Engine miss firing

[chickenwing]

Kinda expensive for as little as you will use it. http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item....re&dir=catalog

[R@nger]

HOOOOOOOO...mmk I'll go with getting shocked .

Thats a little more than I want to spend..very cool little tool though.

[R@nger]

Well today I put my distributor cap and rotor back on. Thing is now it won't even start-up. All the plug wires are on right, the distributor and rotor went back on very easy. Could the coil be bad?...is it not grounded properly? I checked and rechecked the ground for the incap coil and its connected like it should be. I gave the rotor spring that connects to the cap a little more of a bend just incase it wasn't connecting. I also pulled a plug and reconnected the wire..cranked it and there was no spark.

Anything else I should look for?

Oh by the by the starter is doing its job, its getting gas, it just doesnt seem to be firing.

[R@nger]

So check this out...I took off the cap again and broke out my ohm meter. I tested center connector to the ground..nothing. Anything I tested to the ground wasn't doing anything. I then decided to take out the coil. I did so and check out what I found

UHHH OOOOO


After seeing that I got on summit and ordered a new coil, as well as a new distibutor cap and rotor just to be safe. Cool thing was I had a 15 dollar certificate from my last order so I got this coil, only the red/yellow wires instead.
http://go.mrgasket.com/ProductDetail...inselection=16
And this cap and rotor set
http://go.mrgasket.com/ProductDetail...minselection=9
All for only 75 bucks.

Something I noticed about the coil was that there was no secondary ground installed. The wire going to the bottom of the distributor was setup for it but there was no secondary ground strap at the coil.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Originally Posted by R@nger

Something I noticed about the coil was that there was no secondary ground installed. The wire going to the bottom of the distributor was setup for it but there was no secondary ground strap at the coil.

That's the ground wire I was talkin about. My truck had the same problem. Except mine got so bad it killed the HEI AND coil. Noone sells the damn thing either (that I know of), I had to go to a yard just to get that little metal strap.

[R@nger]

Ok well thankfully my new coil does come with one so thats good.

It will be interesting to see if the engine still misses after replacing the coil, distributor cap and rotor.

[chickenwing]

Man! I got a killer ground strap from somewhere.... It's all metal, pre-formed to the correct shape, not a wire that will get caught in the cap when you screw the coil cover down. Wish I had a pic... Anyone know where to get these things?

[pjmoreland]

This recent thread talks about this very issue:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s....php3?t=154435

Says they are available at Napa.

[R@nger]

Yeah thankfully mine comes with one of those all metal ones...which seems like a great idea.

Thanks pj for posting that link. I was looking at that post recently but didn't check back to see where you can buy those grounds sepperately.

[pjmoreland]

Hope your truck fires right up after replacing the fried coil! This kind of stuff can be pretty frustrating.

For anybody else who is interested, here's a link to the Napa page for the grounding strap:

http://www.napaonline.com/cgi-bin/nc...grpid=86597630

[R@nger]

Ok...well I got my parts today and installed them. I tried starting up the truck but it still doesn't want to. I took out a spark plug and reattached it to the wire and let it lay on my headers. I then had my sister crank the truck up...there was spark. My question is how big a spark should there be? The spark I was getting was just a little guy but it did keep producing spark as my sister tried crankin it up. I thought well maybe its just flooded...so I'd crank for 10 secs let it sit, crank another 10 let it sit, and so on and so on, it just wouldn't start. I got out my multimeter and tested the battery as well as the battery connection for the distributor, both had the juice they should. Could the blown coil have toasted some other things in the distributor...module, condencer?

I'm at a loss.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

[R@nger]

Here something I noticed...see the burned paint on the module.



As you can see theres no burn marks but the paint has definately been curled up and roasted pretty good. Possibly from the inside.

Would a burned up module not allow my truck to start?

Right now I'm just at the point where I'm looking for any little thing that wouldn't allow my truck to start...sorry for all the overload of questions.

[R@nger]

Ok yet another update.

I took out the module and took it to autozone to have it tested. It was bad so I bought a new one. Put it in the truck and now its at least attempting to start. It will go chug chug chug chug like its firing but it still won't start up.

I'm pretty sure its flooded(strong gas smell) but as much as I cranked it I would think it would have started up by now.

ARG I'll be happy when I have put this problem far behind me.

[Brainchild]

Pulling the wires is the quickest way to narrow down a miss.They sell pliers at autozone/wherever that are insulated for pulling wires.Not a shocking experiance that way
Once you find the miss,start checking all associate firing componets to that clyinder.

