Any help would be appreciated. I was driving and all was good until it suddenly died on me. I pulled over and cranked again and started, then died again. I thought i should make my way back home carefully so babied it and kept dying and restrating until this last time. Now it wont start and even using starter fluid, wont spark. It has an hei distributor that was recently adjusted by a neighbor claiminmnbg they knew what to do by adjusting the vaccuum advance. The rest has been good for a long time and all wires that i can tell are good. Dont know if there is spark yet, butr before going any further wanted to check with yall. Thanks! 1966 Electra base 401 6.6
Where are you located? Focus on the distributor since you know that was messed with last. Can you verify the "no spark" with plug wire pulled and arcing/no arcing to ground? If you can, also check that the cap is secured, or the wire connector to the cap was not seated and worked loose. It could be a bad coil, as they sometimes will act up, other times simply fail 100%.
Thanks Michael! Im in Ohio. i Thought as much and think I have an extra one from a prev distributor. Thats all greatadvice and will check when i walk back down to it lol! Just in case, if its acting up and its still snug where it should be, any other things i can do to get it working? Ill update after Thanks so very much!
Your HEI has a intermittently open pickup coil, and the way it gets replaced involves removing the Dizzy and yanking off the drive gear. In short your not going this on the road side I am sorry to say.
You may have a bad control module. They will often shut off and then restart when they cool down. If it turns out to be the ECM, you should check all grounds to your ignition and have your alternator tested for AC leakage, indicating a bad diode. Electronic ignition systems do not like any AC current. It will fry your ECM.
Have an HEI in the LeSabre. Pulled into the driveway and shut it off. 5 mins later go to restart and it fires and dies 2x's then nothing. Replace the module under the cap and fires first click of the key. They can die that fast.
nk you much and above, thats what i was speaking on, but said the wrong part. The idea was there though, lol! Thanks and have one handy!
My Mom and her family were from Juneau Alaska, but before that not sure. I'll see if I can find out where they were before that!
One thing you'd know is the legend of William Dawes, he rode with Paul Revere in the " The British are Coming " night ride!!
I have had this happen. There are two wires that run to the pickup coil that flex as the spark advances. I have "made it home" a couple of times by disconnecting the vacuum advance (and of course plugging the hose).
I have replaced a couple of the control modules, but never on a car that I owned. Ya gotta use that silicone dielectric grease to cool them.
Hey gang, Silicone dielectric grease is for weather electrical connections, weather proofing spark plug wire ends and for applying to the rib section of spark plugs so they pull off without ripping up the boots. This product is what you use a thin film of on the bottom of a module to promote heat transfer from the module into the Dizzy casting .
Lol, oooh yessir! What I hear through the family is that he actually did the ride himself while Ol Paul was romancing some mistress, lol!
Talked to my sister, my immediate Grndpa came from a farm in Wisconsin... His older brother went to practice Doctoring in Petersburg Alaska and invited my Grandpa and his new bride to come visit and they stayed there in Alaska! Well small world there Chaunce, glad to meet you! Harold
That may be what they say now, but when HEI was new, they were saying silicone dielectric grease. As I recall the modules came with a small packet of the stuff. That's all that I ever used and I can't recall any module that I installed ever coming back.
