Lost in the No Spark World

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jhdeval

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Ok I am scratching my head and totally lost. I have a no spark situation on my 65 Barracuda with a slant six. I have checked replaced the ballast resistor because my voltage was around 6-7 volts I now have a solid 9 volts at the ignition coil. The ignition coil is also brand new. I had replaced it with one from my local parts store. I get a little under 1 ohm on the primary and around 11000 (11k) on the secondary coil. This is within specs for the coil and according to my local parts store the correct replacement. I have tried grounding the threads of a spark plug both after the ditributor and right off the coil tower to no avail. I simply don't know where else to go. Can anyone help direct me? Maybe my coil is outside specs for the ballast resistor?
 
Check the points, they need to open and close. Check with a test light hooked to 12V and the point lead. The light should flash as the engine is rotated.
 
Ok so I attached my test light to ground and the bolt on the points. I got nothing on the test light. I believe this means a) the points are bad or b) the points are dirty. So my next answer would be to clean or replace. Do I understand that correctly?
 
I'd replace. Cleaning is for when you're 30 miles from anywhere and/or are out of beer.
 
The points open and close normally. I like that cooter and so agree. As a side note to the humore I live in the same area as The Duke Boys (Dukes of Hazzard) so moonshine is a common thing here.
 
Just because the coil measures correctly with an ohm meter does not mean it's good. I just had a MSD Blaster SS crap out that still measures good with an ohm meter. It has an internal high voltage break down.

You can check the points by putting you volt meter on the negative terminal of the coil and ground. You will read voltage with the points open and zero when they are closed. If you read voltage all the time the contacts on the points are crapped up, clean or replace. If you get no voltage open or closed, remove the wire to the points. If you get voltage then the condensor is bad or the points are shorted. If you have no voltage but do on the plus side then the coil is bad.
 
Thank you dgc33. Wonderful way to diagnose the issue. Also gotta say love your 68 Cuda. I am considering Sub Lime for my 65.
 
Okay I simply gave up on the points and condenser and bought a pertronix. I now have good white spark on all 6 cylinders but the engine still won't turn over. I feel it may be a fuel delivery issue. Can anyone suggest a way to test this? I have tried starting fluid and I think it fired a little but I am not sure. The engine is definitely turning nice and easy though.
 
For me, the next step would be to check the condition of the plugs and verify that all the plug wires are routed correctly. I'm really bad about getting the wires mixed up... :(
 
I had them incorrect before I started all the work and have checked their routing twice just to make sure. I found the wiring on allpar.com it was an image that I used.
 
Are they gas fouled? Can you see gas coming out of the acc pump in the carb??
 
Well I think my stupidity may have subsided. I realized the timing is WAAAYYY off because I didn't both to put the rotor back the way it came off. I am attaching the instructions from the Motors Repair Manual 1974 Edition. I would appreciate any suggestions or additions someone may have to this procedure.

DISTRIBUTOR, REPLACE
6-170, 198, 225

The distributor rotates clockwise. To remove, take off cap, disconnect primary wire and vacuum line. Remove hold-down bolt and lift out distributor. Install in the following manner.

1. Rotate crankshaft to bring No. 1 piston up on its compression stroke, and position mark on inner edge of crankshaft pulley in line with the "0" (TDC) mark on timing chain cover.

2. With distributor gasket in position, hold distributor over mounting pad.

3. Turn rotor to point forward, corresponding to 4 o'clock position.

4. Install distributor so that when fully seated on engine, the gear has spiraled to bring rotor to 5 o'clock position.

5. Turn housing until ignition points are separating and rotor is under No. 1 cap tower.

6. Install hold-down bolt.

7. Adjust timing with timing light.
 
jhdeval said:
Well I think my stupidity may have subsided. I realized the timing is WAAAYYY off because I didn't both to put the rotor back the way it came off. I am attaching the instructions from the Motors Repair Manual 1974 Edition. I would appreciate any suggestions or additions someone may have to this procedure.

DISTRIBUTOR, REPLACE
6-170, 198, 225

The distributor rotates clockwise. To remove, take off cap, disconnect primary wire and vacuum line. Remove hold-down bolt and lift out distributor. Install in the following manner.

1. Rotate crankshaft to bring No. 1 piston up on its compression stroke, and position mark on inner edge of crankshaft pulley in line with the "0" (TDC) mark on timing chain cover.

2. With distributor gasket in position, hold distributor over mounting pad.

3. Turn rotor to point forward, corresponding to 4 o'clock position.

4. Install distributor so that when fully seated on engine, the gear has spiraled to bring rotor to 5 o'clock position.

5. Turn housing until ignition points are separating and rotor is under No. 1 cap tower.

6. Install hold-down bolt.

7. Adjust timing with timing light.
Click to expand...
Unless your fixing a previous bad installation, I always bring the crank around and align the balancer with the timing mark spec for #1 BEFORE I pull the distributor. Turning an engine over without the distributor installed is a bad habit to get into. Some models and engines can get very confusing on a reinstallation and in rare cases cause other problems. When you get the distributor back in and hooked up, turn it until the points just open. I do this with the ignition in the on position and the coil wire out of the cap and 1/2" from a good ground. Turn it until you get a spark, then lock it down. It should start and run good enough until you get a timing light on it. I've had many that didn't need any readjustment at all.
 
I always bring the crank around and align the balancer with the timing mark spec for #1
Click to expand...
I would manually check it with a TDC tool and verify balancer mark is ok. slant six balancer rings have been known to move.
 
Ok so i used a straw down the spark plug shaft of the first plug (front of engine) to the cylinder and turned the cam over until the straw just started going back in. I put the distributor back in. I did this before cudamark's post. While putting the distributor in I aligned the rotor to about 4 o'clock and it shifted to about 5 o'clock. I tried to start the engine and still nothing. I pulled the first plug and covered the spark plug tube and I am getting compression and I can smell gas from the tube. I checked all the plugs good white spark. Does anybody have any ideas what else I can try? Did I do everything correct setting the timing?
 
Is the compression happening at the right time? The piston comes up twice, one for exhaust the other for compression. One sure way is to pull the valve cover and observer the valve action. Both valves will be closed at the the top of compression prior to ignition.
 
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