Well, My Demon Died On Me Yesterday

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RenVill said:
A shop near where I live. I guess they dont do that service so I think I'll just replace the entire thing for some false peace of mind.
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That doesn't give a very good impression of that shop. Fkn 12 dollar part 'nowadays $20' is something they CAN'T change?
I'd get my car out of that place before lightening strikes it to ashes.
Good luck in your venture...n i guess we will be seeing you soon when you want to figure out your wiring and you're firing order & all that ...since you took your car to a shop to have the distributor diagnosed and they say they can't change a tiny little part in it... so you're going to "change the distributor"...I think you need it, luck that is..
:thumbsup:
 
MOPAROFFICIAL said:
That doesn't give a very good impression of that shop. Fkn 12 dollar part 'nowadays $20' is something they change?
I'd get my car out of that place before lightening strikes it to ashes.
Good luck in your venture...n i guess we will be seeing you soon when you want to figure out your wiring and you're firing order & all that ...since you took your car to a shop to have the distributor diagnosed and they say they can't change a tiny little part in it... so you're going to "change the distributor"...I think you need it, luck that is..
:thumbsup:
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I'll take any luck I can get, appreciate it.
 
Simple way, without tools, that I check for spark to rule ignition in or out as the problem:

Pull any one of your spark plug wires and attach it to a spare spark plug. Take an alligator clip wire and attach one end to the spark plug ground strap and the other end to a good engine ground. Then crank the engine and watch for spark on the spark plug. If it sparks, your ignition is likely not the culprit and you can move on to the fuel system. My $.02....
 
Theres a way to test distributor with a multimeter and distributor on a bench. Looking for continuity off/on, off/on as you spin the shaft by hand. The beeper simulates the spark.
 
You can run the dual-pickup distributor for an on-board spare if you're worried about it failing again.
 
RenVill said:
I'll take any luck I can get, appreciate it.
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Get a stock replacement from O'Reillys or Rock Auto.
I think Oreillys sells Spectra rebuilt distributors, which I personally have had good luck with.

Had the same exact thing happen to me a couple weeks ago, driving home from work in my 74.
Just died on me about 3 miles from home. Looked like it was still getting gas. It would start, but ran real poopy. Had to have it towed. Haven't looked at it since. Leaning towards ignition.
 
Johnny Dart said:
Get a stock replacement from O'Reillys or Rock Auto.
I think Oreillys sells Spectra rebuilt distributors, which I personally have had good luck with.

Had the same exact thing happen to me a couple weeks ago, driving home from work in my 74.
Just died on me about 3 miles from home. Looked like it was still getting gas. It would start, but ran real poopy. Had to have it towed. Haven't looked at it since. Leaning towards ignition.
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For mine, it wouldn't start at all. Just crank all day.
 
IF the vac adv is hooked up & IF that dist has done a lot of miles, then it could be broken p/up wires inside the dist. VA flexes the wires & they eventually break. But this should only happen under the above two conditions.
Don't know what the fellow checked that got a '0' reading. You can easily check the p/up with an ohmmeter. Disconnect the p/up plug at the dist & measure the p/up resistance. Should be 150-600 ohms. Make sure the p/up did not come loose. If the reluctor tips contact the p/up, you get no spark. There needs to be a 0.007-8" air gap. You can use two pieces of copy paper as a measure. Check ballast resistors; one should be about 5 ohm, other about 0.5 ohm.
 
Honestly, ditch that shop. You'll go Farther, Learn More, Keep Yer Mopar running Strong, and Have Pride in Yer Ride right here at FABO! No, this is NOT a paid advertisement. These Guys and Gals are some of the Sharpest, Old And New School Mopar Mechanics and Techs around. Do You have a FSM? Or any Mopar manual, in a similar year? Swapping your own Distributor is easy. I'd get my Car outta there, tell em Ya caint afford it and just wanna do it yourself, to learn.
 
Read the room men... Op takes to mechanic before tossing a little gas in the carburetor...
$10 says there's a fold up lawn chair and a dust mop in the trunk...
 
Throw a timing light on any spark plug wire or even the coil wire itself. With the wire connected at both ends, the light should flash when you crank the engine over.

FWIW I had a no-start condition (still do) and decided I'd replace the ECU. I bought two from two different Advance Auto stores (Carquest brand) and both of them were bad - no spark. The box I suspect is bad has spark so I was able to figure out the new boxes were bad and returned them.
 
