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Final update.
I took a couple weeks' break to refill my patience bucket and decide what I'm going to do with this car. I want to make one last effort to get it started.
So yesterday and today I worked on it again. I started back at square 1. Put in some fresh gas. Changed the fuel filter...
The bulkhead connector was cleaned, inspected, and tested during the restoration process. The entire wiring harness was tested prior to installation because I didn't want to have to deal with issues like this after reassembly. But that doesn't mean there's not a problem in there somewhere. I...
Moved the engine to TDC on the compression stroke (using a compression gauge) and in the process made sure that the distributor was rotating CCW. Verified that the distributor was installed correctly and the rotor was pointing to the #1 tower. Verified firing order at 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2.
Is this...
You're not missing anything. That's exactly the way it happened. One day it started and 2 days later it wouldn't. That's how I knew the distributor was in correctly. And ever since then I've been throwing money at new parts.
I checked the link to HalifaxHops distributor check, and according...
Yes. Cranking voltage to the Coil + is 8.5v, which I realize is low. However, I've tried a jumper wire giving 12v directly to the coil and it made no difference. I also cranked the engine with the ECU disconnected and got 10.5v at the coil. That could suggest a problem in the ECU-distributor...
So a yellow spark is OK? I was chasing another phantom.
See my previous post regarding the distributor. I am 100% positive it is installed correctly. Again, the car started and ran fine with the current installation. Do distributors jump out of time on their own?
Update.
Installed the new ECU from Mancini. I even ran a ground wire from the mounting bolt to the engine block. Charged up the battery and checked for spark. Same as before. The spark is strong and regular, but yellow. Repeated the test with a jumper wire to Coil +. Same results. So...
What about points? When I purchased this car it had a points distributor and coil in it. I removed them because I wanted to go back to the correct factory setup. If I don't have success after the next ECU, maybe I should just reinstall those and see what happens? I know electronic ignition...
So applying this to the test I just ran. With the ECU out of the circuit (disconnected), cranking voltage was more or less normal (10v). That should indicate that the ignition switch, bulkhead connector, and intervening wiring are probably OK. That's why I jumped the gun and ordered another...
I'll pull the distributor if the no-start persists and look things over. It was installed into the engine shortly after getting the engine back from the rebuilder, who convienently left the engine at TDC for #1. That's why I'm pretty sure it's in correctly.
The single ballast resistor I'm...
Too late. I already ordered another ECU from Mancini. This time I'm going to check the spark before even trying to start the engine.
I'm pretty sure the distributor is installed correctly. It did run one time pretty good with the current installation, and distributor orientation hasn't been...
OK, here we go. With a fresh battery off the trickle charger the battery voltage is 13.3v. I repeated the previous voltage test to get a new baseline. Coil + reads 5v with Ign ON and 8.8v cranking. Something I've noticed about this that I forgot to mention before. With Ign ON, the coil...
I'll do this test tomorrow. Disconnect the ECU and do a cranking voltage test at the Coil + terminal. If I'm understanding this test correctly, normal voltage would indicate a problem in the ECU or ECU ground. Continued reduced voltage would indicate a problem somewhere else in the ignition...
The "great spark" referred to in Post #27 was in fact yellow. At the time I didn't know yellow was bad. It was certainly better than the no spark I was getting prior to replacing the ECU.
The voltage drop detected in Post #28 was probably there all along. It wasn't until the second no-start...