Not goin anywhere without a tow.
09-23-01, 04:15 PM
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Not goin anywhere without a tow.
Okay, so I think my ignition is dead. I went to start the 7 as I do every week to keep the engine in good shape. It died last week, but I didn't have time to mess with it. I had left it to go and get soap to wash the tree and bird crap off it.
When I crank it, the tach needle doesn't wiggle as it usually does. That led me to suspect trailing ignition, right off. But the car should still start and run without trailing.
I checked for compression anyway, just listened to the air as I cranked without spark plugs. It sounded good.
I pulled the coil wire off the trailing connection on the dizzy and laid it on the suspension tower. Cranked it and saw a really strong spark. Did the same with leading and nothing.
One other thing I noticed was that leading is closer to the headlight and trailing is closer to the cabin. That's not right, but it's how it always has been hooked up. Just for the hell of it, I swapped them, and still nothing.
Leading Ignitor, Right?
What's the part number for the GM equiv someone was talking about in a previous post before the hack... They said the yused an ignitor from a GM truck of some sort.
When I crank it, the tach needle doesn't wiggle as it usually does. That led me to suspect trailing ignition, right off. But the car should still start and run without trailing.
I checked for compression anyway, just listened to the air as I cranked without spark plugs. It sounded good.
I pulled the coil wire off the trailing connection on the dizzy and laid it on the suspension tower. Cranked it and saw a really strong spark. Did the same with leading and nothing.
One other thing I noticed was that leading is closer to the headlight and trailing is closer to the cabin. That's not right, but it's how it always has been hooked up. Just for the hell of it, I swapped them, and still nothing.
Leading Ignitor, Right?
What's the part number for the GM equiv someone was talking about in a previous post before the hack... They said the yused an ignitor from a GM truck of some sort.
09-23-01, 04:58 PM
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It sounds like your leading ignighter to me. I had the same problem in the past and the car would just not start. You may want to swap your coils to make sure they are both working as well.
09-23-01, 07:21 PM
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The one at facing the front is the leading ignitor. Swap the ignitors and see if the spark works on the leading now, but stops on the trailing - if this happens it means a bad ignitor.
No knowlege of a GM ignitor, but I use a GM style DIS coil in a driect fire system. The stock ignitor can be used to fire it, but you do need working ignitors first.
Good luck
No knowlege of a GM ignitor, but I use a GM style DIS coil in a driect fire system. The stock ignitor can be used to fire it, but you do need working ignitors first.
Good luck
09-23-01, 10:40 PM
#5
Let me crack my knuckles so I can type better... *crack* Ok!
Pele, was your tach hooked to the Leading coil? You mentioned the coils are in wrong so there is a strong chance that the forward most coil has the tach signal wire on it. Since that is apearantly your Leading coil, that could be why it didn't wiggle while cranking. So Trailing had spark but Leading didn't? Turn your key to ON and test for battery voltage on all contacts: B and C on all ignitors, + and - on all coils. If one is lacking, you might have a bad wire or ignitor/coil. Yes, swap ignitors and see if it will start. Check for a buildup of corrosion on the contacts inside the dizzy cap.
About that GM HEI thing, it looks like a semi curved rectangle with 4 or 5 contacts on it. I have no idea how long the spark duration is. I also don't know what the advance/retard compensation is. I suspect it will very likely cause a Leading/Trailing split drift at high RPM (just like the MSD). It is cheap enough though. Go ahead and get one and experiment with it if you want, just make sure to firmly attach it to a heat sink and use that heat goop so it doesn't burn up.
Edit: The Leading ignitor is toward the front of your car, and the Trailing ignitor is close to the alternator.
Pele, was your tach hooked to the Leading coil? You mentioned the coils are in wrong so there is a strong chance that the forward most coil has the tach signal wire on it. Since that is apearantly your Leading coil, that could be why it didn't wiggle while cranking. So Trailing had spark but Leading didn't? Turn your key to ON and test for battery voltage on all contacts: B and C on all ignitors, + and - on all coils. If one is lacking, you might have a bad wire or ignitor/coil. Yes, swap ignitors and see if it will start. Check for a buildup of corrosion on the contacts inside the dizzy cap.
About that GM HEI thing, it looks like a semi curved rectangle with 4 or 5 contacts on it. I have no idea how long the spark duration is. I also don't know what the advance/retard compensation is. I suspect it will very likely cause a Leading/Trailing split drift at high RPM (just like the MSD). It is cheap enough though. Go ahead and get one and experiment with it if you want, just make sure to firmly attach it to a heat sink and use that heat goop so it doesn't burn up.
Edit: The Leading ignitor is toward the front of your car, and the Trailing ignitor is close to the alternator.
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