Earlier this evening, my dad and I went in my '88 Camaro to go and pick up my brother's car from the A/C shop. I try to start it, the engine turns over, but it won't start. It wouldn't even try to start, even if I put the gas in. Sounded like it wasn't getting any spark, so we pulled a plug wire off, put a spark plug in it, grounded the plug to the block and, sure enough, there was no spark. This is after I drove it only hours earlier, and there was no sign of a problem whatsoever.

Anyways, I'm still sort of new to working on cars (I've only driven for less than a year), so I'm not totally sure how to go about this. I will say that, a few months back, I ended up replacing the coil, plugs, wires, rotor, and distributor cap because the plastic on one side of the coil had melted off, causing an arc between the exposed coil and the valve cover. After I changed all of that, it's been fine. It seems to me now that there's some problem in the ignition system again, but I don't know where. I did get the new coil a few months ago from AutoZone, and I really question the quality of their parts sometimes. But before I break down and just buy a new coil, is there any troubleshooting that I can do between the electrical system and the coil? Is the coil on a fuse?

Any suggestions are appreciated; thanks!

(P.S. -- There are several wires going into the coil, and of course the one terminal on the top that goes to the distributor. Is that terminal the *only* lead on the coil with high-voltage? After seeing one of those things produce a ~1" arc with a valve cover doesn't really make me want to get electrocuted! )

 

Since everything else is basically new, sound a little like your ignition module cooked. They pretty much go with no warning at all. Before taking the dist. apart for that though, make sure with the key on (ready to start), there is +12v on the thick pink(pretty sure it's pink) on the coil.

Ignition module

 

Okay, I just went outside to try to see if my car would start--just for kicks. Turn the key, and it starts right up. What the heck?

Is it possible that the ignition module could still be the culprit, and mabye it's just intermittently bad?

 

I couldn't check if this part number is still in use but for your 1988 2.8L V6, the GM # is 1987466 for the ignition module. I tried to check it on www.gmpartsdirect.com but their site seems to be down right now which is weird. It's cheaper to get the ignition module than to buy a whole new distributor, especially if nothing else is wrong on it. I know AC Delco no longer makes that distributor for our cars, so you have to find another manufacturer if you wanted a whole new distributor. Some companies like Mallory make a V6 distributor if you want to pay $300, but then again that is also for a higher performance distributor. I just checked on www.partsamerica.com that is Advance Auto Parts and a bunch of other Western US parts website. They have the AC Delco ignition module for $59.99, part #D1943A. However, I would check gmpartsdirect first, they usually sell things cheaper. Good luck, hopefully it's the module.

 

Here is a picture of the module.