Pulled my passenger side valve cover off to adjust a valve that was ticking a little.Started the car.It ran for 30 seconds and died.I realized I hadnt put the plug wires back on cause they were in the way to get the valve cover off.Put them on and car still want start.Turns over but still want crank.Double check plug wires and theyre right.Pull the plugs I can get to from the top and they are not fouled.Car still will not start.Some wires from the distributer and coil were kinda in the way but i cant find anything dissconected excebt for one two pronged plug that had a bunch of dirt on it kike it hadnt been hooked up for a long time.I couldnt find anything it could connect to.Any ideas?Thanks guys

 

Well, first we're going to need a picture something of this disconnected plug.
Did you try an inline spark tester? It would be very helpful to see if you have spark.

 

try your plug wires to see if you're getting a spark, if not check the wire on the distributor and make sure it's getting 12v with the key on. if you have spark, it's probably in the fuel/elec system (fuel pump)
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you took the words outta my mouth toehead lol

 

I dont think I`m getting spark.I`m not sure how to do an inline spark test but i did hold a screwdriver next to the end of yhe plug wires and saw no spark.I disconnected the msd and hooked it up stock and no difference.Pulled all wires cap and rotter which are all brand new and everything lookrd fine hooked everything up again and checked and triple checked with no change.I think I`m getting furl cause when I try to crank it i get a slight gas smell and fuel pump is priming.I`ll get yall A picture of that plug but the guy who built the engine said he`s pretty sure it was to some of my smog stuff that we deleted.Problem is I moved after the car was finished and a tow to the shop would be like $150.00 or so and I`m already strapped cause my wife is in school and not working,so I`ve been learning a bit out of necessity,even though i wanted to learn,this sucks

 

sounds 2 me that u fried ur ignition module.....

 

heres a try at a pic of that plug.What could have fried my ignition module.

 

one more.

 

I can't make out any wire colors out of the pictures. What colors are those two wires? Make sure you look at the whole circumference of each wire, they might have a thin stripe.

Lou

 

can check for spark by putting the plug wire on an extra spark plug and grounding it on the engine while someone cranks it over a few times and you look at the plug for a spark

 

did you check the vacuum line to your fuel reg?

 

IMO, a loose vacuum line wouldn't prevent starting. Even on the FPR. During cranking, there isn't much vacuum in the intake anyway.

Lou

 

I dont think vacume is the problem.I bought a test light.Should i check for 12v from the coil or to the coil or both?One wire is white and the other is black with a red stripe.

 

The coil has to have two connectors, both with a pink and white wires. The pink wire has to show 12V with the key on. The white wire is the grounding/tach signal. Make sure these two connectors are on right and tight. Also doublecheck the connector on the back of the distributor. If any of these are loose, it might cause a no-spark condition.

If you successfuly measure 12V on the pink coil wire, put an analog voltmeter on the white wire and try to crank. You should see the needle sweep back and forth. If not, you might have a problem with the distributor.

Lou

 

Im wondering if my spark module is fried.Im gonna check for 12v tomarrow after work

 

I do know that my coil FRIED once when the rotor popped of in the distributor when i was on the highway.

 

The roter and cap are fine only like 3 weeks old but i did check them just to be sure.Coil is only about 6 or 8 weeks old.I`ll find out if thats the problem tomarrow but i doubt it

 

well I think I got spark to the coil wiyh the key on.This damn test light I bought may not be working.I tried grounding it on several sources and holding it to the pink wires and the light doesnt come on,but I do get a good spark from the wire when I touch it.I`m gonna have to take this one back and also buy a voltmeter.

 

To replace the spark moodule do I have to remove the distributer?It says so in the chilton manual but it looks like I could do it without removing the whole distributer.I`ve done some searching and think I`ve seen others with TPI doing it while still on the car.The spark module is the kinda U or horseshoe shaped thing with the 7 or 8 pins sticking out of it right?

 

Its not my ignition module.I put anew one on a min. agowith no change.I even redid it to make sure i didnt forget anything.Any body got anyother ideas.Ground strap is on and I see no other wires loose.The fuel pump is priming.Could it be ecm related?

