Ready-to-Run Distributor and Blaster Coil Issue

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Stukenbroeker

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Hey guys, so the other day the Barracuda died on me. Had it towed to a local shop I've used before and they informed me that my coil, rotor, and distributor cap needed to be replaced. Then they told me they wanted $300 to fix it.
No thanks, I'll do it myself.

I had been contemplating an upgrade in the future, so I figured there's no time like the present, and decided to go ahead and order some new parts.
Parts came in yesterday and I took to installing them. I got the Summit brand Ready to Run distributor and MSD Blaster 2 Coil. Got the distributor dropped in, bypassed the ballast resistor per the install instructions, and hooked up the coil. I called MSD to confirm that I could hook the electric choke back to the positive side of the coil where it came off, and they said that was just fine.

So to the issue....

At first I had the dizzy 180 degrees out, pulled it, dropped it back in and she started right up. Adjusted the timing and got it running pretty well. let it idle to temp, then went for a drive. About 3 miles down the road, all of the sudden she cut off. I pulled over and now I can't get her to start back up....

So....what did i break?
 
are you getting any spark to the plugs/

are you getting 12 volts to the distributor.....12 volts to the coil?

what about the wires at the bulkheads?
 
In addition to what 70AAR said, post a link to the EXACT distributor you bought, and if possible the destructions

What does the distributor or the Blaster say about a coil resistor / ballast?

If you have a tach, unhook it

Unhook the choke until you get this straightened out.

Any odd smell in the cab?
 
Assuming you have checked and have power to the system, the cheapest / easiest thing to do is throw a coil at it.

You can test a coil with a cap (condenser), a battery, and test leads. What you are doing is simulating a points setup

Wire the coil with clip leads to battery positive, and "rig" a spark gap or plug with a wire

Hook the neg terminal of the coil to a cap (radio suppression cap will work) and ground the cap to the battery

Now just take a clip lead on the coil neg and ground /unground it. Everytime you do this, you should get a spark.

You still have your old coil? You sure it was bad?

The coil case does not need to be grounded, so you can quickly "throw" a coil in there with just lip leads, just lay it in there.

MAKE CERTAIN you have power to the system, both in "crank" and in "start." First place I'd start is what you changed, and check connections at the bulkhead.

Must say, "we ain't impressed" with the two dam page destructions LOL not even a drawing!!!

[ame]http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/instructions/sum-850028.pdf[/ame]

It's not even clear to me that "whoever made" the thing even offers any repair parts!!!!
 
Just got her home. Someone can move this thread to the "Idiot" forum. Or maybe the "Check the simple stuff" forum.

99% sure I was out of gas.
 
Stukenbroeker said:
Just got her home. Someone can move this thread to the "Idiot" forum. Or maybe the "Check the simple stuff" forum.

99% sure I was out of gas.
Click to expand...

I see. Well, at 65 years old, "been there done that."

When I was about 15? One BITTER BITTER cold winter day, down below zero F I went to help my Grampa get his tractor fired up so he could transport it to the "new place" and blow the driveway. This was about 12 miles away, so we needed all the "day" we could get.

We fiddled with that damn thing for HOURS trying to start it, jumpers, chargers, batteries, fiddling with points, and finally standing around the "stove" in the house, I said "Are you sure it's getting gas?" We had to starting fluid.

Dumped fuel in the thing and off she went like it was a summer hay-day.

but by then it was far too late to move the old girl

This was a Case VA

This is just like 'er a photo I stole off the www

2008_01240013.jpg



On a side note you really should get set up with a means to troubleshoot, and possible spares. What did you take out, points? You could easily slap that back in there if the fancy new stuff quits.
 
yep, I had points in there before, but the rotor and cap are no good. I should probably grab some new ones so that I can have that just in case. She's running like a top now....now that she has gas ;)
 
Thanks for sharing this. It takes a big guy to man up. I can see why you were flustered. There is no wiring diagram and it doesn't specifically state to bypass the ballast resistor (most 60-70's cars had them), it just implies such by mentioning 12 V at coil+. To close the loop, you should call back MSD and Summit and tell them the conclusion.

Sounds similar to the (true?) story of Help Support in the early days of PC's. A lady called for word processor software support stating that the typed characters didn't display right. After long Q&A, the support guy wondered if her PC was even on. He asked her to look at the power switch on the back. She said she couldn't tell because no lights in the house since the electricity was out.
 
Got a chuckle out of your final story, Stukenbroeker.
Reminded me of a story a lady I worked with a million years ago told me. She'd just bought a brand new Chevy Monte Carlo, drove it off the lot and got about 5 miles toward home when it suddenly died. She had it towed back to the dealership and they worked on it for 3 days before they finally figured out she'd just run out of gas.
Glad you're running good now!
 
I've got a better "I'm a dumbass" story that happened to me last night while working on my fish. Just haven't decided if I wanna share it yet.

Let's just say I can say I rode a Barracuda, Rodeo-style, and I wasn't in the driver's seat (nobody else was either).

LOL

Glad you got her going!
 
MobileCustoms said:
I've got a better "I'm a dumbass" story that happened to me last night while working on my fish. Just haven't decided if I wanna share it yet.

Let's just say I can say I rode a Barracuda, Rodeo-style, and I wasn't in the driver's seat (nobody else was either).

LOL

Glad you got her going!
Click to expand...

Sounds like you had quite the night! lol

She's running good, just gotta do some final timing adjustments...
 
One of the best I've ever heard

Used to know a parts guy at our local Chivvy dealer. When the very first "full time" 4x4 pickups came out, the owner of the dealer wanted to hurry and take his buddies to lunch and show off, the pickup had not been fully prepped. They made it all of about 4 miles across the "long bridge" across the lake.

Not one drop of gear oil in either axle!!!!
 
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