oakland240 Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 Hi all, I am progressing on my project and got to working on getting the timing set up. Once I wired it correctly the timing light would light up when I connected the pickup to the coil wire to the distributor but not when I hooked it up to the cylinder #1 wire. I also checked briefly on the #3 wire also did not work. Foolishly, I took out the #1 plug and turned the engine sure enough it gave a powerful spark (through my body and the normal spark plug gap) and the timing light picked it up. I checked and the engine is grounded. The timing light is brand new. The only thing I could think of this evening is maybe trying the old spark plug. The wires are securely connected as far as I can tell (and the spark while holding it seemed to confirm. It's a new (but sitting for a while) coil, msd 6al box, msd billet distributor, wires, and plugs. Any ideas on what could cause this? Any way to tell if theres a spark getting to the cylinder other than taking the plug out and checking (engine is not running yet, this is to try to set up initial timing). Any chance the plug is firing but the timing light is not picking it up? Thanks for any and all help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hotroder Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 Hi all, I am progressing on my project and got to working on getting the timing set up. Once I wired it correctly the timing light would light up when I connected the pickup to the coil wire to the distributor but not when I hooked it up to the cylinder #1 wire. I also checked briefly on the #3 wire also did not work. Foolishly, I took out the #1 plug and turned the engine sure enough it gave a powerful spark (through my body and the normal spark plug gap) and the timing light picked it up. I checked and the engine is grounded. The timing light is brand new. The only thing I could think of this evening is maybe trying the old spark plug. The wires are securely connected as far as I can tell (and the spark while holding it seemed to confirm. It's a new (but sitting for a while) coil, msd 6al box, msd billet distributor, wires, and plugs. Any ideas on what could cause this? Any way to tell if theres a spark getting to the cylinder other than taking the plug out and checking (engine is not running yet, this is to try to set up initial timing). Any chance the plug is firing but the timing light is not picking it up? Thanks for any and all help. I would remove the plug wire when it is running and if the rpm drop your plug and wire are working fine. if it drops I would try a different timing light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakland240 Posted August 10, 2011 Author Share Posted August 10, 2011 I would remove the plug wire when it is running and if the rpm drop your plug and wire are working fine. if it drops I would try a different timing light. The engine does not run, I'm hoping to change this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hotroder Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 The engine does not run, I'm hoping to change this. you might be 180 out. check the basics, make sure the firing order and timing is right Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewZed Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 Once I wired it correctly the timing light would light up when I connected the pickup to the coil wire to the distributor but not when I hooked it up to the cylinder #1 wire. You were on the right track with this comment. Apparently the ignition system is working and the coil is creating enough energy for a spark. But it's not being distributed by the distributor. It has to be going to ground somewhere. Make sure that the path from the coil wire through the distributor cap, to the rotor, from the rotor tip across the gap to the individual electrodes and down the wires to the plugs is there, and not shorted to ground along the way. A simple start would be with an ohm-meter, measuring from an electrode inside the cap to the tip of the spark plug, and from electrode to ground. There should only be continuity to the spark plug tip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakland240 Posted August 11, 2011 Author Share Posted August 11, 2011 You were on the right track with this comment. Apparently the ignition system is working and the coil is creating enough energy for a spark. But it's not being distributed by the distributor. It has to be going to ground somewhere. Make sure that the path from the coil wire through the distributor cap, to the rotor, from the rotor tip across the gap to the individual electrodes and down the wires to the plugs is there, and not shorted to ground along the way. A simple start would be with an ohm-meter, measuring from an electrode inside the cap to the tip of the spark plug, and from electrode to ground. There should only be continuity to the spark plug tip. Just to update you guys, I hired a local hot rod mobile mechanic to take a look and help me get it started. I had been using the wrong timing mark on my damper so my distributor was way off. Never got around to figuring out the timing light thing, because it turns out the rockers were all very very loose. Now I have to figure out how much to tighten them, I posted a thread in the troubleshooting forums. The more I do this the more I figure out how much I don't know about engines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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