[ragcat]

I've done some checking for current. Here is what I've found:

1) touched to battery possitive-light
2) touched to solenoid positive-light
3) touched to solenoid small right (with ign switch on)-light
4) touched to coil battery terminal (switch on)- nothing

What next?

Thanx
Chuck

 

[ragcat]

Oh! Also ran wire from +battery to battery coil. Tested and of course was power. Turned switch on and cranked but nothing. Leaving switch on, tried jumping solenoid-nothing. Leaving switch on and cranking at solenoid, appeared to be nothing coming straight from coil(MSD blaster) with coils still wired directly to battery. Bad coil or something else need checking?
Chuck

 

[ragcat]

NOW I've tried a new ign switch with same results! Can anyone suggest something else? The guy at the aoutparts store is suggesting pickup in dist? I'm quickly running out of patience!:angryfi: The ign connector appears to have already been changed from original.

ANY SUGGESTIONS WELCOME!

Chuck

 

[TheRktmn]

The engine turns over with the key, so that rules out starter, battery, half of the solenoid, ignition switch and nuetral safety switch.
You "hot-wired" the car and are getting no spark from the coil.
So that means that the "other half" of the solenoid isn't the culprit. Spark is generated in the coil from a signal in the distributor and is distributed to the spark plugs by the distributor via the cap and rotor. So we start at one end and work our way over. Unfortunately there isn't any quick and easy diagnostic taht I know of, other than one piece at a time. (That's why I always keep old "known good" ignition components around.)
I don't want to insult you, but in the interest of covering all of the bases:
Is the rotor installed?
Does it turn when the motor turns over? I ask because I had a distributor shat shear off once, as well as a few broken pins and gears in the past.
Did you check for spark through the coil wire or directly from the coil? I ask this because you need to rule out the coil or the wire itself. If you have spark to ground direct from the coil tower without a coil wire than there is your problem.
If you get no spark from the coil at all you can rule out cap, rotor and coil wire. Try replacing the coil itself.
If still no spark then you need to look at your pickup or control unit or points/condenser depending on what you are running.
If you still cannot get any fire, call me - I will tow it away for a fair price :
Just kidding. I am out of easy things to check, so try these first.
Good luck, keep us posted.

 

[ragcat]

I don't want to insult you, but in the interest of covering all of the bases:
Is the rotor installed?
Does it turn when the motor turns over? I ask because I had a distributor shat shear off once, as well as a few broken pins and gears in the past.
Did you check for spark through the coil wire or directly from the coil? I ask this because you need to rule out the coil or the wire itself. If you have spark to ground direct from the coil tower without a coil wire than there is your problem.
If you get no spark from the coil at all you can rule out cap, rotor and coil wire. Try replacing the coil itself.
If still no spark then you need to look at your pickup or control unit or points/condenser depending on what you are running.
If you still cannot get any fire, call me - I will tow it away for a fair price :
Just kidding. I am out of easy things to check, so try these first.
Good luck, keep us posted.

Don't worry about insulting me. I'm the one asking for help! LOL At your suggestion, I took the cap off and cranked. Everything is turning as normal. I have MSD 6AL with MSD blaster coil and MSD dist.. I checked for spark coming out of coil and was none. I don't know if MSD will work off stock dist. but I tried that with same results. At no time does battery side of coil seem to be getting any power. Is there a way to check out the pick up?
Thanx
Chuck

 

[dan]

buy a new soleniod

I went through all that too,A new soliniod is a great place to start,I was lucky that ,that was the problem.Now that I have been driving it for a few weeks The starter sounds like its groning when I first turn it over.Im going to check the battery first then so it begins................Dan

 

[ragcat]

Re: buy a new soleniod

A new soliniod is a great place to start,.........Dan

I already got a new solenoid last week with no luck. I just tried a test that the HOT ROD site had for testing MSD ignition. I pulled the coil wire out of the dist and disconnected the magnetic pickup wires from the control box. I then jumped the wires coming from the box and got spark from the coil wire which I believe indicates a good coil and ignition box. So, am I back to the pickup?

Chuck

 

[TheRktmn]

I believe that is what it means.

 

[ragcat]

I still don't know what created the problem, but today I re-routed the magnetic pickup wire because it was running with the main coil wire, and the MSD site said this could cause erratic timing. I also took the magnetic pickup out and inspected (as if I could tell it was bad by looking LOL) and put som electric tape on a suspicious area of wire leading to the pickup. After doing this I half heartedly tried to start her and; ON FIRST CRANK SHE FIRED RIGHT UP!! I drove her from one driveway to the other and back and she is running great. Now for the rest of the work...

thanx again

Chuck