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I just finished wiring the new motor compartment. Stock 455 1970 setup. New wiring harness. New everything. Set top dead center. Dropped the distributor in. Correct firing order. No spark! Yellow wire to R on starter. Purple to S. It turns over fine. Cranks and cranks. I have fuel.
is there anything INSIDE the car besides the Starter switch that needs connected? I looked at diagram and do not see a Ignition fuse or relay. The ignition switch is connected and the FAT purple wire to the neutral safe switch has a jumper across it to close it.
Have you checked for voltage at the + terminal of the coil when the key is in RUN and START positions? You should have battery voltage (over 11.8V) when cranking and about 9 volts in RUN.
Try disconnecting the tach. There have been several threads in the past year where the tach caused a no-spark issue.
just tried it. No go. Is there a simple test for the Coil? It was new from Orielly auto.
i did not have this problem on any other new engine I have done. But i have always had an existing already running motor and system and only changed engine. Not the whole dang thing.
Have you checked for voltage at the + terminal of the coil when the key is in RUN and START positions? You should have battery voltage (over 11.8V) when cranking and about 9 volts in RUN.
i put a Meter Red on Pos and Black on Neg. no voltage in run or start.
i put a Meter Red on Pos and Black on Neg. no voltage in run or start.
Well there’s the issue. Start tracing through the wiring to see where you lose the 12 Volt supply to the coil.
Try putting the meter negative on the neg battery terminal and see if you get a voltage reading or not. If yes, the issue is with the ground; otherwise it’s in the positive wiring.
Well there’s the issue. Start tracing through the wiring to see where you lose the 12 Volt supply to the coil.
Try putting the meter negative on the neg battery terminal and see if you get a voltage reading or not. If yes, the issue is with the ground; otherwise it’s in the positive wiring.
is there anything that needs grounded on the wire harness Inside the the car? When i connect the Battery negative I hear a clicking noise come from the horn relay. This is my first car with a horn relay and i am not sure if it is supposed to click when grounding the battery?
From the diagram on Autozone it shows there is a fusible link that might be needed? I only have the fat red batter positive connected to the starter. I do not see anything else on the stock style wire harness that could go to starter except the Purple and Yellow wires. Where is this Fusible link connected on the stock wiring? i wonder if that is why I do not have volts to the coil?
That is not important in the grand scheme of things with what your issue is. What you need to know is that the yellow wire should be connected to the I terminal on the solenoid and the purple on the S. You have the yellow on the + on the coil and the black on the -. There should be power at the coil. If there is not I would make sure the connections are good at both ends. If that checks out I would ohm the yellow wire to be sure it's not broken.
The coil- terminal is not ground per say, its the trigger fed by the distributor. Connect the red terminal of your meter to the coil+ and the black to the engine block. There is a resistance wire that runs from the ignition switch to the coil+ terminal. As stated above, disconnect the tach from the coil- terminal and with the key in the on position you should see voltage on the coil+ terminal.
Note if you just want to start and run the engine, connect a temporary jumper from the battery + to the coil+ and crank with the key. To turn the engine off remove the temporary jumper.
The black bulge is the fusible link you were asking about. Make sure the connection at the horn relay is good as well.
OH! Ok. What about the breaker on the firewall? Does that need to have anything attached? I think it is just for power windows/locks/seats etc.
can I check the continuity of the Yellow wire attaching ohm meter to both ends? It is not switched anywhere? The switching happens inside the starter it seems looking at the schematic.
problems like this are why I bought all new wireharness bow to stern! i hate dealing with wires. I want plug and play baby!
Chasing continuity is not the way to troubleshoot power problems, you need to chase voltage. There are only 3 wires involved in providing spark from the coil. The resistance wire from the ignition switch with the key on and the yellow wire when the key is in the start position will provide power to the coil+ with the starter engaged. On the coil negative you get a pulsed ground signal from the points.
See if you have power at the pink wire of the ignition switch, make sure the key is in the “run” position. If so, at least you know for sure the ignition switch is able to power the ignition. You should have power on the brown wire with the key in the “run” and “acc” positions.
Next, se if you have power at the fuses. Some fuses will show power at all times (lighter, courtesy lamps, etc) others only with the key in run or accessory. The accessory powered fuses will shut down with the key in the start position. The fuse labeled “lamps” shows power only with the headlights on, and will vary voltage depending on the position of the dimmer switch.
If you have no power at the pink wire, it’s time to check things like fusible links.
See if you have power at the pink wire of the ignition switch, make sure the key is in the “run” position. If so, at least you know for sure the ignition switch is able to power the ignition. You should have power on the brown wire with the key in the “run” and “acc” positions.
Next, se if you have power at the fuses. Some fuses will show power at all times (lighter, courtesy lamps, etc) others only with the key in run or accessory. The accessory powered fuses will shut down with the key in the start position. The fuse labeled “lamps” shows power only with the headlights on, and will vary voltage depending on the position of the dimmer switch.
