Wires/cap/rotor no start - curious about 'feel' of connection to ignition coil

BrakeL8 · 10-11-2019, 09:00 AM

Happy Friday everyone.

I've read numerous threads on this and was hoping to get some 'feel' assurance/direction.

Changed what I believe were original BERU wires (yikes- super cracked insulation) due to the car sputtering post wash when any moisture got on them.

Replaced w/ clewetts, a bosch cap and rotor.

Marked the orientation of the cap (also a bosch) where you can see the little line on one side (towards rear of car and 1 & 6 wire) and the red 'notch' which faces front of car.

Have triple checked firing order / wire routing and I'm convinced no issues there.

The rotor I pressed solidly and felt it go down w/ the keyed portion engaging. I rotated and am pretty sure the cap is 'seated' fully.

Here's where I'm NOT at all comfortable.

1) the plug connections themselves I found had to be pressed really hard. I got solid clicks out of 4 of them, and feelable clicks out of the rest to the point where I'm using all my physical force to push them in - fairly certain they're contacting (but not entirely positive). The cap ends are all solid.

2) The connection TO the ignition coil I'm a little stumped with - it's all the way down (rubber insulation) but I feel really none of the same 'click' that I do when attaching anything to the cap.

Should I?

Is there some technique here (including unbolting the coil so there's more space to really push the center and try and drive the metal connection into the coil? (can I get shocked on a coil w/ the battery switched completely off due to any residual engergy like a capacitor? I'm fairly naive to ignition concepts and don't want to do anything stupid.

Thanks, don't want to damage the wires trying to apply herculean strength if the real issue here is that I simply don't have the coil connected.

Audibly - I hear the car cranking and it sounds almost like it's trying to catch and run roughly but it doesn't. Not sure if this tells you anything (like yeah 4 of your 6 plug connections are on, but 2 are not - if the ignition wasn't conneted it wouldn't sound like this at all).

Appreciate all of your insight

911obgyn · 911obgyn's Garage

You can slide the boot back a bit on the coil wire and make sure you get a good connection. Also a bit of silicone grease helps overcome sticky rubber and protects against moisture. As a check change back to original coil wire to see if that is the culprit.

BrakeL8 · 10-11-2019, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 911obgyn

You can slide the boot back a bit on the coil wire and make sure you get a good connection. Also a bit of silicone grease helps overcome sticky rubber and protects against moisture. As a check change back to original coil wire to see if that is the culprit.

See this is why I post here- the pure stupidity on my part of not thinking to change that one bit to original!

Thank you, will try that.

T77911S · 10-11-2019, 10:13 AM

if the wire is at least in there it should start.

just curious, what year.

I bet you have the wires wrong.
turn the crank so the rotor points to the line on the dist. '
that is #1
going in the correct rotation, 1,6,2,4,3,5 on the cap

I wish clewett would mark his wires with numbers on both ends.

BrakeL8 · 10:43 AM

1987

Ok update- tried to re-seat the plugs.

Tried clewett wire from coil as well as old beru.

Car now starts (quickly) however is missing on at least 1 cylinder I believe. So narrowing things down. I'm set at 1,6,2,4,3,5.

Believe the issue likely here is still seating onto spark plug

BrakeL8 · 10-11-2019, 11:46 AM

Ok got things I belive worked out.

#4 I didn't have connected well due to the slight angle. In trying I guess I managed to cut the brand new rubber end tip - pictured. Is this an issue? Should I contact clewett to see if perhaps these are replaceable?

Car now fires and runs, it's always idled quite low- in fact prior to being warmed has idled ~500rpm and dipped abit- never stalled out at all but I'd use some throttle.

Car has a steve wong chip on 91 octane.

It's now more raspy and the response is for sure better when revving. Idle is ~1200rpm in the 30 seconds I let things run to clear out any unburned fuel to avoid fouling #4's plug.

Maybe the tired wires were a larger issue than I thought. Would love to figure out hwat to do re: the end shown prior to getting the AC compressor bolted back on in case I do have to change this wire so a test drive will have to wait.

BrakeL8 · 10-11-2019, 12:33 PM

Just spoke to Richard at Clewett who graciously offered to send me a replacement and wouldn't let me pay for it.

Boy it's nice dealing w/ solid companies- even when you don't know your own strength and break their products.

T77911S · 10-15-2019, 03:16 AM

he is a great guy.

BrakeL8 · 10-15-2019, 09:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by T77911S

he is a great guy.

Sure seems like it!

The older I get the more I value reputations and just being a solid person.

stlrj · 06:29 AM

"... sputtering post wash..."

Happened to my 87 Carrera too after going through the car wash. I had a heck of a time trying to get it to start and when it finally caught, it sputtered really bad and I barely got it home. Soon as I got home, I opened the distributor cap and found lots of moisture condensed inside. After wiping it down and blow drying the inside of the distributor, all was well again and I never had to touch my ignition cables and they got quite wet too.