Greetings, new to this notable site with an issue I'm hoping someone could weigh in on. I have a 34 ford Roadster with the senior package 350, 350, 8" After perfect cruising and horse play here at my local annual Reno "Hot August Nights" the car sat for a day and for the first time wouldn't start. Battery is strong with new Taylor's and E3 plugs. The lighting circuit is perfect, fuel delivery is there. My spark tester showed nothing. All fuses and contacts on the cranking end checked ok. Went to my local Summit store and replaced the GM HEI module, capacitor and power harness, cap and rotor. Cranks like a champ yet no spark. Nothing left but the coil, replaced it and it fired. Idled and revved great for about five minutes then stumbled and died. Again no spark! What the Hell? Any thoughts would be appreciated.....Roger
Wonder if the pickup coil is causing this. I've dealt with a few bad ones that caused symptoms like this. The windings in the coil are very small and can break inside and open. Sometimes temps can cause the winding to open, losing spark, then close when conditions change. Something to check. Good luck!
Well it appears that you did verify that you had no spark which is a good first step. Your next step was to load the parts cannon and fire parts at it with no diagnostic troubleshooting. You need to verify that the parts of the ignition system are working properly and that they are receiving power and ground. Could it be a bad pickup coil or a ground? Yes it could, but you won't know unless you test them. If you aren't experienced in electrical troubleshooting, you really need to find someone who is. Sorry to be blunt, but that's my advice.
Oh I know what your talking about, my skills are good in trouble shooting but not good enough for my own show on motortrend. will prob deeper with help if needed. Thanks
My way of saying its mild and stock. With all the hype, earth shaking and super charged, blown and NOS motors going own the road, my package gets the 34 cruising mildly and quite like a Stealth bomber. Hell at 74 yrs. of age I'm grateful I can still get down the road. No medical issues yet just just no spark.
I know what your Problem is.........................................you are to YOUNG.! When you Reach over 75 than thing's will be Better! Just my 3.5 cents Live learn & Die a Fool
Seeing you have been in the dist. ( and then it started to work again ) GM HEI's were bad for the pick up wires breaking under the insulation were it would pivot from the advance moving.
TA Dad is correct. wire work hardens with age and heat from movement of advance. Remove the dist shaft to replace and mark the gear so you get it back in the same spot.
Run a piece of #16 from the battery positive to the distributor and try it.. Don't do a bunch of things at one time or you'll chase your tail. You might replace a bad part and it runs but you still don't know what happened so it happens again... I do electrical troubleshooting for a living.. I troubleshoot Knob N Tube in Pittsburgh mansions. The Kendall house is one of my customers..
Did you omit the ground strap that stays in the old cap. Very easy to miss. But it matches your symptoms It’s a thin metal dog leg strip.
They were/are pretty trouble free. If you have OEM stuff yeah it is worn out. Then you buy aftermarket and it is just China shit ! so it won't perform or last.
Rotors use to be a problem burning through. That was in the 80s with cheap rotors . Its worth checking . You need to remove the rotor and look on the bottom of it for a black spot where it shorts out to the advance .
I had this exact thing proven to me when I thought I was pretty sharp on HEI ignition. Take a hard and serious look at the wires right where they connect to the coil. The flexing when the advance moves the plate works the wires the same way you bend a wire back and forth in your hands to break it. Sometimes the will maintain contact until the advance moves the broken ends away from each other. I've got an ot rig that pops back on acceleration but doesn't idle too bad that I am thinking has this issue to a lesser degree.
Thanks for that input. I am going after that possibility as well as the other members focus points. A sharpshooter ASE friend is coming by today. Will update so other victims of this will gather something from it. Roger
Did you remember to put a fresh blob of thermal paste under the module? They can be very short lived if you don't.
Elcohaulic hit the nail on the head don't chase things with money,hei are simple,your tranny neutral switch or the wires coming or going could be it or the amp capaciter they are crap keep a spare someplace handy,so go from bat to starter to tranny to hei , theres not much compared to this new scrap they make that the dealerships can't fix lol , also check your cap where that little spring is with the carbon tip thingy most likely made in china , so what i am saying is have a good look it's not a rocket it's a sbc an faster
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