 

i am also having just about the exact same problem and i haven't quite figured it out yet. did you say you had an msd box? i have also got one of those. you said you hook up the ignition up the stock way and i also would like to do that just my car already had the msd box when i bought it and i never saw it hooked up stock. how would you do that? sorry to kinda jack your thread but if i figure it out soon i will post back up on here.

 

That loose plug appears to be the one that goes to the smog pump. That sounds like what happened when I fogot to hook up my MAP sensor once.

EDIT: A spark tester can be had for just a few dollars from the auto store, if you have good park at all cyl, your fiing order is wrong.

 

It doesnt appesr I`m getting spark to any off the cylinders or from the coil.It appears I do have power to the coil.I`m going to hook my stock coil as soon as I have time.Also the guy who built my engine labled all the wires and the cap so its pretty much idiot proof which is a good thing for me but I have double and triple checked it.Cammed91,I`m not sure if the wires on the 91 are the same color or if you have the in-cap or externally mounted coil,mine is the latter.Two pink and two white wires going to coil.Do you have the 6al or digital 6.On my digital 6 I have an orange and a black wire going to the coil wires I cant remember to which ones.I just made some jumper wires and keep them in my car incase anything ever goes wrong with my box.My engine builder suggested it cause he had problems with the older msd boxes.I`ll look tomarrow and pm you.Or you could call or go to the msd website and see if you could find the wireing diagram for your application.I have to refer to my instruction book every time I mess with that thing.

 

yea i have the external mounted coil and a 6al. where do you hook your jumper wires to if you do have a problem?

 

I put my stock coil back on and the car fired up on the first try,but its running like s***.It wont idle at all,engine surges up and down.Rpm`s jump up and down and it dies after a couple of minutes.Cranked it up again and its the same but if i give it a little gas it will hold steady and doesnt seem to miss but as soon as i let of the gas it runs like crap again.It almost backfires and the exhaust sputters and pops.It almost dies then comes back up over and over again.WHAT NOW!?[QUOTE]yea i have the external mounted coil and a 6al. where do you hook your jumper wires to if you do have a problem?[QUOTE]
Yesterday 11:12 PM
Cammed91,the orange wire from the msd box goes to both pinks on the coil.The black wire from the box goes to bothwhites on the coil.The red wire from the box should hook to both pinks that were cut from the coil.The white from the box should go to both whites cut from the coil.I just put connectres on two wires and plug the into the wires coming from the coil and plug them into the same color wires that were cut from the coil and are hooked to the red and white wires from the box.Be careful you dont want that box to shock you.You want soon forget it if it does.Make sure you cover the wires you dissconect from the box so you dont short anything out.Also I checked out the website for MSD and you can go on there and download the instructions for whichever product you have.Goodluck.

 

Anybody got any ideas?Think it could be the TPS?????Anybody?

 

You can measure the voltage on the TPS. Just turn the key on (no need to start the engine). One wire would read 5V, the other one is ground and the last wire shoud read cca 0.5V. Do a search for the proper voltage spec, I'm sure you'll find it here.

Hope this helps.
Lou

 

Well i figured it out.After I put the stock coil on,I Put the old ignition module back on and fired right up and ran fine.I still havent gotten around to adjusting that valve that started this whole process but I`ll get to it just glad to get this figured out.Gonna take this new IM back.Thanks for yall`s help.Toehead you where right it was my coil.

 

i got a new ignition module and that still didn't help. i have also bought new a coil, cap and rotor, plugs. i also still have the msd hooked up and i was just thinking about taking it off but i wasn't sure how to hook it up after i had it off. would i need to get a different coil. right now i have the msd blaster gm coil. the pink wires would go where and the white wires would go where?
thanks

 

You should have two pink wires and 2 white wires comeing from your coil connection.ORIGINALLY,those wires ran straight to the coil.Now, they are diverted to the box.find where they are and just dissconect them from the wires coming from the box and hook them straight into the same colored wires on the coil.It wouldnt hurt to put all that other stuff on there as well if the old stuff has been on there a while or is original.The coil is so easy to change it wouldnt hurt to change it but a stock GM coil will work or a msd one.I even got one off a broke down 4.3 v-6 blazer the last time I had one go out untill I could afford a new one and had no problems.