transfer cream. I pulled the HEI and stuck in an old Accell dual-point.