Help, car not putting out spark like it should.

Ok I changed my intake so I had to pull my distributor. But when I put it back on i cant get the car to turn on cause its not putting out hardly any spark at all. I put a timing light on the #1 plug and just help the key to start and it only light up the light like once over 3-5 secs.

I have it in the right firing order I think I pluged the plug from the bottom of the distributor into the cap, then I plugged in the two smaller plugs that go in front of that big one. Tach, and I dont know what the other one is for. And I thought that that was all I had to do. Then just turn it till the timing is right. But I cant even get the car to really make an attemt to crank let alone stay one. It just turns over and over.

Is there something I am forgeting to plug in or does it sound like my ignition has bit the dust?

sounds like u put th distributor in wrong to me. did u mark where the rotor was pointing when u took it out? if not,then thats prob. ur problem. u gotta get cyl. #1 on the compression stroke and then have the rotor on the dist. facing toward the #1 plugwire i believe how it goes. hope this helps u

If that was the problem wouldnt the motor still like try to come on. I mean it should still fire and all just not the right timing wouldnt it?

As of right now it gets pretty much nothing at all. If I hold the key for like 7-10 secs it may or might not give a very weak exhaust sputter I suppose is caused by a spark. I talked to my uncle he said it soulds like the coil may have quit.

If it was runnign good before it's likely not a sudden mysterious coil failure. Testing for a spark with a timing light while cranking the engine over is not a valid test.

Correct "low buck" way to test: Plug one of the plug wires onto a spark plug and hold the plug against a GOOD ground- just rest the side electrode right on a good ground. Make sure it's reasonably dark where you are testing. Now crank the engine over. You should get a REGULAR spark and it should be BLUE jumping the gap. If it's not regular or it's an orangy/yellow color then you may indeed have ignition problems.

Likely, you didn't get the distributor dropped in quite right and it isn't timed correctly (or off by 180*).

If your timing was off then you'd get sputtering or backfiring at the very least. Your problem is just plain old lack of spark.

Are you still using that goofy distributor? If so that's the problem. If not, I'd look into the coil and module. It sounds like the coil is shot, but a faulty module could very well cause this kind of problem.

Incidentally, that other wire that goes in front of the 3-wire plug on the side of the cap is the power supply for the coil. For an HEI distributor it needs to be a 10-gauge wire taking power straight off the ignition switch (or a relay from the battery.) If your coil isn't getting enough power that could easily cause your problem.

No actually I bought that one you told me about :thumb:. But anyway. I was having the same problem with my old distributor that I know worked. The TPI one. When I put it back in after changing the intake I couldnt get spark like I was supposed to. That other wire that you said is the power wire for the coil is plugged in but I suppose I my have got it loose somewhere and thats why Im not getting any spark. And Ive tried two different modules so I think its either the coil or the ignition. Or that wire you said.

Is there any good way to check and see if the coil is getting the power it should?

Just take a heavy gauge wire (10 gauge or bigger) and run power straight off the battery to the + prong on the cap, then try to start it. If you get good spark it's a wiring issue, if not it's a bad coil.

Are you sure you have those 2 wires right? The small one for the tach should be on the left and the heavy power wire should be on the right...just a thought.....

Originally posted by TheGreatJ
Just take a heavy gauge wire (10 gauge or bigger) and run power straight off the battery to the + prong on the cap, then try to start it. If you get good spark it's a wiring issue, if not it's a bad coil.

Are you sure you have those 2 wires right? The small one for the tach should be on the left and the heavy power wire should be on the right...just a thought.....

I assume I do because, I tried to push one in on one side and it wouldnt go in, so Iput it in the other side. If It wouldnt go in I assume I have it right. And Ill do what you said. But can I rule out the ignition giving out?

The power wire only goes to the terminal marked +12V on the top of the coil cover. Other side drives the tach- you won't make sparks if you hook up power on that side.