If all else fails a compression test is a good way to find a burnt/bent valve,or a weak cylinder.akk of these will make a dead miss.Also a lobe off the cam will do this.Easy things first though,pull the wires one at a time,and narrow it down to which cylinder,and go from there.

Any smoke,popping,or anything like that coming from it?

[R@nger]

Well Brainchild now I can't even check those things because I can't get it to startup.

[pjmoreland]

If your carburetor is flooded, press and hold the gas pedal to the floor while you crank it over. It helps lean out the mixture.

You might want to try checking your timing again while your sister cranks the engine over for you. You've changed quite a few things. Maybe your timing is off.

[chickenwing]

Dang Ranger, if it werent fer bad luck you'd have none at all! (There's a country song in there somewhere) PJ is correct on the flooded issue. My old datsun pick-up used to flood at the drop of the hat. Hold to floor and crank till she fires up.

On the module you installed. You did put a light coat of dielectric grease on the back of it? You did clean the mounting surface? Read somewhere what that is for is to help dissapate (sp) the heat the module generates.

[67ChevyRedneck]

I have purchased bad coils and modules before...especially if you got them from advanced/autozone... Recheck your timing, I believe your supposed to pull the vac. advance off the dist. to get it right. Been a long time since I've had to do it.

[john]

If it has been flooded for numerous attempts the cyls could have been washed clean. I have had to pull the plugs and shoot a little oil in and turn over then put plugs back in. Worth a try. John

[R@nger]

Well I'll try the holdin the gas pedal down while cranking it.

As for the grease yes I gave it a good coating and I cleaned both surfaces before I did.

I can't believe how bad my luck is...freakin ridiculous. I'm not joking when I say I'll fix one thing and several more will break. By the time I get this truck runnin I'm sure I will have had to replace ever part on it .

[D.PASSMORE]

You got to have fuel and spark to make it run, so you have to figure it out which one is causing the problem. Try spraying a little starting fluid down the carb with the throttle wide open. If it wants to start, uaually the carb/fuel flow. if its the same or close to as it was before ---- fire...

Also, look in the carb and see if your jets are squirting when accelerator is pushed. if so, with good spark, it should fire and run somewhat. Weak spark will flood easely. Use starting fluid, but be careful. its a little rough on the engine.

Another, power to the HEI. Check and see if it is correct voltage. Not sure what it should be.

And if you pulled the distributer, recheck timing and firing order of spark plug wires.

And by the way, I seen a guy mannually set the timing on a 350ci. He sat on top of the rad support and had a friend turn the motor over. He point the distributer towards #1 cylinder and kept lifting and dropping the distributer (while it was turning over)back into the hole until it fired. I was amazed it worked and I watch him drive it down the road.

You never know, but I bet its something simple.

[pjmoreland]

That's a good point about the voltage to the HEI. Make sure you aren't using the original white ignition wire that runs from the fuse panel connector on the engine side of the firewall. This wire has higher-than-normal resistance to drop the voltage down for a stock coil and points distributor. You want full 12 volts to the HEI. I cut the big fat (10 gauge?) wire with the HEI connector out of a 70s truck and connected it straight to the "ignition unfused" terminal on my fuse panel. The yellow wire that runs from the outer terminal on the starter motor (provides 12 volts to the ignition system while cranking over the engine) no longer needs to connect to anything.

[curbyk]

With a lot of engine cranking you could have fouled your plugs with too much fuel. Check your oil for gas also.

[R@nger]

Ok..so how about I pull all the plugs, clean them, make sure they are all still gapped properly, then spirt some starting fluid in the carb, check the timing and hope she starts .

I checked the voltage at the distributor, its 12V.

Checked the timing its where it should be. I'm going now to get some starter fluid.

[R@nger]

Ok I just got back from the store..I opened the choke and squirted some startin fluid down into the carb. Tried starting it...nope, still won't start.

So as a reminder of all the things I've done so far...Replaced the coil, distributor cap, rotor, module, cleaned the plugs, checked and rechecked the firing order, checked the timing and used some starter fluid...and the truck still won't start.*SIGH*

Some things I'm going to check tomorrow is take every spark plug wire off hold it 1/4 in. from a good ground and see if I get a good spark(holding the plug with a good insulated tool . I'm also gonna check the pick-up coil, in-carb fuel filter, and probably some begging and praying for the truck to start now.