If you have no power at the pink wire, it’s time to check things like fusible links.
going to check the pink wire. But what brown wire are you talking about? I do not see a brown wire on my igition switch. I see black? Is that dark dark brown?
i put a Meter Red on Pos and Black on Neg. no voltage in run or start.
The red wire to the ignition switch is sufficient to run the engine. The bigger problem you have is that if you really get no voltage at the coil with the key in START, that power on the yellow wire comes directly from the starter solenoid, and if the starter is turning the solenoid has power. That suggests that either the solenoid is bad or there's a problem with the wiring. Disconnect the yellow wire from the coil and check for voltage on that wire when cranking. If you do not get battery voltage, the problem is restricted to either that wire or the solenoid.
If you can make the starter turn the motor over with the key then there is power to the ignition switch. Also the wire from the starter solenoid to the coil when cranking should have power to the coil and the engine should start if the timing and wiring to the spark plus is correct. It will die when you quite cranking the engine though. If you have no power from the ignition switch to the coil you need to check to see if the connector on the firewall that has all the wirers going to the engine has power coming out of the junction box on the firewall on the left side of the firewall. You can start the engine buy placing a jumper wire from the positive terminal on the battery or power connection on the alternator to the positive side of the coil where you have the wire from the starter and turn the motor over from the key switch. If the engine starts then you need to find the bad connection from the key switch to the coil. It might just be in the connection on the firewall to the engine compartment. Hope this will help solving the problem. P.S. Check to see if you have power from the key switch to the coil at the ignition switch with a test light. John
No, it sounds like your battery is getting low. Now, since you inadvertently placed the meter across the coil in post#9 and read no voltage when cranking, double check your point gap or dwell when cranking.
Recharged battery an hour. Tried cranking. Nothing. BUT while I was waiting I bought this at harbor fright. I am now getting spark! Maybe swapping the coil earlier?!
but still not starting. I have pulled the distributor five times. I even put in a OLD oem one just to see if the new Orielly one was bad. I am now convinced the problem now is my points or I am not setting TDC right last time I pulled the dist. just how sensitive are these skinny non-HEI distributors to not being RIGHT on the rotor? The vaccum canister and my edelbrock O4B are not letting me rotate the distributor very much at all. I tried flipping the whole distributor the other way but then the Screw cap hold downs hit the manifold runners. I know that the O4b never worked with HEI distributors but I am wondering if i have to install a Vaccum advance delete distributor now. :-/
You have to find #1tdc and install the distributor so that the rotor is pointing to the #1 post and you still have room to turn the distributor without the vacuum adv. cannister hitting the manifold or the firewall to adjust the timing.
You have to find #1tdc and install the distributor so that the rotor is pointing to the #1 post and you still have room to turn the distributor without the vacuum adv. cannister hitting the manifold or the firewall to adjust the timing.
^^^THIS. With no. 1 at TDC, it's trial and error to move the distributor one tooth as needed until the body and cap clear. Yes, you will have to either rotate the oil pump driveshaft or bump the starter to get the distributor to fully seat.
The easiest way to do this is to just install the distributor where it fits best with the most available adjustment and then stab in the plug wires to match the rotor location.
^^^THIS. With no. 1 at TDC, it's trial and error to move the distributor one tooth as needed until the body and cap clear. Yes, you will have to either rotate the oil pump driveshaft or bump the starter to get the distributor to fully seat.
The easiest way to do this is to just install the distributor where it fits best with the most available adjustment and then stab in the plug wires to match the rotor location.
yes that is what I was thinking. But if that doesnt work would it be ok to get everything up and running with a vacuum can delete distributor? I plan to upgrade to a HEI with Holley EFI later down the road so the Points distributor is only temp.
on that thought, does it make a difference if I have resistor or non-resistor type spark plugs when using Points?
yes that is what I was thinking. But if that doesnt work would it be ok to get everything up and running with a vacuum can delete distributor? I plan to upgrade to a HEI with Holley EFI later down the road so the Points distributor is only temp.
on that thought, does it make a difference if I have resistor or non-resistor type spark plugs when using Points?
I have personally run an OL4B on a 350 Olds with a stock points-style Delco distributor with no issues. You want vacuum advance on a street-driven car (or the digitally-generated equivalent curve).
Spark plug type does not matter its for radio interference. Setting your distributor as above will work, there is no if. Whether a distributor that has no vacuum advance will work is dependent on which one your talking about. If its a small cap electronic it may require full battery voltage. Note for future ref. an HEI conversion requires full battery voltage and the removal of the resistance wire.
I took out all the spark plugs. Then took out the fan. I changed the orientation of the distributor to have 1 pointed more at the booster than the front of the engine. Dropped the distributor cap right on top while at TDC. Went to start it and cranked. I heard what sounded like a it wanted to start but then didnt. I smell gas so maybe it is flooded. Anyhow the battery died again. NEW battery, was charging a hour or so. Must really be drained. Gonna let it be on charger and try again later.
