I'm going to freak out..... | FerrariChat
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I'm going to freak out.....

Discussion in 'Technical Q&A' started by walawdog, Jan 21, 2005.

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  1. walawdog

    walawdog Formula Junior

    Nov 9, 2004
    829
    Bluefield, WV
    Full Name:
    Anthony
    #1 walawdog, Jan 21, 2005
    OK, here is the latest on my pertronix set up in my 1978 308. Currently, I have the front bank running. The rear bank is another story. I found out that there is enough power coming out of ignition wire to run the set-up I have without any problem (as it is obviously running the front bank of cylinders). Also, while running, the rear banks coil is getting 12v of juice. I, however, am getting zero spark. I have the correct coils in the car now, both 3 ohm resistance pertronix flamethrower coils. Both are wired the same. I tried setting my distributor slightly advanced, and slightly retarded to get it to start. I confirmed many times over that I am at TDC on the compression stroke. I did this by checking that the cylinder was in its compression stroke with a gauge and by looking in the oil filler cap to see that the intake cam was not depressing the valve (the cam lobe was at about a 1 o'clock location when viewing from the passenger side). I replaced the highvoltage wire coming out of the coil to the distributor cap thinking that it might have come loose or something else like that, and still no luck getting a spark. I went as far as to replace the pertronix pickup in the coil after running a test on it. Still, no spark.

    I am about to freak out, I am at my wits end. What have I forgotten? What else could be causing a lack of spark?

    Help.
     
  2. Steve Magnusson

    Steve Magnusson Two Time F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa

    Jan 11, 2001
    26,931
    30°30'40" N 97°35'41" W (Texas)
    Full Name:
    Steve Magnusson
    #2 Steve Magnusson, Jan 21, 2005
    Is the distributor rotor a shaped permanent magnet structure? If so, you might try giving it a "feel" by touching the poles with a small steel hex wrench to compare the force of attraction to the working one (perhaps a part slipped thru unmagnetized or poorly magnetized). I'll assume all of the other mechanicals (spacing, parallelism, etc.) seem OKish. You could also swap modules to test this -- i.e., does the "working" follow the module or the dist rotor/housing.

    I don't know how "symmetric" your wiring is, but if you put the working dist on the rear bank (using the dedicated wires/connections for the rear bank) does it still work?
     
  3. Sean F.

    Sean F. F1 Rookie

    Feb 4, 2003
    3,067
    Kansas
    Full Name:
    Sean F
    #3 Sean F., Jan 21, 2005
    Flip the rotor 180° and see what happens. I remember this happening on a friends mustang I was trying to help him get set up. We double checked, tripple checked and everything "looked" right but we got no spark. So I ran it 180 and all of the sudden - VROOM the car starts. After looking at it while it was running we'd simply got something wrong in the process that we thought was right.

    On second thought, 1-o'clock does not sound right on the cam lob you can see thru the filler cap (#1 intake). Are the tick marks lined up?

    Put a screw driver into the #1 and be sure it's on the compression stroke and the cam tick marks are lined up.

    If you're still having problems tonight, post and I'll run out and see where my lob is at TDC.
     
  4. walawdog

    walawdog Formula Junior

    Nov 9, 2004
    829
    Bluefield, WV
    Full Name:
    Anthony
    #4 walawdog, Jan 21, 2005
    Thanks for the advice so far. I don't think it is the module. I had the original one replaced. I doubt two in a row could be funked up? I guess it's possible. I would hate to yank out the running set up to try and compare the two. With my luck, after I put it back, neither side will be running.

    Again, to make sure I wasn't 180 off I checked and double checked it. Maybe even tripple checked it, I even put it 180 out to make sure and it didn't work. I tried placing the rotor somewhat advanced and somewhat retarded to make sure I was somewhere in the neighborhood. Nothing has worked. I mean, it should spark at the least!!!!

    I am about to snap!!!!!!
     

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