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1966 Charger cranks but won't fire.

jmbass98

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Car was working well a few months ago. Replaced the timing chain and water pump and immediately started having weird electrical issues. Amp gauge would drain with power draw but not increase with RPM. Wipers worked very strangely, when they worked at all. Couldn't hold a charge.

One day, car died in parking lot and wouldn't turn back on. Gave up on it for a little bit. Came back recently. Put in brand new wiring harness, ignition switch, battery, battery cable, starter relay, ballast, and voltage regulator.

Now it won't attempt to fire at all. Just cranks. At least before I replaced anything, the car would hiccup and chug as though it were trying to start, but wouldn't.

At a loss now. Hoping it isn't a broader issue that is out of my expertise or budget. Trying to track down what minor thing could be causing this.

The wiring is poorly organized right now, just leaving it that way for ease of removal in case anything needs to be messed with.

Photos:

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I have a multi-meter, just unsure of what to check for to troubleshoot, btw.
 
do you have spark and fuel? Did the car run fine before you changed the timing chain?
 
timing gears lined up properly? distributor in properly?
 
The timing chain was old and loose, causing a lot of issues. But it still ran and everything else functioned. Replaced the timing chain and water pump. All of issues with how the car ran in terms of the timing chain were fixed. Ran great. But the electrical issues began at the exact same time, which confused me. I tried 3 different alternators. New voltage regulators. Nothing seemed to fix the issues. Then one day it died and wouldn't start back up. So here I am now. The car does have fuel. Pumping it, there's gas coming through the carburetor. How exactly can I check for spark? Learning as I go.
 
look at your bulk head and see if the wires are all good.
 
Start with the basics. Spark? Pull the #1 plug and place close to the exhaust manifold. 1/4" or less. Crank over, watching for spark. If that doesn't work, try this cheap option.
https://www.amazon.com/Lisle-20610-...1&keywords=spark+tester&qid=1624159546&sr=8-5
https://www.amazon.com/Ram-Pro-Engi...jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==
You say that you have fuel. So with spark and fuel, you should at least get a "rumble".
If it causes a backfire, look into your timing. Was the timing chain installed correctly? Check initial timing.
If timing is correct, and still won't start, then you need to dig deeper into the engine. Compression?
 
are you 180 off on the distributor? check timing.
 
With all the changes, you may have more than one issue now. I'm wondering if the plugs have fouled out through all the trials. I'd also be looking at the bolt hole threads, and under side of bolt head, on the regulator.
 
I will check the timing and plugs. I also want to take a multimeter to coil, ballast, battery, regulator, etc.. What are the main things other than those I should be checking to narrow the problem down? And what should my readings generally be?

Can I eliminate the ignition switch circuit by starting with a screwdriver to the relay?

Just trying to narrow down the possible issues because they seem endless at this point... I feel like I'm at square one.
 
What kind of ignition setup do you have? Points? Electronic ignition? If electronic specifically what setup?
As far as checking for spark take your coil wire out of your distributer if you have a factory style cap pace the end of the wire close to a ground… anywhere on the engine away from the carb. Have someone turn the car over to start and watch. Keep your hands away as that coil really sparks. If you have fire there then pull a plug wire and find a loose spark plug. Hook it into the back log wire and do the sale thing. Do we have spark at the end of the wire. If so we can assume that system is good. Then start pulling plugs and check them in the same way. Make sure your wires and plugs are all firing… you can ohm put the wires too but depending on the brand and gauge and length you will get different readings. Google will get you a reading close so you’ll be able to tell. If all that looks good. If you have a plug or 2 out a quick compression test may not hurt. But since it was running I doubt your problem is there.
Check the distributer cap and rotor if you have spark at the coil and not at the plug wires. If you have points you may have an issue with them. If you left you key on with points without turning the engine on and the points were closed you may have burnt them. A quick file of their not too crispy may get you going again.
With the #1 plug out if you bump the starter over till you feel the compression with your finger covering the #1 plug hole in the head (disconnect the ignition system for this) the stop and get the engine so the dampener is a tdc. Now pull the distributer cap and see where is sitting. Connect #1 plug to where the rotor is pointing. Put cap back on and in a counter clockwise rotation the firing order is 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2. Check this and now you will be sure to have your timing close enough to start. If you have the rotor pointing right at #1 loosen the distributer and rotate the distributer about 10 degrees counter clockwise…. Just a hair. You should have enough advance to get close enough to start. If you find anything no good along the way post it and we’ll help you. Good luck and hoping you don’t have to go back in to verify the timing chain is correctly installed.
 
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Do the crank test first pull the coil wire out of the distributor, Place it close to the intake bolt about 1/8” away and turn over. Let’s check spark first. Then We know what path the start down
 
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It sounds like you may have not hooked up your charging system correctly after the service work you performed. I say this because your ammeter was showing a constant drain when running. The drain represents that the power required to run the car was constantly coming from the battery and not the charging system. The ammeter just indicates direction of flow.

Secondly, once the battery drains and dies it will no longer have the power required to run the ignition of the car.

Check your charging system wiring to ensure it’s correct. Also check voltage when running to see if the voltage regulator is working or not. 13.5-14.7 volts when running indicate a proper working voltage regulator.

For no start, make sure your battery is fully charged and check for 12 volts at the coil with the key in the run position. This figure could also be less if the ballast resistor is working and reducing voltage at the coil. Either way this is easy to check and see if you have power at the coil. Turn the key to run position, take a test light and and touch the positive side of the coil with the test light and it should illuminate if there is power at the coil.

Do all this then report back if you still have problems.
 
No spark from the coil wire when I pull it and screwdriver the starter relay. Off to buy a new multimeter as mine is being strange.

It’s a brand new repro distributor and brand new plug wires. Could something else be wrong?
 
Did you have the key in the run position?
You also need to test the start position.
 
Just did test light. 11v on battery in run, 10v when cranking. 4.4v on pos of coil when cranking. No reading on neg of coil when cranking. No spark.
 
The power wire from the ignition goes to the + side of the coil. - side goes to the distributor. We’ll need to check the power going to the distributor in crank and run. Then we need to look at the points. If their burnt it will not fire the coil.
Check the coil with a multi meter in ohms. disconnect the wires from your battery and coil.
Check from the + and - that’s the primary winding. That coil should have about 0.7ohms resistance. Then check from the + of the coil to the output of the coil… where the coil wire goes onto. That’s the secondary winding. You should find about 4.7K (4700) ohms.
 
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