Im going to take a little time on this...I was just going to hand my mechanic the keys and tell him to have at it, but I may take a little bit more time to investigate this problem. What are the possibilities for a problem like this? The distributor is brand new(or remanufactured), the rotor is new(could it be the rotor?). There is two grounds/one power wire.(I guess) I have been told it could be a bad ground,(but they are both grounded, how could it be bad?) and was told that a fuse could be bad/or shorted out, and all kinds of things. I blew up the stock coil on maybe 3 or 4 cranks by turning the motor over by key. I got a 50 dollar accel super coil that was fried while cranking maybe 20 times or so. No fire, it sounds like the car is not getting spark at all. What could be happening here? All I can figure is that the power wire/or one of the grounds is bad. If the spring/rubber donut weren't properly installed, would that cause the problem?(I am pretty sure it's been installed correctly!) Any help is greatly appreciated, Thanks! :bglasses: :TU:
Cody, What are we talking here, HEI, points, MSD. More particulars on your ignition system. Don't leave anything out
Maybe a good ignition system primer will help here. The primary ignition coil requires two things to operate; a good voltage source, and a ground. The voltage source is the ignition key, which should provide a clean voltage from the battery to the coil+ of the system. The ground is provided by the ignition control device, either the transistor, or the points, depending on the type of ignition system in question. This coil primary's job is to create a magnetic field, which rises and falls, depending on the operation of the control device. This magnetic field causes or induces a voltage in the secondary winding of the coil. This very high voltage is fed to the distributor, which sends it to the correct spark plug via the rotor and cap. It appears here that the problem is constand current through the primary winding, either as the result of a shorted component, or a short in the harness to ground. Thuis is where to begin the troubleshooting procedure. Check the points, if applicable, for misadjustment or defect, causing the short. The ground should be intermittent, caused by switching, not a constant situation. This is likely the problem here. Ray
Guys, this is an HEI system. Ray, that was a good explanation, but there is still some confusing things, like for instance, there is a little, square black plastic piece, that when taken off from the wires, has 3 little metal(looks like brass maybe?) thin slots sticking out of it, and I have no idea what this piece is for or what this piece is called. When I took the piece off, I fed a direct 12 volt from a wire that went into one of the 3 holes where the piece had been taken off, to the battery.(it actually is a clip on, clip off piece) When I fed the direct 12 volt to that piece, that's when I kept frying(or blowing up, you choose the best term) the coils up. And with that piece on, it seems like the coil is not even getting warm, or doing anything. So w/out the piece, it seems like it's feeding the coil over 12 volts, or it's feeding the coil 12 volts but the coil is not sending it out, and w/ the piece on, it seems like the coil is getting nothing. I don't know, but that's what it seems. The motor is not giving me any feedback what so ever, except for it does crank and turn over by key, and that's it. No spark to the plugs. o No: Thanks
Cody, That black plastic connector plugs into the distributor cap, from underneath. There are 3 prongs leading to the ignition coil and ground. The connector plugs into those 3 prongs. It only goes in one way. The power feed is marked on the top of the cap, as BAT Next to it is the TACH connection. Those 2 prongs are outboard of the 3 prongs. You shouldn't be putting wires into that connector, plug it into the cap. An HEI only needs a one wire connection to the battery terminal. That wire should supply full battery voltage.
Larry, here is a pic of that piece that I took out of the wires. It came that way from the factory! What is this piece, I mean what does it do and what is the name for it? o No:
Last pic for now. I will go out later tonight if I can, and get a good pic of where this piece leads into, unless you know right off the bat what this piece is, so on and so forth. :TU:
I don't think that has anything to do with the ignition. What does the writing on it say, the picture isn't clear enough. Looks like a thermal limiter fuse for the A/C
That thingymajiggy(the black piece) is connected to those wires that lead up to the latch BAT, which are those wires that connect in the last plug-in on the back of the dist. cap. The piece does not have any words or anything on it, just a bunch of numbers. If you want the numbers, I can read them off for you. I took another pic, even though it isn't clear, it should give you an idea.
The black piece is circled in red, that is the piece that I have showed in the pics above when taken out, when I took that pic above^, the black piece was connected to that connection there, and the wires underlined in blue are the wires that all lead into that connection/black piece. I can't explain it very well but hopefully it can help to give you somewhat of an idea. If I can, or need to, I will push the car out of the garage and take some more pics of it if needed, as the camera I have works much better outdoors than indoors. Any ideas on this? Thanks :Comp:
I've never seen anything like that. I'm unaware of any reason for so many wires to power one HEI distributor. Could this be something a prior owner rigged up? The HEI distributor needs one 12 volt wire, that's it. The only exception to that are the later HEI's with the 7 pin module and electronic spark timing. Your 76 should have the 4 pin module.
Actually, one of my buddies who knows a little bit about cars was saying something about that. He said it looks like a splice to him. Is there a need for 2 grounds also? o No:
One ground for the coil. The innermost plug in on the cap, middle connector is ground. That setup looks like a clusterf--k to me :laugh:
LOL. :laugh:There is still some confusing things in my head about this. How should I go about by passing this mess? This setup(or mess up, whatever you feel you should call it) worked on the V6, but it sure isn't working for the V8. Probably the best thing to do would be to bypass it, but I have no clue on how I should go about doing that? o No: Thanks Larry! :TU:
All you need is one 14 gauge wire to lead directly to the distributor bat connection. It need s to show battery voltage in the crank and run positions and no volts when the ignition switch is off, simple as that. You can run a seperate wire to the fuse block if you need to, but I'm sure one of those wires in your engine bay is the right one. All you need is a multimeter and a few minutes.
Question...could I splice that green wire(the power wire I think) and run a 14 guage wire from it to the accessories outlet on my battery, and then leave the other wire alone(black, not pictured, remember, there is 2 ground wires), as it's a ground wire? Or would it be the best to just run the power wire from the fuse box? It would be easier to splice it and run it from the battery up to the connector, but easier isn't always the best? o No: Thanks. :TU:
Cody, Do you have a muti-meter? Do you know how to use one? If you do, it is a simple matter to use the meter to find the correct wire. It will have 12 volts in the run and crank position, and 0 volts in the off position. There is no need at all for a ground. I have no idea what the different color wires are. If I was there, I would use a meter. If you don't have a meter, find someone who does, otherwise you'll just blow fuses, burn something out, or possibly start a fire.
Hey Larry, No, I don't have an ohm meter/or a multi-meter, or anything like that. I have a buddy that does though, if he can find some time to come down then I may be able to use his. :TU: Thanks for the information Larry, I will see what my options are and we will try to get this figured out sometime real soon.
If this unit is an HEI system, the device pictured does not go with the ignition. It appears to be a thermal limiter of some sort, possibly for the AC. The distributor is very simple. One wire, coming from the ignition switch, goes to the bat or + terminal in the cap. One wire, coming from the ignition module, goes to the coil - lead on the cap. This is the only switched ground for the system; it drives the transistor in the module, which in turn switches the ignition current in the coil primary. Hot components indicate a short somewhere to me, likely in the module itself. That may have damaged the ignition coil primary, due to excessive current. The magnet in the distrubutor uses a magnetic signal to the transistor, switching it on and off. This system is amazingly simple, and very easy to troubleshoot, provided no modifications have been made. Let's start with that. Ray
