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gordonfan24
Novice
Feb 4, 2013, 3:38 PM
Post #1 of 20
(1672 views)
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'76 Bonneville- No spark
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Hello, I'm a first time poster. I'm not an expert but I'm no novice either. I'm 40 and have been doing all of my mechanic work myself since my first car, a 1970 GTO.
This issue has got me more than stumped. The car has a 400cid or 6.6L w/ a 2 barrel carb. The car is cherry, only 37k original.
Went to the store the other day, came back out, wouldn't start. Had it towed back to the house. It's getting PLENTY of fuel, just no fire. I checked to see if the rotor was turning, it is, counter clockwise. I've bought a new (reman) distributor, coil, ignition switch, plugs, plug wires, cap and rotor. I have 12V to the distributor, along with a new battery. I installed the distributor, got the engine to TDC and wired it 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2 going counter clockwise. What else could it be? Is there any way to check to see if my coil is firing other than using a plug at the end of a wire? I want to check it in the cap, is this possible. 
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Feb 4, 2013, 4:32 PM
Post #2 of 20
(1655 views)
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Re: '76 Bonneville- No spark
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Yes, you should be using a spark tester which you can pick up for a couple dollars.
If you have confirmed power at the + side of the coil then now you have to look for a pulsing ground on the = side when cranking.
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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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gordonfan24
Novice
Feb 4, 2013, 8:30 PM
Post #3 of 20
(1630 views)
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Re: '76 Bonneville- No spark
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Thanks for the rapid response Hammer Time. So, let me make sure I understand you correctly, I should make sure I have 12V on the BAT+ (red wire) and then when I crank it over, I should see my multitester pulse or test light on the ground side (black wire) of the coil? Could this be a ground issue? After all, the car is 37 years old and the ground going from the battery to the engine looks a bit ratty, I'm going to replace it tomorrow.
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Feb 4, 2013, 8:35 PM
Post #4 of 20
(1625 views)
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Re: '76 Bonneville- No spark
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The distributor sends a pulsing ground signal to the coil to fire it. Clip your test light to the positive battery terminal and hold the point to the neg side of the coil and crank the engine . The light should flash. If it doesn't, you have to move back to the distributor.
Does this have points or HEI?
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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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Sidom
Veteran
/ Moderator
Feb 4, 2013, 8:46 PM
Post #5 of 20
(1618 views)
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Re: '76 Bonneville- No spark
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Ahhhh thx 4 the chuckle G24.....Your post reminded me of a story I had forgot about....
Years ago the same thing happened to my buddy........Some of these cheap reman dist, they clean it up paint it & throw a module in it & call it good.....and considering on those it's usually the rotor or module, it pretty much works,,,,,,,except in the case where the dist had a bad pick up coil.....like the one my buddy got.............lmao....Man if you could've seen him going at that pick up coil with an ice pick....saying......."This one aint making it thru the line again without a new pickup coil!!!"....and of course he made the fatal mistake of looking past the dist,,,,cuz it was new......He wasted a little time on that one...... ....
You can check the pickup coil with an ohm meter......If i remember right.....it should be between 700 & 1500 ohms.....The little 2 wire connector that goes to module inside the dist.......
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Feb 4, 2013, 8:58 PM
Post #6 of 20
(1610 views)
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Re: '76 Bonneville- No spark
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I thought this should be HEI but he said he was testing the coil. How the hell did you do that with a HEI distributor with internal coil?
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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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gordonfan24
Novice
Feb 4, 2013, 9:15 PM
Post #7 of 20
(1605 views)
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Re: '76 Bonneville- No spark
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It's HEI. I took the coil cover off and turned the key on, then I made sure I had 12v on the red wire, that's all. I will test the pickup coil in the morning if it isn't too cold.
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gordonfan24
Novice
Feb 5, 2013, 4:46 AM
Post #8 of 20
(1596 views)
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Re: '76 Bonneville- No spark
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Ahhhh thx 4 the chuckle G24.....Your post reminded me of a story I had forgot about.... Years ago the same thing happened to my buddy........Some of these cheap reman dist, they clean it up paint it & throw a module in it & call it good.....and considering on those it's usually the rotor or module, it pretty much works,,,,,,,except in the case where the dist had a bad pick up coil.....like the one my buddy got.............lmao....Man if you could've seen him going at that pick up coil with an ice pick....saying......."This one aint making it thru the line again without a new pickup coil!!!"....and of course he made the fatal mistake of looking past the dist,,,,cuz it was new......He wasted a little time on that one...... .... You can check the pickup coil with an ohm meter......If i remember right.....it should be between 700 & 1500 ohms.....The little 2 wire connector that goes to module inside the dist......
I'm right there with him I think. I'm also hoping I can be laughing about this in the VERY near future. Thank you for the story and taking the time to help. I appreciate it immensely. Going to call my local parts house where I got the distributor from and have them order me another. It's a non-stock item but can be there from the warehouse within a few hours, thankfully. I guess the only other thing is maybe I went about getting to TDC incorrectly. I used the front cylinder (driver's side) closest to the radiator for #1. I then made sure the exhaust valve was closed on the compression stroke. I then ran my wires counter clockwise 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2.
