If no continuity (no movement/reading on ohm meter) on Test 2 (across both terminals of pick up coil plug), then you're not "guessing" at this point. You found the source of your no spark condition exactly. There's a break in the coil.

Who did you buy the pick up coil from? I found that none of the parts stores even stocked it. Dealer or online was my only two options when mine went out.

 

Advance had one left in one store across town. There is a lot of C4s in Columbia. The young lady working the parts counter was driving an 87 Coupe that her Dad owns. So I would guess someone else ordered it and never picked it up. I will pick it up after work and start the process of taking things apart. I know it shouldn't take me more that an hour or two to complete the job but I always find more problems as I digg deeper.

 

Just ohm check the new one out of the box before you install it to be sure it's good. Report back with results.

 

I have it almost fixed. I will have a detailed write-up tonight.

 

I need the Timing mark picture.

 

Of the timing cover?

 

I was looking for a picture of the timing tab because my numbers are not legible any long on it. I could read 10 degrees, so I set my timing to 10 degrees.

Here is a detailed write up of how I solved my problem, in large part thanks to the people on this forum.

I was driving home and my car suddenly shut-off with no hope of restarting. I first suspected another fuel pump. I pull on my fuel pressure gauge and I had 42 pounds of pressure. So I then checked for spark and found that I had no spark. I then headed to the distributor to take a look. My distributor, rotor button and coil where WELL used and not looking great, so I replaced those just because they needed to be done either way. I tested for spark and still zero spark. I was left with the ignition and pickup coil. The ignition can be tested at the parts store and is easy to take out. I had that done and it passed with flying colors. I was left with the pickup coil. All you have to do to test it is check for continuity between the leads. There is a picture of it early in this post. I had zero continuity, so I knew it was the pickup coil. Now the fun started.

The pickup coil is located in the center of the distributor and requires you to pull the distributor out and dismantle it to separate the rotor shaft from it. This is easier said than done. First mark where the rotor button is on the distributor. This will help in keeping your timing close to the original. Then loosen the bolt and pull the distributor out. Your distributor has been down there a long, long time and has carbon buildup on it. Soak the bottom of it in some WD-40 to help loosen things up. Next you will need to tap the pin out that is holding the gear to the shaft. Find you a tap out bit for this job. Go to harbor freight and buy you a set and make sure it is flat on the end because the pin is hollow and will try and spread if you try and use a punch out tool or screw driver. Once you have the pin out, pry the gear off the shaft. The shaft should just slide out except if you still have a lot of carbon buildup, it will get stuck on the sleeve inside. DO NOT TAP IT OUT! There is a sleeve inside and you will tab it also, so just soak some more until it slides out smoothly. Just reverse the process to put it back together.

Or do what I ended up doing and just buy a remanufactured from the parts store and it has the pickup coil, ignition and capacitor installed already. Just make sure you transpose the mark over to the new before you turn it in for the core refund.

With that done the hard part starts, getting the distributor back in and lined up. The problem is that you have the oil sling that the rotor shaft slides into and turns. This oil sling is independent of the cam and it can turn when inserting and removing the rotor so that is makes it hard for you line up the mark with the rotor on the shaft.

Use these instructions on getting the oil sling to realign with your mark. Watch the video to fully understand what he is saying. Once I watched the video, I was able to realign the oil sling and my timing in about 4 minutes.

http://www.classiccarauto.com/impala...tributor.shtml

I then pulled out the timing gun, removed the tan and black ECM wire, to make the final small adjustments and bingo my car is running great!

 

How much was the reman distributor vs just the pick up coil?

Deep notch on timing tab is zero. If you timing light is the indicutive type (timing **** on back), Just set the desired degrees (6 is factory spec) on the **** and line up the timing tab to the deep zero notch by rotating distributor with engine running. You'll be advanced at whatever the the timing **** is at when the mark reaches zero on the balancer.

Mine are also completely unreable, and this is how I do it. Even the Shop manual does not show a picture of the timing marks.

Also, did you not view the two youtube videos that I posted earlier on how to install the distributor? Those videos are a heck of a lot easier to undertand and follow than a text article with a few tiny little color photos.

 

The reman was $125 but that included the ignition ($19), coil($23) and capacitor(Never Found). My capacitor was falling apart and I couldn't find a replacement. Getting the reman became the faster way to getting my car back up and running. In a perfect world I would have just replaced the pickup coil. But after 22 years in the car, it had all kinds of problems.

I did view your videos and they helped me get started and with things if everything is perfect but the link I posted the tiny pictures on that page are actually videos and they do a good job showing you how to get the oil sling back aligned. Plus no point reposting videos you already posted.