1970 Chevelle 396 HEI Ignition No Spark
Hello everyone. I have been dealing with a no spark situation for the past month. I had a fuel leak problem as well but I was able to fix that by making my own steel braided line. Now this is what I did today. FYI, this is an HEI system on a 1970 Chevelle 396. I replaced the ignition module with an NOS unit. Now, I don't know if this was a bad idea because someone had mentioned that modules like this have a shelf life and I maybe should've just gotten one from Autozone. I cranked to see if that fixed it and still no spark. Next, I wanted to change the coil that's in the cap. While I was loosening some screws, I figured that I would make sure that the plug wires are all going to the spots they should be. Whichever mechanic last worked on this car set up every single plug wire in the wrong cylinder. This car hasn't started for 3-4 years so that's the last time someone worked on this car, and it wasn't me. So I fixed the location of all the plug wires and tried cranking to see if that fixed it; still nothing. Next, I took the coil out of the cap and tested it both ways with a multimeter and it passed both tests. I had an NOS cap and rotor so I installed those and moved the coil to the new cap just in case there was an issue with the cap and rotor. Put everything back together and still nothing. A week ago, I had a friend who was cranking while I had a plug out to see for spark and there was no spark. I was alone this time but I didn't hear the engine "catching" at all so even though I didn't have a plug out today (because I couldn't do the plug test myself), I know that there is still no spark. It was just cranking and cranking and cranking. I tested the battery wire that goes to the BAT side of the distributor and it was getting battery voltage. The TACH side has nothing plugged into it but I don't think that will cause any issues. The battery is brand new so there shouldn't be an issue there although it needs to be charged because I drained it from all the cranking. I don't know how to test the pickup coil but is that what I should test next? Should I get a new ignition module because maybe the NOS ignition module I got wasn't a good idea because of the whole shelf life thing? Could it be a fuse? The rotor is spinning because each time I took the cap off after cranking, it was in a different spot. Also, the ignition coil setup was missing the piece I circled in the picture attached. Could this cause the issue or not? Any help on what to do next is appreciated. Thanks!
Hello everyone. I have been dealing with a no spark situation for the past month. I had a fuel leak problem as well but I was able to fix that by making my own steel braided line. Now this is what I did today. FYI, this is an HEI system on a 1970 Chevelle 396. I replaced the ignition module with an NOS unit. Now, I don't know if this was a bad idea because someone had mentioned that modules like this have a shelf life and I maybe should've just gotten one from Autozone. I cranked to see if that fixed it and still no spark. Next, I wanted to change the coil that's in the cap. While I was loosening some screws, I figured that I would make sure that the plug wires are all going to the spots they should be. Whichever mechanic last worked on this car set up every single plug wire in the wrong cylinder. This car hasn't started for 3-4 years so that's the last time someone worked on this car, and it wasn't me. So I fixed the location of all the plug wires and tried cranking to see if that fixed it; still nothing. Next, I took the coil out of the cap and tested it both ways with a multimeter and it passed both tests. I had an NOS cap and rotor so I installed those and moved the coil to the new cap just in case there was an issue with the cap and rotor. Put everything back together and still nothing. A week ago, I had a friend who was cranking while I had a plug out to see for spark and there was no spark. I was alone this time but I didn't hear the engine "catching" at all so even though I didn't have a plug out today (because I couldn't do the plug test myself), I know that there is still no spark. It was just cranking and cranking and cranking. I tested the battery wire that goes to the BAT side of the distributor and it was getting battery voltage. The TACH side has nothing plugged into it but I don't think that will cause any issues. The battery is brand new so there shouldn't be an issue there although it needs to be charged because I drained it from all the cranking. I don't know how to test the pickup coil but is that what I should test next? Should I get a new ignition module because maybe the NOS ignition module I got wasn't a good idea because of the whole shelf life thing? Could it be a fuse? The rotor is spinning because each time I took the cap off after cranking, it was in a different spot. Also, the ignition coil setup was missing the piece I circled in the picture attached. Could this cause the issue or not? Any help on what to do next is appreciated. Thanks!