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Ignition Issue, Tried Everything!

Valhalla083

Valhalla083

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Springfield, MO
So after storing my car for about 4 months in a relatives building, I returned to find my engine bay covered in condensate. Water everywhere. The car would crank, but didn't want to start. It did briefly start once, but not after that. It has MSD box, MSD coil, MSD distributor. As per MSD's directions i tried removing the two wire connection going to the distributor and making a jumper wire connection. It gets a little bit of spark. I've tried cleaning the fins and pickup on the distributor, it has resistance within the acceptable range. I've tried to rule out the ignition switch/wiring to the ignition box/battery by running the starter off the main battery and supplying the box independently from the positive side of another battery. Still no luck. The car ran fine before i stored it.. so I'm not sure what happened. Any ideas?
 
Maybe get it warmed up with some heat, use a heat gun or hair dryer on the electrical components. Get her warm and dry again.
 
check under distributor cap, must be dry and corrosion free, also bad plug wires possible
 
Spray everything, inside of distributor cap, wires, coil with wd40, it displaces water better than anything
 
Try if you can cranking the engine with the hood up in the dark and look for high voltage arching to ground. Sounds like coil out put is tracking to ground you know the path of least resistance. Condensation can cause tracking like that even inside the distributor cap.
 
I already sprayed the inside of the distributor with WD-40, ive moved the car now to a different garage and everything seems dry. ive replaced the coil, still no luck. ive replaced the MSD box, still no luck. ive disassembled the distributor and removed all the corrosion from the fins/pick-up. i have it in a heated garage, but that doesnt seem to help.
 
maybe in the bulk head,,,,,,,also check fusable link,,air cleaner,,carb lines.,,just trying to think of clues.fuel pump.. clogged fuel filter.
 
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I don't see how anything in the fuel system would prevent the car from creating spark during crank. It's a real head-scratcher...
 
Not sure if I understood your post correctly. You said, "I've tried to rule out the ignition switch/wiring to the ignition box/battery by running the starter off the main battery and supplying the box independently from the positive side of another battery". What did you do with the ground of the battery you used for the box? Are you still testing it with the two battery setup?
 
Is the coil you installed new or used??? Thats what it sounds like is your problem...you are getting spark, so the dis is making/breaking, the cd is allowing it to discharge by delivering some spark...weak coil is my guess, not delivering the right kv....
 
joseph p. said:
maybe in the bulk head,,,,,,,also check fusable link,,air cleaner,,carb lines.nuetral safety switch....maybe,,just trying to think of clues.fuel pump.. clogged fuel filter.
Click to expand...
Agreed. Bulkhead is a good candidate. Remove carefully and spray with electrical contact cleaner just for good measure.
 
Valhalla083 said:
I don't see how anything in the fuel system would prevent the car from creating spark during crank. It's a real head-scratcher...
Click to expand...
Because you stated that you have a little bit of a spark. What is a little bit?
If it's not giving the spark you think it should have then I would take Mike67's idea and check the coil but you said you replaced that as well.
Are you putting a meter on anything?
 
moparjohnny said:
pull some spark plugs and check them.
Click to expand...
Pull em all.. they're wet as a shag.
Wet wires, wet plugs, weak spark, not goin anywhere.
Condensation is the worst.
As you noticed, you get about 1 chance.
If the choke doesn't unload fast enough, you are stuck.
It sounds counter productive, but 15 gallons of real hot water poured over the engine, slowly, can put enough heat inside to help vaporize gasoline and dry out wet plugs.
 
Real wet plugs aren't going to dry out themselves. If you have a decent spark at dist. prongs go with a set of new plugs.Let us know. Also a couple hours in a heated garage is probably not enuf,couple days,weeks. maybe.
 
What is the gap at the pick-up ccoil to reluctor? Should be .008"-.010". Where did you check spark? Coil wire or plug wure?
Doug
 
i hadn't really considered the fuel system since the car isn't getting very good spark. i have used a volt meter to test that im getting enough voltage to the box. when i had two batteries hooked up to it, i had the battery in the car attached normally, then i had another battery's positive lead going direct to the msd box, and the negative grounded to the car. still no luck. i've been checking the spark by pulling the coil wire off the coil and holding it close while cranking. before i would get a large blue spark. now, i occasionally get a tiny spark. since im not getting good spark coming out of the coil, it seems to me that the plugs are irrelevant for now. coils are notoriously tough to check, but ive replaced it once with no success, and taken my old one to the parts shop and tested it against a new one and they test the same. i did check the bulkhead, fusable link looks good, i sprayed electrical spray in the connections, but they seem good. next maybe ill see if there is a short under the dash. i've ran out of really promising ideas.
 
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