Hello, I have a 1970 Riviera GS. I completed a tune up and now get no spark from the coil. I installed the old coil and still no spark. I connected a volt meter to the new coil and got 5.5 volts. I also pulled the coil wire from the distributor and grounded it. The readings jumped from 5.5 to 10. So I think this rules out the started solenoid. Open to any help or suggestions. Thanks!
Thanks Jim. I am not getting any spark out of the coil wire to the distributor. But I have the old points in it - as it was running last week. But I already have and will be changing it to electronic ignition. I just don't know why there is no spark out of the new or old coil?
No offense to your diagnostic ability, but lets start from the beginning here.... So you disconnected the coil wire at the cap and held the wire 1/4" from a ground and you have no spark? The next step would be to open and close the points manually with a screwdriver. Do you have spark at the points?
I will be checking point gap and spark. If that is okay is there a way to check the condenser? Thanks
I checked the gap on the points - they were too close and I opened them to .016 and cleaned them. Now I am getting spark to the plugs! But the car only back fires a little bit and won't start. I have new spark plug wires and double checked the firing order, new spark plugs, new cap and rotor and new coil. I am getting gas in the carburetor. I have tried to adjust the timing. Not sure what else to check. Thanks for any suggestions!
Next thing to check is timing. Pull the #1 plug out and stick a cork in the hole. Pull the coil wire off and bump the engine over till the cork pops. Now look at the timing tab on the timing case cover. The mark on the balancer should be pretty close to the tab if not under it. If the mark on the balancer is nearby, rotate the engine manually till its under the timing tab. Now follow the #1 plug wire to the distributor cap and make sure the rotor is pointing to that terminal. Firing order should be 18436572 going clockwise. If all that is corect, the engine will start
Thanks Jason! Followed your last thread - confirmed TDC and rotor was pointed to number 1. (It was 180 out!) The engine was turning over at a normal speed, but now the engine turns over very slowly! Battery is fully charged. Tried adjusting the cap for timing, but makes no difference - still turning over slowly.
An engine needs 4 things to run- spark, fuel, timing compression. If all 4 of those items are present, the engine will run. You sure you didn't wire the cap counter clockwise? Are you sure the timing is correct? Start double checking things because something isn't right here
It lives!!!! Jason and all, thank you very much! I needed to rotate the wires on the cap over one tower to properly align the rotor position to where TDC was and it fired right up! Soon another Buick will be given new life and be on the road!
