I dropped an HEI into the transplanted 455. I ran a wire from ignition point on fuse box to the distributor. There is 12 volts at the distributor with the key on and while cranking. No spark at all. Screwdriver in plug wire right next to ground confirms. No spark coming from HEI. This was a working HEI when I pulled the engine 8 months ago. Any help troubleshooting would be appreciated!ou:
Mike, First thing I would do is take a look at all the internal connections between the module and pole piece. Move the wires around a little. Then take a look at the cap and rotor for evidence of burn through. Take the coil out, and clean the ground strap, and reinstall. If it still doesn't fire, change the module. The only thing left after that is the pole piece. There is a way to check it with an ohmmeter, not sure of the specs. To change it, you have to disassemble the distributor. I chased an intermittent no start condition on an HEI for months. It was the pole piece. I'm not a big fan of the HEI's. There are bettter ways to get a fat spark IMHO.
I beleive that GM calls that a "pickup coil". Not too hard to replace but a definite pain. You'll need a new spring steel roll pin if you have to replace it. Larry's usually right, so I would go with his advice. I use the HEI because it's simple and was availble at the time, but I have replaced two pickup coils in HEIs in 10 years, one in my car and one in a Chevy van, and those things are supposed to be good "forever". Yeah, right!
Yes, GM calls it a pick up coil. My replacement Niehoff unit said pole piece on the box. My defective one would make my ohmmeter do a dance, if I just moved the wires that connect it to the module. It was the last thing I changed out of frustration. It would leave me stranded intermittently. I changed the module, and the car would start, then a month later, stranded, LOL
Pick up should OHM out at about 880. Look for the ground strap in the cap under the coil. Easy to over look, if it's missing it will cause parts to fail. HTH John
I'll check the resistance in the pickup, look for the ground strap and check the rotor for burn through. If that fails, I'll go through the stuff in Schurkey's link. That's the part that looks like a ton of fun... Thanks for your input, I'll get to it over the next few days and post progress/road-blocks.
Chris, The reason the modules burn out is either due to electronic components going bad or heat sink grease drying out and letting the module overheat. The HEI is a good unit, if you take care of it. Nothing is made as a maintenance-free product. That is a marketing gimmick!:Brow: I have an HEI in my 84 Chevy truck w/350 and almost 300,000 miles on it. Guess what, HEI is still working, replaced the modules twice in 20 years! Never, ever had a problem with HEI.
Had an HEI fail on me once. Had recently tuned it up with a cheap rotor and cap. The non-Delco rotor developed a hole in it so the spark jumped from the coil above to the shaft below instead of to the correct spark plug wire. That was interesting to find and I learned my lesson about inexpensive components.
I beleive you George, but anything can break. Take our beloved cars for example. I am fully convinced that most of these cars, Buick or not, were junk, maybe as high as 75% of them. Over the years, the junk ones, sooner or later, got worn out and becaome useless. Then they went to the junk yard. These cars were not supposed to last for 30+ years! The cars that we all care for and keep were the 25% that had GOOD quality when they left the factory. It's not that we got LUCKY and got "one of the good ones" it's that for the most part, only the "good ones" are left! Same for the parts. I understand what you mean, but I am not the kind of old car owner who 'doesn't take care' of things on the car. I'm not sure if you meant to do this, but your post implies that if I would just bother to do maintenance on my car, I wouldn't have these problems. That sorta...riles me a little. I am also confused about your talk of the module...I don't recall even mentioning the module. I do recall saying the pickup coils can go bad, and nobody can convince me they don't. My head's sorta like a rock, I guess. Once I see something, it's hard to make me beleive I didn't see it. PS I hope you understand that if I were mad at you, I'd simply tell you off instead of presenting my standpoint and posting what's on my mind.
Chris, No problem, no offense meant. Why I stated module instead of pick-up coil is that I have never had one pick-up coil go bad. Since the pick-up is basically a magnetic field inductor, there is really not much to go bad unless a winding comes apart. Most of the time, I am going to say 80-90%, the ignition module goes bad. Also, when people install an HEI, since we know our cars did not have them, some just go to the local salvage yard, remove a HEI and drop it in their car. When it goes bad they blame the HEI. If they had simply gone through the HEI while it was out and made sure the heat sink grease was in good condition, they could have avoided a failure.
I had an epiphany last week. The reason I droipped the HEI in is I had an ignition problem...sporadic missing at all RPM's. I decided to give up and drop the "known good" HEI in. The HEI didn't work...the reason for the post...now the epiphany! I decided to pop the hood and look at the coil. Sure enough, I had the power going to the (-) and the points distributor was connected to the (+). I decided to swap out the HEI for the points and 30 minutes later I had a 455 that runs smooth as glass. Just thought I'd share my stupidity with you all.
Your best bet is the HEI or Pertronix for the minor cost. Points are inaccurate and use less voltage 10k for 40k for HEI for better spark.
