I'll start with how it happened. I was coming back from the junk yard(got two mint hood socks for $10), and when I got about a mile from my house the car started missing real bad. It continued to do this for about another half mile and died completely. It would not start again after it died, and no SES light or any codes from the ECM. When I finally got the car to my house we began to investigate. We suspested something in the ignition system because of the way it died. So my brother put a screw driver into the #1 plug wire to check for spark, and there was no spark. The car has a new cap and rotor, new plug wires, new plugs, a new coil , and a MSD 6AL which I disconnected. After taking off the 6AL I used an old coil pack that was still good before I put the GM Blaster coil in just to make sure it wasn't the coil, still no spark. We then thought of the possibility that the timing chain had broken, so we took off the valve covers to see if the rocker arms were moving and they were. So the whole engine is cranking but no spark. The only things that weren't new was the ignition module and the distributor. So I went to the parts store and got both. We put the new distributor in the car with the new coil. After all that, it still wouldn't spark for us. I'm really frustrated at this point as my mechanical knowledge is not JEDI status. So the car is turning over strong, we've checked all the things I have stated and it still won't start and we're not getting any spark. You guys know your stuff, so any suggestions or help in the right direction would be very appreciated. Thank you in advance,
Jason

 

did you check for 12v power at the coil?there are two connectors on the stock coil...one is power 12v the other is the coil control wiring from the module.with the key on check for 12v power at the coil ...be sure you have 12v+ and - at the grey connector.Did you test the coil wire running to the distributor?Check for coil output at the coil not the distributor...if you have spark at coil but not dist might be bad cap or rotor.

 

Thanks, I will test for 12V tonight after work. I'll post the results tonight. Any other suggestions are still more than appreciated.

 

I checked the coil for 12V and it was there. So I went out and got a new cap and rotor even though my old one only had 7000 miles on it. When I came home and put it on the car fired right up but ran like crap. So we thought we found the problem and figured that maybe we put the distributor in a couple of tooths off. So we pulled it, got it to TDC and put the dist. back in so the rotor was pointing to #1. Put it back together and got nothing like originally. We are getting spark now to the plugs but it just won't fire up. What confuses me is that it fired up when the dist. was in the wrong position. We're going to make sure it's right again tonight. What else could be causing this to happen?Maybe the timing chain or balancer moved? Maybe it's the computer? But there are no codes. I really need help on this. I don't want to have to take it to a shop. Even with my slight knowledge they always seem to rip me off. Any more help would be great. I know you guys know this stuff. Thanks again, Jason.

 

were you on the compression stroke on no1 cylinder?...you might be 180 degrees off.....try putting the dist back in 180 degees from where it is now if you didn't check if you were on the comp stroke