Turn the key and nothing happens..... HELP

[Someotherguy]

were almost there it looks like

 

[74Runneer]

I have my spark tester on and it shows a pretty weak spark. Is it supposed to be bright?

 

[Someotherguy]

it should be if it's in good working order...


try to fire it up....weak spark will still start the engine, to a point...depends on how weak it is..

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and make sure your battery is fully charged...

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the suspense is killing me

 

[74Runneer]

Its turning over weird. It will turn really fast but then it will stop abruptly. Sounds like: dododododo stop dododododo stop. And its a harsh stop, kinda hard to explain, does that make sense?

Can I start it with the battery charger on it?

 

[kiwigtx]

...............

Can I start it with the battery charger on it?

NO....not under any circumstances do that. You can kill the charger for one. A mains powered battery charger should only be connected to the car with either the positive or negative cable disconnected.

 

[Someotherguy]

depends on which kind of battery charger you have...some are designed to jump start a car along with just charging the battery, some are not...there will be a jump start selector switch on the charger somewhere if it's capable of jump start also

the starter sounds like it may be dragging due to low battery charge.. or you may be waay out of time....

 

[440beep]

Finally..................we are almost there. I was curious about the timing issue also. Since he took the top half of the motor off, I agree, the distributor could be way off as you say. Or the battery's weak?

depends on which kind of battery charger you have...some are designed to jump start a car along with just charging the battery, some are not...there will be a jump start selector switch on the charger somewhere if it's capable of jump start also

the starter sounds like it may be dragging due to low battery charge.. or you may be waay out of time....

 

[74Runneer]

Okay I didn't mark the distributor so that very well could be 180 degrees off. Is that what it sounds like when the timing is way off? Ill flip it around.

How long do I let it charge for?

 

[Someotherguy]

yeah, it wont hurt to flip it around....thats prolly the issue there since you didn't mark it...

let it fully charge....say about an hour...

 

[440beep]

What's the battery volts reading using your multimeter?

How long do I let it charge for?

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He's gonna have to refind where the #1 plug wire goes on the dizzy now, right?

yeah, it wont hurt to flip it around....thats prolly the issue there since you didn't mark it...

let it fully charge....say about an hour...

 

[Someotherguy]

not on a small block mopar, the distributor is keyed, you are either 180 out, or right on...with only slight ignition timing adjustments via turning the distributor....since he only replaced the heads(i assume?) then the cam timing shouldn't have been messed with...

 

[440beep]

DOH!! My bad, assumed it was a big block car.

He needs to slow down while doing his trouble shooting. Personally, I would have checked the battery volts first to see what that was. Once I knew whether the battery volts were good or not, then I would have moved to turning the dizzy 180 degrees. Its been beat into me to make one change at a time.

not on a small block mopar, the distributor is keyed, you are either 180 out, or right on....since he only replaced the heads(i assume?) then the cam timing shouldn't have been messed with...

 

[Someotherguy]

the vacuum canister should be pointing about like in the picture below for the correct timing...just ballpark figure until he gets it running, then get the timing gun out...

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DOH!! My bad, assumed it was a big block car.

He needs to slow down while doing his trouble shooting. Personally, I would have checked the battery volts first to see what that was. Once I knew whether the battery volts were good or not, then I would have moved to turning the dizzy 180 degrees. Its been beat into me to make one change at a time.

lol...yeah i agree, but he's 18 and want to get his car running again...i've been there, and am still there with my 2 boys, one 19 years old and one 17 lol

 

[74Runneer]

The volts were 11.98 so I figured that was a little slow. I don't think that was why it was turning weird though I think its the timing. Battery is at 12.72 V now

 

[440beep]

I think its time...............................................



Someotherguy, you agree?



74Runner...................wait wait wait for the consensus.

 

[Someotherguy]

yeah, 11's are too low for the battery to fire it off correctly...let her charge for a bit longer...

and swap that distributor around 180*....

 

[74Runneer]

Yeah sorry, I've been sitting in my garage all day hitting refresh until someone comments, then I do whatever they say. I'm a little impatient.

Yep I generally know where the vacuum canister is supposed to go, I remember.

 

[440beep]

LOLOLOL!!!!! I'm "Mr Instant Gratification" also!!!

Yeah sorry, I've been sitting in my garage all day hitting refresh until someone comments, then I do whatever they say. I'm a little impatient.

Yep I generally know where the vacuum canister is supposed to go, I remember.

 

[Someotherguy]

and while were waiting on charge lol :grin:....I made these earlier to explain the routing of the wiring in question...i figure someone searching may find these useful

The explanation of these highlighted diagrams is in post #99

 

[440beep]