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Old 03-18-2013, 09:25 PM
Gm all the way Gm all the way is offline
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Default No spark baffled????

Hi guys I'm new to this forum. I am also 15 and fixing my mothers 72 chevelle Malibu by myself. In advance I must tell you this car has been sitting for 4 years. When it was put away it ran pristine. So my problem I am not getting spark. No problem right, well I replaced my plugs with gm acdelco plugs still no spark so I replaced my wires. Still no spark, so I replaced my rotor. Still no spark, so then I replaced my distr cap with an MSD cap. Still no spark, so I replaced my coil, still no spark. So I replaced my, sorry drawing a black it's right behind the coil. It's connected to the neg side of the coil. Still no spark, so after all this I did before hand check my coil and it was bad ( checked with multimeter). So now what, me and a buddy put the coil wire to the distr next to metal and it did not spark what does this mean. Don't wanna be picky but would like to know ASAP since I work on it everyday.
Thanks
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Old 03-18-2013, 10:13 PM
flash flash is offline
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Where are you in Ohio ,some friends of ours in Northern Ohio would gladly help you out .Look up Northern Ohio Chevelle Club ,if you have no luck PM me and I can get you some contact info. They would welcome you as a member if you are interested ,we are long distance members .
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Old 03-18-2013, 10:14 PM
flash flash is offline
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I also forgot to say WELCOME ,so Welcome .
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Old 03-18-2013, 10:48 PM
Gm all the way Gm all the way is offline
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I'm in northwest Ohio just south of Toledo out in the sticks. Yea Ill look these guys up and let you know. Thanks man
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Old 03-18-2013, 11:03 PM
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You mention everything except the points. The points need to open and close in order for spark to go out the spark plug wires. So when you take the coil wire (center wire) out of the distributor cap and put it close to the block and you are not getting spark then my guess its the points. You have already replaced everything else. Do you have gauge to check the gap of the points? If you have a dwell meter you can check it with that also. I assume you have power to the coil? You may need to take a finger nail file and clean the points if it has been sitting for so long because they may be corroded. Most likely your problem is inside the distributor and not what's on the outside. . The condenser is what you replaced on the back of the distributor. Welcome to the site
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Last edited by shadowgray396; 03-18-2013 at 11:27 PM.
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Old 03-18-2013, 11:14 PM
Gm all the way Gm all the way is offline
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I'm not sure how to check the distance my neighbor told me this but I wasn't sure what he was talking about. Don't know a lot on how the distr works. Pull the cap and rotor off the I check the gap between the this that opens and closes/ moves back and forth. Sorry don't know the tech terms in this case.
Thanks.
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Old 03-18-2013, 11:16 PM
Gm all the way Gm all the way is offline
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Oh and yes I do have power to and from my coil ( pos and neg).
Thanks again.
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Old 03-18-2013, 11:38 PM
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shadowgray396 shadowgray396 is offline
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This what you need to do to check them if you have points. Do you have a HEI system in the car? When I have had no spark in all my car the trouble has always been at the distributor.

Pull the coil wire out of the coil secondary tower. Remove the distributor cap using a screwdriver. Install the remote starter switch by connecting one of the two leads to the small S terminal on the starter solenoid and the other on the positive terminal on the battery. (If not have someone help you)

2
Place the transmission in neutral if the vehicle has a manual transmission. Set the initial point gap. Watch the point-rubbing block where the points ride on the distributor cam. Bump the engine over with the remote starter (or help from a friend) in short bumps until the rubbing block is dead on top of a cam lobe. The points will be as wide open.

Measure the gap between the two sets of points using an 0.018-inch feeler gauge. The feeler gauge should slide between the points with a small amount of friction. If the feeler gauge does not fit between the points or is too sloppy the points must be set. There are two types of points differing only in the way they are adjusted. One type has an obvious screw with a hole in its head made for an Allen wrench and the other has no such screw. This type needs to be adjusted using a screwdriver to loosen a screw in its base enough to spread or close the points followed by tightening the screw. This type has a slot in the base that allows it to be adjusted.

4
Insert the Allen wrench in the first type of points and turn the wrench clockwise to close the points and counterclockwise to open. Do this while inserting the feeler gauge until you feel a slight drag.

5
Connect the dwell meter by connecting the black wire lead to the negative terminal on the coil and the red lead to the positive terminal on the battery. Watch the dwell meter scale for your engine: four-, six- or eight-cylinder. If the engine is a four-cylinder the dwell should be 40-45 degrees. A six-cylinder should be 30-35-degrees, and a V-8 should be 23-28 degrees. Crank the engine over with the remote starter and watch the dwell. Adjust the points as previously described to bring them within limits. To reduce the dwell open the points and close them for more dwell.

6
Remove the remote starter switch and the dwell meter. Install the distributor cap and tighten with the screwdriver. Plug the coil wire into the cap.

Your 72 cap should have a little door on the cap that lifts up for the allen wrench to adjust them.
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Last edited by shadowgray396; 03-19-2013 at 05:28 PM.
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Old 03-19-2013, 05:26 PM
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Welcome GM (love the name)

Ray, your explanations are always awesome.

GM, I am hoping that Ray's explanation helps, but either way I would still look up the Northern Ohio Chevelle Club. I will tell you, from personal experience, it is an amazing group of people who are always willing to help.

Oh yeah, welcome to the site.
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Old 03-19-2013, 08:51 PM
Gm all the way Gm all the way is offline
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Thanks for the welcoming guys. Yea I'm gonna try and join that club it didn't wanna let me sign up yesterday but I'm gonna try again on my laptop not iPad tonight. Anyways so I had my neighbor (he's very old and it's been 26 years since he's worked on a classic car) help me today, we hooked his remote start up and it didn't want to work for Some reason. Not sure why but we were both there so we forgot about it and just did turn key. Soo we cleaned the points with a fine file he said since it ran when we put it away the dwell should not have been set off. Wile we were cleaning and turned the motor over he noticed play in the distributor. He said more than he's ever seen, and said this could set the dwell off. I happened to find a new point laying around my dad bought years ago ( just to let you know my dad pasted multiple years back and is the reason nothing runs) so were planning on putting it on tomarow. If this doesn't make it spark and we do have a dwell meter and everything is set correctly and it doesn't start it must be my distributor right. When I say this I mean bearings must be bad and while the motor is turning there to much slack and its setting the dwell off. Correct me if I'm wrong because I might not have my facts streight. Thanks ms grumpy and grey for the welcome and help. Ill try and upload some pics.
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