Last night my wife and I were on a date night and my Olds died on the way home. That's the first time she's ridden with me in the Olds for years (that's actually a sore spot for me). Luckily we were only 5 miles from home and in town when it just died.

When it died I was driving down a boulevard at about 45 mph. I ended up pushing it about 50 yards to the entrance of a senior living community. Luckily my wife was able to steer it and stop it even without power assist.

I think it needs a new HEI module. I had to have it towed years ago for the same thing. I guess I should keep a spare HEI module in my glove box. Either that or just go back to points.Truthfully, I haven't ever been fully satisfied with this Summit HEI distributor.

It took the tow truck 2+ hours to show up even though they said 90 minutes. It's not like we were in the boonies!

About 20 minutes after I pushed the Olds off the road the Edmond PD showed up with their lights on to make sure everything was ok. The officer was friendly and professional and even drove my wife home so she could get her Kia. We actually live in Logan county right outside Edmond city limits so I bet it was beyond his area of duty. I hope it was a pleasure for him dealing with strandad motorists vs. somebody breaking and entering or a fool needing a ride to the drunk tank.

When the tow truck driver arrived he was an idiot. I had to remove the fender skirts for him or he would have crushed them with ratchet straps. Plus, he used a leather work glove as padding between my front bumper and the turnbuckle of his tow cable. When unloading the Olds had me back it off of his flat bed. As I was backing it off of the flatbed the exhaust tips scrapped against the ground. I endedup calling Haggerty and complained about the jabroni. I don't want him messing over anyone else with a classic or exotic insured through Haggerty.

Here's an obligatory pic.



More info to come.

 

Comp Cams makes one with different options. I haven't tried it yet but I've heard good things. Today I'll take a shot at installing it. My feeling is, if it works I'll immediately get another for your exact reason. I'd go one step further. Bubble wrap it, put it in a vacuum seal bag with a silica packet and seal it. The way I see it, small insurance policy. Too many stories about them going at the worst possible time.

 

Wow, I have a GM HEI distributor from a 1977-1979 403 engine with the original module and it is still running fine. I will say that I have a spare GM module in the glove box in case of an emergency. Over the years I have read that the GM modules are the most reliable.

 

So, I had the HEI module tested and it was no good. I got a new one and installed it and the car still didn't start. I sprayed starting fluid in the carb and turned it over and it didn't even sputter.

I did some more poking and prodding and I have a feeling the pick up coil is no good. It reads infinity resistance across the 2 leads and will sporadically read continuity when moving the distributor shaft.

The rotor and cap are in decent condition and the ignition coil reads continuity between the 2 leads. I replaced the brush in the cap and it still didn't start. Any advice is appreciated.

Here are my exhaust tips.

Passenger's:



Driver's


I guess my Olds will have to spend a few nights outside. I don't like that especially since it is supposed to snow tomorrow.

 

Are you getting 12v to the distributor?

 

Yes sir. With the key in the run position there is 12V at the BATT terminal of the distributor.

 

Yep if you are open and then get continuity when jiggling the dist, I'll bet pick up coil also. Those GM Hei's were used for years and were great. Though I put a unknown used HEI in my 71 and had bunches of problems. I think the problem is cheap electronic parts made in China. Maybe your Summit unit is like that... I love your 98!

 

Thanks for the comments Greg. I did remove the distributor and the pick up coil acts the same way. I can spin the distributor shaft and the ohm meter reads infinity resistance with sporadic continuity.

 

Are you getting 12V to distributor with key in start?

Also, this is dangerous if not careful, but jumping the neutral/park safety switch will move the car via starter power if it needs up a hill into a garage.

 

This !!!!
When points go bad it will usually still run , but poorly .
When electronic ignition goes bad , it's TOW TIME !

 

I will double check for 12V in the start position.

I'm definitely considering it. I have the old points distrbutor. I would just need a new resistor wire and spark plug wires.

Here is my Olds on morning 2 outside the garage. At least it makes for a good pic.

 

The newer HEI modules, especially the fancy performance ones die often. I keep a whole tub full of spare parts including whole spare distributor's in both Olds. We had factory HEI's die in our 75 Cutlass with an Olds 350 and in an 83 1/2 ton and in my 78 1/2 ton with an Olds 307. All three were pick ups, so the stock ones do die, very suddenly like your car.

