HEI Distributor
 

This might be a simple fix but so far I haven't been able to figure it out. What is happening is that somewhere in the distributor I am loosing power for short spurts at a time. It has to be internal as the power wire is staying hot when it dies. The reason I know it is loosing power the tach drops instantly to 0 when it starts to die. I changed the cap and the coil but it didn't help the problem. Any ideas to help me fix this gremlin? Distributors are not my expertise. This is a stock GM HEI. Thanks Larry

The module has a short ground wire so make sure it's in good condition and is screwed down tight. I bought a new Proform HEI about 6 years ago and found the ground wire's ring terminal was crimped around the wire's insulation rather than the copper wire itself so it wasn't making contact. I re-crimped it and then soldered it and that solved the problem. I seem to recall the coil's ground is thru that same wire.

First, when you put the new coil in, do you notice the black paint-like coating on the frame of the coil? As you saw, one ground wire goes to that coils frame on one corner with a screw attachment. Remove the screw, terminal wire & washer and wire brush that spot until the frame is shiney. Now you have a excellent grd.

How old is the Module? They usually crap-out when heat is involved but work fine when cool. The heat of the engine breaks (opens) the circuits inside the Modge, engine dies. Hence the reason for applying heatsink compound underneath the unit.

Coil or hei module...i would suspect module first. For 10 to 20 bucks it doesnt hurt to have a spare!!!

Coils can do the exact same thing as well....but usually no immediate zero effect of tach. That would likely be module loosing connection or failing.

Like I said I installed new coil and it immediately done the same thing. Thinking it about has to be condenser or module. Thanks all for your suggestions.

99% of the time it's the module, after checking for loose wiring.

Ive had more than one hei dizzy do this and it be the module,