No spark at plugs

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dart67

dart67

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74 duster with a 360 stock engine, I have spark out of the coil wire to the distributor but no spark out of the plug wires, when I turn the engine over (with key) the rotor turns any ideas would be a great help
Thanks
 
dart67....the simple answer would be a bad cap and or rotor contact inside the cap. I once bought a brand new cap that had the center cap rotor contact broken right off flush at the cap but it couldn't be noticed unless you really looked for it. It's a possibility for sure.
 
Sound like your electronic pick up has went south on you, pull the cap and turn the engine over with the key on and see if you have spark between the magnetic pick up in side, I am sure you are not running point's
The next thing I would check is the rotor and cap match yes they can be a wrong match , or look and make sure the rotor is in there :glasses7: yep I have dun this a few times myself :coffee2:
 
67dartgtgo said:
dart67....the simple answer would be a bad cap and or rotor contact inside the cap. I once bought a brand new cap that had the center cap rotor contact broken right off flush at the cap but it couldn't be noticed unless you really looked for it. It's a possibility for sure.
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Yes X2 67dartgtgo :coffee2: I type slow and seen your post after I posted ..
 
:cheers:No problem at all Mike....I love reading your posts..:burnout:
 
If it's a electronic pick up could I get that at a parts store?
 
dart67 said:
If it's a electronic pick up could I get that at a parts store?
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memikes right all the way around...I've forgotten the rotor before too.:eek:ops:
Hmmm....well it depends on what you have there...but a parts store with a speed shop area might. I'm really not sure about someplace like NAPA but PEPboys might. You can buy them online too.
You can test it to see if it's good too. Just run a search on mallory ignition and i"m pretty sure there's a procedure in there.
 
I'll check cap, rotor and pickup today
Thanks
 
dart67 said:
If it's a electronic pick up could I get that at a parts store?
Click to expand...

Yes all your parts stores have the electronic pick up :glasses7: and in stock :cheers: If that is what it is, could be a couple thing, set your air gap and do like I was saying .. remove your Cap and see if you are getting spark at the pickup..
do you have another distributor laying around any where with another pick up in it ?
I wounder if your engine is grounded :glasses7: have you checked it for ground, use your test light and check from the pos + on your battery and touch your engine block , hay I am just searching :D ..it may need a grounding strap ..
 
See that you are getting full 12 volts to the coil during start. We're not looking for a single spark but instead a lot of healthy sparks during start. A weak spark that will barely jump from the coil wire wont fire a spark plug
 
yep no spark at the electronic pickup, have to buy a new one
Thanks everyone for your help
 
Better check some parts store will sell you a reman dizzy for the price of a pick-up.
 
I have a distributor out of a 86 360 (lean burn ?) but it has two different wires (plugs) coming out, would this work if I only used one of the wires (plug)?
 
No but you can plug it in and hand spin it to see if your distributor is bad

The pickup coil is not supposed to "spark."

Make absolutely sure the ECU is grounded. Don't just look at it, remove, scrape, remount, use star lock washers

Remove all connectors, the ECU, the distributor, the ballast, and "work" them in / out to scrub clean and to feel for tightness. Inspect visually for corrosion

Key on, remove dist. connector. Take the end going to the body harness and ground each of the wires. Each time you do this, one of them (forget which) should produce a spark.

"Rig" a spark gap or buy a spark tester. Crank the engine USING THE KEY. You should get nice fat sparks "in rhythm" out of the coil tower, at least 3/8" and usually 1/2" long

Check the coil wire for resistance with your multimeter.

Inspect the cap, rotor, for moisture, dirt, grease, carbon tracking, other damage. Inspect the rotor under the wiper in the center for "punch through" into the shaft

Check the pickup / reluctor for strike damage, for heavy rust, and foreign debri. Check the gap at .008" (that's inches not metric) with a brass feeler. O'Reallys did have these feelers

Hook the two distributor connector wires to your multimeter, set on low AC that's right, AC volts and crank the engine. It should generate about 1V AC

Check voltage at the coil. Coil + to ground with key on will have a low voltage, about 4-8V

Crank the engine USING THE KEY. Voltage should be "same as battery" when cranking, about 10-11V and in no case below 10V

Voltage at coil NEG with key on will be low, perhaps 1 volt, the lower the better. When cranking, the meter should jump, showing it is being switched by the ignition.
 
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