Check for fuel in carb. Make sure coil and wires are connected. If that is all good then check [switch out ballast resistor] if that doesn't work borrow a known good ignition box. This is easy stuff. Basics. Obviously this shop you went to doesn't know older Mopars.
 
tubbedamx said:
Buy one from halifaxhops, he’s member here. It’s what he’s does…
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Yup I have them if needed. The pick up should have at least 300 ohms and if you take out the distributor and spin it low speed say 800 around .4VAC 3000 say with a drill around 4VAC Also check it cold and hot, lots of times they fail hot.
 
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RenVill said:
I'll take any luck I can get, appreciate it.
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What's that mean? Get a service manual and learn to do this yourself, or you'll forever be at the mercy of others. And it sounds like you're at the mercy of someone who doesn't know what they're doing. Learning it yourself will have you begging for "luck" from no one, because you'll know how to do it yourself.
 
yeah what they said. DIY. CALL ANY OF THE DOCTORS (HIM/HER) ON THIS SITE. EMERGEMCY CARE. GIT'R DONE.
 
Uncle Bob said:
Throw a timing light on any spark plug wire or even the coil wire itself. With the wire connected at both ends, the light should flash when you crank the engine over.

FWIW I had a no-start condition (still do) and decided I'd replace the ECU. I bought two from two different Advance Auto stores (Carquest brand) and both of them were bad - no spark. The box I suspect is bad has spark so I was able to figure out the new boxes were bad and returned them.
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Crapvance sold me a junk VR, no returns on Electrical. 20 bucks gone. Wanted to choke the punk. Not badly, just some....
 
Uncle Bob said:
Throw a timing light on any spark plug wire or even the coil wire itself. With the wire connected at both ends, the light should flash when you crank the engine over.

FWIW I had a no-start condition (still do) and decided I'd replace the ECU. I bought two from two different Advance Auto stores (Carquest brand) and both of them were bad - no spark. The box I suspect is bad has spark so I was able to figure out the new boxes were bad and returned them.
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That's a great idea a lot of people don't think about, since the car won't run.

It's a pretty sad state of affairs the parts we're faced with. That's why I always recommend older NOS or even older used parts.
 
Op, ain't nobody here picking on Ya, we wanna see Yer Mopar on the Road as much as You. These ol Gals have some quirks, but are kinda simple, compared to the junk today. And therein lies the problem, you take your Mopar to a shop, they're going to want to rob you to death. Why not, when they can charge someone else 800 bucks to hook their car up to a computer and throw a sensor on it. You got some of the best Minds in the game right here... they are all Good People too!
 
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Ironracer said:
no returns on Electrical
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Whew I didn't even think about that "policy". It's a wonder they didn't tell me to get lost. The lazy counter guy just seemed to not want to do the work involved, he went and got the manager both times. No one mentioned no returns on electrical parts though.
 
Uncle Bob said:
Whew I didn't even think about that "policy". It's a wonder they didn't tell me to get lost. The lazy counter guy just seemed to not want to do the work involved, he went and got the manager both times. No one mentioned no returns on electrical parts though.
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Cool deal, I hate giving them anything.... they've gone to crap down here. Heck, a bulb will cost ya 9 bucks, and a small pack of wire terminals is bout 8. Parts are ChiCom junk, Service, well, depending on who ya get....
 
Check for spark... pull coil wire out of distributor, create a gap for the end to the body on car or some other metal that you can see when cranking. Crank engine, if it didn't spark, you have an issue in that circuit.

Do the same thing with it in run at key, except jump the starter relay to get it to crank. If no spark, you have an issue. Simple test to see if ballast may be bad.

Alligator clipped wire, go from positive on battery to dist side of ballast. If it sparks, the ballast or feed into ballast is bad.

Learn basic diagnosing procedures, no different from being a computer geek and having a checklist when a computer stops working. Where is the issue, hardware, software, you get clues as to the problems/source.
 
Ironracer said:
Crapvance sold me a junk VR, no returns on Electrical. 20 bucks gone. Wanted to choke the punk. Not badly, just some....
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No returns on electrical, how does warranty work? Return for warranty. So a faulty 350 dollar starter cant be returned? Young feller doesnt understand..
 
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