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No fire at spark plugs.

blue69runner

blue69runner

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Recently removed the heads on my 383. Put everything back together and now have no spark. Know I hooked up my tack wire on the positive and moved it back to the negative side of coil. Replaced the coil thinking it might be bad. Showing low voltage at the coil. Tested the ECU and it test right. Tested the distributor and it all checks out. Ballast resistor also test good. Only have about 10 volts at the blue wire on the coil not hooked to the coil. Once hooking the coil, the voltage falls. Just wonder what others might think the problem is. I did not change anything and have good ground throughout. Any ideas would be appreciated. Do have a new ECU on its way to see if a new one is the answer. Going to replace the start run relay also. Yes, have read forums and also googled the problem but too no progress. What am I missing. Thanks for input. Blue.
 
Gotta be something simple I would think? Rotor installed inside the distributor, wiring to the distributor, pinched/broken wire somewhere maybe?
 
Run a temporary jumper from the coil to the battery and see if it fires.
 
Uplug the engine harness at the bulkhead connector and inspect closely.
Clean the terminals and reinstall.
Do the same test on the coil wire.
Unplugged it should show battery voltage, 10V seems low to me.
 
Try disconnecting your tach wire temporarily. I seem to remember reading that a tach has caused a no start before. If you had it hooked up to the positive to begin with maybe messed something up, but hopefully not.
 
If you don't have bad connections in your bulkhead, you may try to test your plate or pickup coil in the distributor. If you unplug the wires coming out of the distributor, you should get a reading of around 300 ohms between the two wires. Not the only problem but it is a place to start.
 
If it cranks OK I wouldn't change the starter relay. (New one's are iffy)
You may want to disconnect the wires from the battery terminal on it and wire brush them and re-install.
 
Been over all these same lines. I did clean the bulkhead connections with contact cleaner. It is strange. Drove the car in the garage before pulling the heads. Had a crack in one of the heads below the exhaust holes. Had to pull both heads to paint my shock towers over again due to paint was bubbling up and peeling off them. So now going to start pushing parts at the problem. New ECU is on the way. Thanks this is baffling to say the least. Charged the battery. last night to make sure it was full. It seems to crank over just fine. Darn if I know what it is. Would running a hot wire separate from the system burn up the pyro tonic system.
 
Pertronix ?
I do know that the pertronix 2 would fry itself like a set of closed points if the ignition was left on for awhile.

The # 1 and #3 did not but 2 would.
 
Just got my new orange box. Now after reading more into what wire goes to ground or negative on the coil. I see the black wire with yellow stripe should be on negative of coil. That is the one I put on the positive side. Think might have fried my orange box. Will know more tomorrow. Sure hope this fixes it. Miss driving the old girl. LOL. Thanks for all the input. my Bad it is an old age thing I guess.
 
Getting the + & - wires reversed on the coil does not damage the ECU or coil; it gives reduced secondary voltage.
 
Ok so here it is. After working and trying everything even a new orange box. I still had no fire to the plugs. Took a couple of days to think things over. If everyone remembers I blew the top rad, hose off and it soaked everything under the hood. By the bulkhead connector there are two plugs one with two wires in the plugs and one with one wire. I had cleaned the bulkhead connector with contact cleaner. I also did it again. Now I thought never cleaned those two plugs. What the heck so I sprayed them down with contact cleaner and plugged them in and out a few times. Tried the starter button I have hooked up to the starter relay. Bingo, I got spark. What is the saying the last thing first and the first thing last. It really had me baffled. Something so simple can drive you, nuts. I don't need any help. Thanks for all the info and help from the folks here. Can't wait to get back on the road again!!!! Blue.
 
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