Ok I hook a timing light up to my 85 TA 355 tpi and nada. I know my light works tried it on my truck after the TA. Also tried a friends timing light, nada. Changed my plug wire, nada. The batt terminals are new. It has worked on the car recently, only thing I have done I can think might do something is put an accel control module on it, also has an accel super coil less than a year old. Car runs ok, prob run better with the timing set.


Oh yah here is the big IF, when I hooked up the ICM I hooked up the VR sensor wires backwards. I asked accel if that would mess anything up and they said maybe but they couldnt tell w/o the car(yah lame answer). Far as I can tell from reading about the VR sensor hooking it up backwards just threw it 180 off and it ran crappy for a couple seconds and it should be just like droping the distrib in 180 off.

So short of pulling the coil and ICM off to have them tested any ideas?

 

ok control module tested and good

 

Well when you say its not working what exactly do you mean? I assume you mean that the light dosnt strobe? If thats the case assumeing you had the light installed properly ide say you have a missfire on the cylinder or a bad connection to the battery. For starters check your connection and try attaching the timeing light to a different cylinder just to see if it strobes.

 

Yup I meant strobe, tried new ground cable, batt is new. Checked connections on timing light many times, even hooked it up to the batt in my truck and tried with plug clamp wire on TA motor. Yah tried it on a diff plug wire too and looked for bad wires. Barrowed a meter gonna test coil and the pick-up coil tomarrow. Thanks anyway gonna keep trying stuff.

 

Well heres my other though. Im guessing your probably useing an inductive timeing light? The way they work is by picking up on the magnetic field created by current flowing through the spark plug wire. If for some reason there was low current (bad coil or something) its possable that it dosnt generate a large enough magnetic field to trip the timing light. Ide pull a plug wire and holding it with insulated plires and see how far you can get it to spark. to the chassis of the car. Should be atleast able to get it to jump 1/2". Try that out.

 

Ok tried a few things tore apart distrib cleaned, replaced pick-up coil and still nada. Then finally I went and got some junk cap i had in my pole barn for ages. Pulled the old rusty coil out and bam I got timing light car was popping and timing was jumping all over but it worked. So off to buy a new NEW coil other than accel. LOL so figures I shoulda known I run MSD on my drag car, read a few post bout accel super coils being junk new while trying to figure this out. Thought mine had not even 1000 miles couldn't be the prob, but it was. Still maybe I fried it hooking up the pick-up coil(vr sensor) backwards, not gonna take a chance I'll stick with msd.

Thanks for the help Rolling Thunder