I have been having the amazing experrience of nearly everything breaking down simultaneously. First the oven, then the sink drain, then he puter, then the septic starts backing up, then the electric fence, now, my truck. Sigh....oh let's not forget he coffee pot yesterday, too!

Anyway, I need your thoughts on the truck, folks. It's a 77 Chevy 350 with standard old electronic ignition. Seems I am not getting any spark. So I replaced the cap and rotor. Still no spark. Then had a friend crank it and noticed that in the carb, the jet on the left isn't pushing out any fuel(there should be plenty for it to fire from the one jet tho, right?). Then I replaced the coil...still no spark. The battery is good, the starter is fairly new, and it's cranking fine, so I don't hink that's the problem, the plugs seem fine. But I do have a question on the plugs, tto check for spark can you simply pull a pulg and leave it in the wire have someone crank and look for spark?

What do you guys think, where is the next place to look? Battery cables and ground are all good, I messed a bit with the actual ignition as far as positioning to see if maybe the contact point had simply worn out. Ideas? Thanks!!!

-- Doreen (animalwaitress@yahoo.com), May 02, 2002

Answers

Hey Sis! Wished you lived close to me--I'd come fix it for ya'll. It sounds like it could be the pick up coil in the base of the distributor, or the igniton module also in the distributor. Possible fuesable links coming from the solonoid on the starter- carrying voltage to the coil. Try bumpin the aluminum base of the distributor with a hammer handle-- endwise. Sometimes the bumpin will move the pickup coil enought that it will fire. Email me if'n ya'll wanta. BTW-where do ya'll live? old hoot. Matt.24:44

-- old hoot gibson (hoot@pcinetwork.com), May 02, 2002.

Hoot is absolutly correct--Pick up coils break the wires going to the module by constantly being bent back and forth on the vacuum advance. Least likely cause is the module which is the flat black box under the rotor. Wanna a quick and easy fix ? Buy a good one fom the junkyard for 15 buck and slap it in

-- Joel Rosen (JoelnBecky@webtv.net), May 02, 2002.

cant be a fuseable link, other things wouldnt work,, Id go with Joels suggestion first,, theh if that doesnt work,,Id bet you broke the end of the Distrubutor shaft,

-- Stan (sopal@net-pert.com), May 02, 2002.

If you have done a lot of engine cranking with no sign of life go to the exhaust outlet and take a sniff. (don't overdo it, benzine is not good for the body) If the fuel system is working you should have a strong smell of petrol (sorry 'gas').

If you have fuel the problem is almost certainly spark. I would be suspicious of the distributor as others have suggested but dont forget the leads.

-- john hill (john@cnd.co.nz), May 02, 2002.

To check for spark with the plug out and plug wire connected,make sure the base of the plug is held tight to metal to ground it. wear gloves

-- Jim-mi (hartalteng@voyager.net), May 02, 2002.

Ok Doreen, I have been doing some thinking.

If I leave just now (Friday morning) and drive hard all day, skipping lunch en-route) I should be able to catch an evening flight to LAX. Crossing the data line I would be out of the terminal building at 8 am or so on Friday morning. Let's say 4 hours to fly to your place? I would be in time for the Friday lunch I skipped NZ.

Hoot! can you make it to Doreen's by then? We should have it going in a few hours allowing for time to visit to the junk yard and to check out a local watering hole or two..

-- john hill (john@cnd.co.nz), May 02, 2002.

Thank you!!!!

It turns out it was the grease beneath the ignition module under the rotor-(dielectric) I put the plugs back in the wrong order, but got that all straightened out and she's purrin' like a kitten again. So I have some back up rotors and an extra cap now- won't hurt a thing:).

John, what kind of lunch were you thinking you'd like?

-- Doreen (bisquit@here.com), May 02, 2002.

I think we should rustle us up one of them there Bush steers and commence to grillin what we already paid for.

-- Joel Rosen (JoelnBecky@webtv.net), May 02, 2002.

Red meat please Doreen! :-)

-- john hill (john@cnd.co.nz), May 03, 2002.

My cousin who just came home from the nursing home has always tested for spark by holding his finger over the end of the wires. None of that grounding to metal and wearing gloves for him!!!

Alas and alack, folks, it seems my 90 model Buick, aka Old Clunky, aka The Big Blue Easy Bake Oven (no AC) seems to have met her death. She's thrown a rod and there simply isn't money to fix her up, especially with all her other illnesses. We've towed her home and now she's waiting to have her radio removed to be reinstalled in my son's pickup. Doreen is right....when it rains, it pours. I think we are drowning here.

-- Green (ratdogs10@yahoo.com), May 04, 2002.

Well, I certainly enjoyed reading this saga and actually learned something too. Gonna go tackle my Blazer now!

Dev

-- Dev from Canada (azumastrength@hotmail.com), November 07, 2002.