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Feb 5, 2013, 5:34 AM
Post #9 of 20
(1590 views)
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Re: '76 Bonneville- No spark
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You can't test an HEI coil that way. You have to test for spark at the plug wire and the way you test for pulse is at the tach terminal of the cap. If you use a test light to do this, make sure it is an LED light and not an incandescent as you can damage the ignition module.
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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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gordonfan24
Novice
Feb 5, 2013, 5:44 AM
Post #10 of 20
(1586 views)
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Re: '76 Bonneville- No spark
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Will do, just waiting for daylight now. Thanks. I'm going to get the old girl running TODAY...<=====Fingers are crossed!
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gordonfan24
Novice
Feb 5, 2013, 6:19 AM
Post #11 of 20
(1579 views)
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Re: '76 Bonneville- No spark
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OK, I tested it out. When the key is the 'ON' position, both sides on the coil BAT+ and Tach are hot, the LED test light is illuminated and it makes a tone. I then held the test light on the 'Tach' (white wire) side like you said, had my wife crank it and when cranked the test light went out. No pulsing whatsoever.
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Feb 5, 2013, 6:22 AM
Post #12 of 20
(1575 views)
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Re: '76 Bonneville- No spark
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Something is wrong inside the distributor. It could be the Ignition module or the pickup coil but if it's a new distributor and i assume it came with a module, just return it.
Just for kicks, make sure you didn't lose the power supply during cranking too.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
(This post was edited by Hammer Time on Feb 5, 2013, 6:23 AM)
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gordonfan24
Novice
Feb 5, 2013, 11:33 AM
Post #13 of 20
(1566 views)
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Re: '76 Bonneville- No spark
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I checked for voltage drop during cranking, I'm a bit concerned as it drops to 8-9 volts. I replaced the original ignition switch, I hope that helps, haven't tested it again yet. I ordered another dizzy but it won't be here until tomorrow in the early AM.
I find it puzzling that we can put men on the moon multiple times but a GM dizzy can't be re manufactured with unwavering quality standards.
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Feb 5, 2013, 11:59 AM
Post #14 of 20
(1560 views)
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Re: '76 Bonneville- No spark
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$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Everything comes back to that.
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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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gordonfan24
Novice
Feb 5, 2013, 12:14 PM
Post #15 of 20
(1555 views)
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Re: '76 Bonneville- No spark
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So very true^^^ I gave $126 for the reman dizzy.
Could this be a ground issue? As in, engine to frame or body ground. Voltage regulator possibly?
(This post was edited by gordonfan24 on Feb 5, 2013, 12:17 PM)
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Feb 5, 2013, 12:17 PM
Post #16 of 20
(1550 views)
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Re: '76 Bonneville- No spark
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Why ask me, just look at it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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Sidom
Veteran
/ Moderator
Feb 5, 2013, 9:07 PM
Post #17 of 20
(1540 views)
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Re: '76 Bonneville- No spark
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The voltage will drop during cranking and you want to see around 10v but I doubt this is the problem for your no spark....If the grounds were that bad, more than likely you would be having some cranking issues as well....
This is a pretty basic system, you literally only need 1 12v wire & you're good to go.....One main reason this dist is popular with the old resto's.
If you're dropping into the 8v range, then definitely test the battery & check your cables....In your 1st post I noticed a lot of new parts, just make sure you transferred the metal ground strap out of the old cap into the new one, that piece needs to be swapped over with the coil....
Let us know how the new dist works out for you
As far as going to the moon.......Apollo 13 had an unusual amount of reman parts on it.......Gives me a lot more faith in duc tape & zip ties.....If it can hold a funny car together at 200+ mph & 3 Okies can get home from the moon with it.....odds are pretty good they'll get me outta a jam.......No tool box is complete without them........
(This post was edited by Sidom on Feb 5, 2013, 9:09 PM)
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gordonfan24
Novice
Feb 6, 2013, 8:10 AM
Post #18 of 20
(1527 views)
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Re: '76 Bonneville- No spark
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Went and picked another reman dist this AM. Threw it in and VOILA! IT'S ALIVE! Fired right up. No coughs, spits, sputters...NOTHING. It purred like a kitten. The other dist didn't even give me a reading when I tried to ohm out the pickup coil.
I'm actually in shock that it ran so well with it being so cold. It was 26* here this AM. I surely do appreciate you guys and what you do. Thanks for the help and thanks for the stories Sidom. Hammer Time, thanks for your patience and sharing of knowledge.
I now have a question about my '95 F150 4.9L, should I make a new thread?
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Feb 6, 2013, 2:23 PM
Post #19 of 20
(1516 views)
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Re: '76 Bonneville- No spark
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Yes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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Sidom
Veteran
/ Moderator
Feb 6, 2013, 8:52 PM
Post #20 of 20
(1506 views)
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Re: '76 Bonneville- No spark
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No prob......Glad to hear you got it going
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