Spark? problem; or, i swear i am going to kill my truck with me in it.

That voltage seems a little low for the "start" circuit bypass. It should be equal to battery voltage. Unless you have a weak battery! Check that first! Then check the starter solenoid "start" contacts for any resistance. It may be a little corroded in there. Also check the starter switch contacts in both "run" and "start" positions. Any resistance is going to drop the voltage to the ignition system and give you a weak spark.

Hope this helps!

 

Sounds like the coil. Try a new one out and if that don't work then go back to basics. Check the fire at the plug, hold the plug wire an inch or less from the plug while turning over and you should get a good zap from each one. If you are getting a good spark to the plug then pull a plug or two and check them out for residue, fuel buildup-carbon, if they are okay then you probably have a fuel issue, maybe the pump, prime it and see if that helps. You might have build up gunk in your fuel line from the tank to the pump and you can try to blow that clear. Make sure you have a good inline filter before the pump and between the pump and carb. It is probably something really simple.

 

Mark, what is the voltage at coil while you are cranking the motor? had the same problem when i would try to start car... voltage would drop to 6.7 volts....make shure you know what coil you have... some require a ballast resistor... if your running a ballast resister get a 12v source to pos. side of coil while cranking only... good luck

 

Also try replacing the coil to distributor wire? I've had one go bad, took a while to figure out.

 

the one I had timed from the # 8 cylinder. hope that helps
Mike B

 

Points could be oxidized. It happens when they sit for a long time and moisture gets into the dist. Happens a lot in humid environments. File them some and see what happens. Of course new points will fix that.

 

Mark, Just make shure you have 11-12 volts going to coil while cranking the motor.... ballast resister only drops coil voltage while motor is running. you need a start bypass wire from ignition switch to pos. side of coil to give to give 12 volts during the cranking cycle only! the coil Just wont work with low voltage while cranking the motor.

 

Concentrate on one thing at a time, forget the gas for now. If you have good voltage at the coil, you say you do, work down stream. Does the distributor shaft have sideways movement, meaning bad bushings which would make dwell qustionable? Do you have GOOD constant spark at the points WHILE cranking? Is the point plate grounded? Check with an OHM meter, plate to engine block.

 

A battery with a bad or weak cell can still turn over a low compression motor, but it will be slow and spark will be weak. 11.96 volts at the battery is too low. It should be greater than 12 volts for a good battery. When its charging it'll be around 13 volts. You can check each cell of the battery with your multimeter by touching (-) terminal with (-) probe and dipping (+) probe just into the cell water. Each cell needs to read more than 2 volts. A battery will sometimes compensate for a low cell by making another higher. The result is near specified voltage, but a decrease in capacity. Bottom line is a car (or truck!) that's hard to start!

Chris

 

First, you don't have "good" voltage from your battery. You should have a reading of 12.5 to 12.8 as a minimum of a properly charged "good" battery. A 12V battery supplies 2.1 volts per cell and has 6 cells. You're probably looking at a cell that has sulfated to the point that only marginal voltage is present. You need to install a FRESH, fully charged battery and good, clean cables. "Jumping" will only help to a certain extent. It would be better to remove the battery from the circuit and crank with the "other" battery than to include a "dead" cell.

After you have a good strong battery in there, pull one of the plugs.... take one of the jumper cables and connect the hex of the plug to engine ground. (one end of cable to plug, the other to ground connection) Connect the plug wire to the plug and crank the engine and look for spark on the plug. If you get a good clean spark, remove all the plugs and clean or replace them. You should be ready to go with the ignition.

Another item that occurs from sitting a long time is carb flooding. Make sure that the needle and seat aren't stuck and letting fuel dump into the intake. A flooded engine can 'sometimes' be started by tying the choke open and cranking at full throttle till the cylinders clean out enough to fire. But if the needle and seat are stuck open, it probably wouldn't idle and would be puffing black smoke.

Hope this helps.

 

Replace the condensor! Those things absorb moisture from the environment. The spark should be strong and bright blue.

P.S. About $7 at NAPA.

 

If you don't have a factory shop manual, get one. It will help you chase wires, and will answer things like timing issues, etc.

Have you checked the grounds? One could be lose or missing. It could even be a broken wire inside the insulation. I had that happen on the Pertronix on my Buick. The black wire coming out of the distributor was fine, but only the insulation. From the outside it looked good. When I tested for continuity, it was spotty. When I pulled the wire off, it didn't have continuity, indicating it was busted inside the insulation. When installed, sometimes the wires inside would make contact, sometimes they wouldn't.

-Brad

 

Did you adjust the points with the rubbing block on a high point of the distributor cam?

If you did it with the rubbing block on the low area of the distributor cam, the points will never close and the coil won't get saturated.

 

Jesus this is exciting...should be a game show. You guys covered everything so far, can't wait to see what was wrong...I think sitting around in MA is the best clue..my guess is spoiled condenser and points. But also see Ryan's post on bad Chinese ignition parts...even stuff you replace is bad once and a while...you never know.

 

It's a common mistake and more than a few have done it - including me....

 

Just a wild-ass guess, but my son and I bought a really great '68 Caddy Coupe for practically nothing from a guy who was fed up with trying to get it to run. Everything seemed to test good, but it wouldn't run. Turned out to be a bad condenser. We had it running in a couple of hours...man, was that guy pissed! Hope this helps.

 

Good ass kickin blue spark at the plug gap ? .. Go ahead hold it while cranking you'll know quick if its right ..
Check all circuit connections with a 12v test lite power to coil- coil to dist - outsde of dist to inside of dist .-to points .. Test light should lite at all these junctions

coil wired right +..-

neutral safety switch?
Shifter in neutral right?
Engine to frame ground strap ?
All clean a n tight!
Starter bolted in clean and tight !
Disconnect all bogus battery wires .. For stereo, extra lites etc.
Cigarrete lighter pushed in and stuck in?
Got gas? Take off the gas cap which may have vent in it plugged

by pass ign with jumper wire ? Leave ign on jump at solinoid


intermiitant starts are a wiring problem in the start /run circuit

throwing alot of new parts is just asking for trouble without narrowing down the culprit wire or connection

when it turns out to be your ign switch ?key/ tumbler or dash ain' t grounded...


Sell it move on .....

 

Try the jumper before you take anything apart

 

Is anyone else noticeing he's not answering ANY questions? I like playing the game, but I need hints every once in a while.

 

I had a similar scenario over the weekend but with a 6V car and foot starter - turned out to be an intermittently loose connector from the ignition switch. Tighten nut on ring terminal and bingo!