No spark / running out of ideas

Foot:  I’m from Texas and fluent in redneck...hell, I AM one.

One item you might want to check is your ignition switch. 

So I pulled the distributor out today and did the test as described by KENO. I had a spark. Certainly as Keno said I didn’t need any significant rpm to do it.

Couple of things. When I put the timing light on the wire when I spin the distributor I don’t get a light even when I am seeing a spark at the plug. I went back and put it on one of the cars and it worked fine...

The wires are msd 8.5 mm. I had to change them when I switched to the dui. That being said I didn’t have a spark with the old set of wires and stock distributor either... I’m not sure I trust the gun.... maybe I had a spark then... I may do kenos test with the old distributor as well.

I’m going to put a old plug in the number one hole and repeat the test with distributor in place and the actual plug I’m using grounded and visible to see if I have a spark with the distributor in place.

Any idea why the gun doing that?

Other thoughts or suggestions are highly appreciated!

Just not sure why it works on the car but not the boat....

Yeah I used one of the digital readout ones w/rpm. I think my father in law has and old style light he can bring next week. I’ll get an inline checker and report back. I was also going to put the plug wire from the boat on one of the cars and see if the gun worked there. I put a speed wrench on the distributor while we had it on the bench top setup but I’m not sure if I hit 50 rpm...

Just want to make sure I have right in my head. The rotor spins counter clockwise to 5-10 degrees btc will have the rotor cross the #1 post on the cap 5-10 degrees before the motor is a tdc. I have it lined up a tdc now so rotate the cap about 10 degrees clockwise.

I didn’t think about the 1/2 rotation speed. Thanks!

But you got it in the end though, right Pete?  

Gary S wrote: But you got it in the end though, right Pete?

It has been and always will be about that toolbox.

I haven’t gone back to read every post, but perhaps the distributor is 180° out. You may want to verify that you are at top dead center (TDC) on cylinder number one on the compression stroke and then reinstall your distributor.

It’s possible that your timing marks or pointer on the harmonic balancer is off. Make sure that you are on compression stroke on number one cylinder. You can check compression stroke the same way that you did before by holding your thumb over the spark plug hole and then rotating the the engine slowly clockwise. Once you know that the piston is coming up on compression stroke, you can insert a thin dowel that is 6-8” long into the spark plug hole and then slowly rotating the engine. Make sure that the dowel is in contact with the top of the piston, as you rotate the engine slowly.  When the dowel stops moving up then that means you have reached top dead center. You can then verify that your timing mark on the harmonic balancer and the indicator are also showing top dead center. I’ve seen people chase timing only to discover that the timing marks are off. 

Jimscorpsewhale wrote:   I did change starters..

It’s spinning counter clockwise for sure.

Jimscorpsewhale wrote: So I got the inline spark tester and it lights. I guess I have probably had a spark the whole time but have been chasing the wrong thing due to the timing light. I lined the number one up with the rotor at tdc. Eyeball rolled the cap about 5 degrees counter clockwise. I don’t get anything that sounds like it’s trying to fire. I’ll get a timing light that you plugs in line instead of the inductive type. I smell gas and when I first hooked the fuel line back to the carb I had a bit of a leak so I know it’s pumping. Any thoughts?

Jim