 

You are correct Charlie. A couple years ago the Pertronix in my 54 died and left me on the side of the road. So then I went back to points. I kept and extra set and a condenser in the toolbox. This weekend I was down at the Veterans Day car show in Bastrop which is about 235 miles from home. Several of us from the NTOC were there as we are every year. My car has developed an occasional skip. It had gotten a little worse as we got closer to Bastrop. When we lined up at the hotel to go to the show it backfired, coughed and sputtered and barely made it the short distance to Main Street. Then I am thinking how the heck are we going to get this thing home. There was a NAPA about three blocks from Main Street so I walked down and got a set of plugs and some Heet for the gas tank. We sprayed the carb down with Berryman's. On the trip back to the hotel it ran better but still had a pretty good skip in it. Yesterday morning I replaced the points and condenser in the parking lot and problem solved. After a short distance I did have to pull into a parking lot and regap the points since I had them set too wide and we had a bad clatter. We got home with no problems. The chineseum condenser crapped out and fried the points. The problem with points is finding components that are not make in China. The points and condenser in my car were only about two years old and had less than 2,000 miles on them. Now I am contemplating going back to Pertronix and carrying a spare module. The module is a lot easier to change than the points and condenser. I had an HEI out of a junkyard in the 72 Cutlass I sold last year and it never failed in the 23 years I owned the car. The HEI does give you a hotter spark than points and plugs will last a lot longer.

 

I had a Pertronix kit in my 64 98. It was definitely easier on maintenance and made the car start easier. The only problem with Pertronix is the module is about $75 vs. $15 for an HEI module.

FWIW, I ended up buying a new O'Reilly's HEI distributor instead of replacing the pickup coil. The Summit distributor that crapped out on me was a clone of the stock HEI in a 75 Olds 98. I guess I will try to install it before lunch. Wish me luck.

 

I got the distributor installed but I can't get it started. All it does is sputter, cough and backfire. Maybe I installed the distributor 45* out?

 

Back up a bit here.
Are 12 volts present at the dist while cranking? Sounds like its there when the engine is static with the key on.
Just cuz you have 12V at the dist doesn't mean you have a good system ground. Also, a bad engine ground will take out a module quickly.
Are you getting fuel? Are the carbs accelerator pump shots strong?
If you have fuel(?) and you have spark(?) only thing left is mechanical timing IE timing chain. How old is the timing set? Rotate crank while observing the dist rotor.
Did the new dist come with a new cap, coil, and rotor? If not test coil and try new cap n rotor.

How do the plugs read?
Another lesson I learned the hard way, cuz there isn't any other way is KISS...spark plugs. I had a no start condition after installing a Pertronix dist. Too much no-start cranking trying to dial-in the new dist caused fouled plugs. Chased it for 2 days. Spark tester didn't flicker at all because the plugs were so bad. New plugs...bingo. Of course, verify TDC too. Could just be off a few teeth.

 

FWIW, I got my Olds started. It took me a week because I had been working 12 hour days!

The culprit was that I stabbed the distributor 1 tooth retarded. Now I have to decide if I am going to go through the hassle of filing a claim for my damaged exhaust tips.

 

Ahh, Mechanical timing. Glad you got it running and it was relatively simple. 12 hr days are fun, aren't they?!? Leaves just enough time left to eat n sleep.

Check your insurance they may cover it?
How about sending the towing company the bill? Looks like tip replacement only? Bet that's a hung or two. Probably below your insurance min. The towing company should stand up and take care of it. Money well spent on their part to avoid too much bad word of mouth...you'd think?

Put a new HEI module (highest quality available) and some heat past in the glove box in a vacuum sealed bag. Standard Op Procedures with HEIs. Oh, and do verify you have good engine grounds. The HEI module will thank you, and so will the wife.

PS Puta second side/front view pic of your car somewhere on your avatar, like the one shot above. That car stands out with no vinyl top and shirts. One of the sharpest 98s I've seen. We have a triple black one running the show circuits around here. It has a vinyl top. Who knew tail fins would make it all the way into the 70s. Cool!

 

Excuse me, that's one tooth "differently abled."

 

Thanks for the comments. I guess I need to use my wife's vacuum sealer in the kitchen to seal up that spare HEI module I have. I'm sure she won't mind.

I alreday called Haggerty about a claim on my exhaust tips. They will cover it 100%. Now I just need to get a quote for the repair and send it to their tow company Agero.

 

I figured I would update this thread.

I finally had the damage done to my 71 repaired on 07/02/20! The damage took so long to remedy due to poor customer service from Hagerty and Agero. Agero acts as a buffer between claimants and Hagerty. The claims process is so burdensome that most customers undoubtedly give up out of frustration. I wasn't told by Eric (a Hagerty representative) that customers could file a damage claim with Hagerty instead of Agero until 07/06/2020! The lack of customer service is UNEXCUSABLE! Ultimately, I paid to have the exhaust tips on my 71 Oldsmobile repaired so I could seek insurance else where. Hagerty and Agero would have been fine letting the statutes of limitations expire on my claim. Thankfully, Hagerty agreed to reimburse me $60 for the work I had done.

I hope that other customers aren't treated the same way I was. I just got approval from American Collectors to insure both my 71 Olds and my 86 F250.

 

Looks good Jessie, its unfortunate about your claim.

 

Will get you oem hei dist if that keeps you from walkin as only thing I hate worse than walkin is skippin....