Technical Rebuild/Replace 283 Chev distributor

Should still be lots of yellow ones out there Now good quality points and condenser, well you may be shit outa luck

 

Isn't it fun trying to diagnose a problem over some words on a screen ?

Some things take less time to diagnose than it does to type out a reply and wait for a response....

....

 

Points are pretty much brand new. I set the dwell and had it running pretty nicely a few hours before the non-start issue. Of course then I went and fiddled with them so they’re no longer at 30 degrees, but they’re opening and closing so I don’t think they’re so out of wack the engine shouldn’t start!

 

Yeah, I bet most of you could have this engine running in minutes, when it takes me days or weeks

 

I haven't changed the condenser but I have a spare I'll try. Now that the weekend is over I won't be at the location of the car for at least another week or 2. Mostly just wanted to get this thread going to stir up some ideas of what to try so that I have something to go off of next time.

 

I replaced the condenser. Still nothing.

I made sure the points are gapped at .018, so they should be close enough.

I replaced the plug wires because the ugly gray ones were bothering me anyway Still nothing.

I removed the coil wire and held it about a half inch from a valve cover bolt while cranking. It did jump to the bolt.

So then I checked for spark at the plugs using the ol’ screwdriver trick. I did get spark there but it seems a bit weak? though I’m no expert.

I also tried the spark plug tester and I do see it blinking.

One thing I did notice, could be nothing, could be something is that, while using my snap-on starter box, there’s a “test” and “run” toggle. In “test”, the engine cranks a lot faster than in the “run” position.

Oh, and, after just a few minutes of cranking it over, the battery is dead. I just bought this damn battery a month ago, but the manufacture date is 1/23. Could it be they O’Riley sold me an old ass, weak battery and that’s the issue? I have been leaving it on a 4 amp trickle charger during the week while I’m gone, and when I start tinkering, it’ll be “charged” at ~13.7v.

I’m sort of at my wits end here. What else can I try at this point?! The damn car was JUST RUNNING last weekend!

 

Also confirmed that the distributor body is getting grounded to the block with my multimeter.

 

I would bring the battery back to O'Reilly's for a check and probably replacement.