Help!! No Spark.. why??
 

OK.. I need some serious help here Guys.. The Holiday weekend approaching fast and My car wont start.
First thing I did was check fuel delivery, all systems go.
Then I Discovered I have no spark at all on 6 plugs and No spark at the coil, Checked CDI Bpx on a friends car started right up. Checked points on dizzy they are set fine and in good shape. Cleaned 14 Pin connector on harness and still no spark, checked all fuses and relays and still no spark, checked ignition switch and under dash feed thru connectors and still no spark!!! what am I missing??
Car ran fine and then just died in my drive way.
I really need some help here.
Thanks..
Jorge (Targa Dude)

Jorge, I don't know if your year/model has the same green wire that my SC has. It runs from the distributor to .... ... I can't remeber exactly where right now, anyways I had a similar problem and it ended up being that green pick-up wire. I had no idea mine was bad, untill I peaked around.

Could be a bad coil

Agreed. Might try a coil swap with the same friend you did the CD swap with...

Hi Matt,, My car is a 77 and I don't see any green wire.. Mine are white to the Dizzy..and I did a continuity check and they seem fine.
Ruf.. I replaced the coil about 8 months or so ago.. How could I check to see if its ok?
Thanks guys.. don't stop. Please keep brain stormin..

Jorge (Targa Dude)

Jorge check your pm

Paul.. thanks..for the suggestion..I will try that next.. Man this really sucks.
Jorge

Jorge,

This is a great oppourtunity to install that Ignitor.

first wire it up like this: (this is not your final installation...but i promise spark provided you have a good coil)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads/inductive.jpg

after installing the ignitor in the distributor put some of those nifty insulated female spade connectors on the red and black wires on the ignitor and re install the distributor.

make sure you are at z1 and note the rotor position relative to the mark on the dizzy housing before removing the dizzy.

then what you'll want to do is make a harness with a ring connector to go on your coil +, and two wires with spade connectors at the end of each wire coming out of the ring connector. make the wires extra long to give you ease of installation. one of the spade connectors will connect to the red wire on the ignitor the other will connect to any switched 12v power supply. an easy place to get power is the center connector on your 3 pin CD box harness. unplug the cd box and plug in.

then make another wire with a ring connector at one end and a spade connector at the other. connect the ring connector to the coil - and the spade to the black wire on the ignitor.

you should now have spark! This is an inductive installation.

now lets move on to the permanent installation

it's wired up like this.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads/trigger.jpg

basically throw away the wires you made in step one, attach the black wire to your old point wire and tap switched 12v power for the red wire and your running.

let me know what happens

sorry for the crude drawings but I'm a visual type person. It helps me get my point across better

Hey Big Al, Thanks a Million.. I will definately try your set up suggestions tomorrow..I see where your going and it makes total sense
to me..Like you I'm a visual person and when I see even a simple diagram it make things so much clearer..
Thanks again,
Jorge

a few clarifications...

on the black wire from the ignitor unit put a male spade terminal. that way you can plug in to the female connector on the wire that attached to the dizzy for the points.

when you do the permanent installation plug the CD unit back in tight.

when I was using this setup I tapped into the power wire for the cd box about 2 inchs from the plug. I soldered the connection and sealed it up with heat shrink tube. then taped the harness back up with the new wire protruding from the harness through the tape. I tried to make it as clean as possible.

Hi Allen, Well I tried everything you suggested and I still have no spark..
is it posible My ignition switch is messed up? I'm at my ropes end..

Jorge

Oh and one more thing I didn't get a chance to check my Coil..
I'm wondering if its fried..

Jorge

or maybe the CD box isn't getting good amps.. a test lite routine on the box+ is probably where I'd start.. then maintain the lite on the box + while someone cranks it.. if it dims when cranking then... or jump a hot to the box and a box ground back-up.. a box needs probably around 5amps to fire up/could be a 10amp surge.. you could disconnect the tach.. it's unusual but the tach can be a crazy cause.. then redo the other signal wires.. I'd worry about the why later if it solves the ignition.. and a weak/bad coil doesn't like boxes.. it shoots them..........Ron

a few things to check...

when you did the inductive setup did you have power to the coil?
check that you have power to the coil + with a test light.

the next thing to check while you have it set up like the first drawing is to attach a test light between the wires you have attached to the coil, then have someone crank the engine for you. the test light should blink.
DO THIS WITH THE WIRES DISCONNECTED FROM THE COIL.

so...

if the coil + wire has power (test light aligator clip grounded and probe touching ring terminal attached to coil +)

and the test light blinks when the test light aligator clip is attached to the black wire from the petronix and the probe is touching the coil + wire...

and the coil has no output using this configuration. I'd say your coil is dead.

now... here is where I get flamed. please friends go easy on me.

if you break down and buy a coil, Go cheap. buy a stock ford TFI coil like this:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads/TFIcoil.jpg

I don't spout numbers but I do know these coils pack a good punch. I think the stock ford plug gap with these coils is like .060 and there not being powered with a CD system, so they must deliver some good power. and for $15 at NAPA or your favorite discount retail parts store how can you go wrong?

just ask the counterman for a coil for a 89 ford f150 with a 351cid engine. tell him "the cheaper the better"

here is how I installed mine

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads/tfi coil 1.jpg

just pickup some simple angle brackets at home depot, drill out the hole to 8mm to fit on the stock studs for the coil mount. I forget what size goes through the holes in the coil but bring the coil to the hardware store with you to get the bolts to attach the coil to the brackets.

or... go throw another $30 bucks at a bosch blue coil. your choice.

if you want to test your coil you can.

here is an easy way.

take the coil off your car.

attach wires to the coil + and -.

attach a spark plug wire to the coil output and a spark plug at the end of the wire.

ground the spark plug using a wire with heavy aligator clips to your wife's car. (one end of wire attached to wifes car and the other attached to the plug)

attach a set of jumper cables to your wife's car's battery.

attach the positive juper cable to the coil + wire.

now zip tie the negative coil wire ( if you have a hose clamp handy they are better at clamping the exposed wire to the screw driver) to the biggest screw driver you have so that the screw driver will be a conductor. as quick as you can touch the screwdriver to the - jumper cable coming from your wifes battery and look at the spark plug. it should throw a spark.

only touch the screw driver to the jumper cable for a second. any longer and you will have problems.

more crude drawings:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads/testcoil 1.jpg

please go easy on me...I know this is backyard advise. I'm just trying to help Jorge go for a drive this weekend.

this should keep you busy tomorrow morning. I'll check back throughout the day. Keep me posted.

no spark
 

Try the simple things first. Check all the grounds. I had this same problem on an 83 and it was the tranny to chassis ground. $13.00 part. This was after a new perma-tune, distributor, ignition switch and coil. Just my .02......good luck!

Darren

Hi guys..AL, well I checked the coil per your instructions and its fine..Ron, I ran jumper wires from the CD box and signal wires as well and still Dead in the water..
Darren, thats a great suggestion I'm going to check those grounds today

Jorge

if you backed up the CD box ground and hot, checked the points with an ohm meter for the ground open/close.. and disconnected the tach, etc.. maybe it's parts time.. like these ignition parts are like potato chips.. you shouldn't have just one..........Ron

exactly Ronin, What type of spark box do you have? If it is a Bosch, chances are it is cooked, get another one or try a perma-tune! The perma-tunes are fail safe. The Bosch units fail instantly.....So be carefull!

Darren

Jorge,

back to getting spark without the CD box.

were you able to get the test light to blink with the inductive setup?

I'm assuming you installed the ignitor and the installation was ok.