Hi everyone! First of all this site is great! I have much faith, it has been a great help in the past but once again I'm back with a problem. My 88 ta for the last two years has randomly not started and what I have been doing is unplugging the two plugs that go into the ICM in the dizzy a few times and plugging them back in and it would run again for another month or so. Lateley I have been doing this every two weeks and even more recently my car would stall while driving on the freeway or around town. Just for a second it would just die as if it were out of gas...I suspect it is related to the ICM issue maybe loosing spark. What I've been doing is just pulling over and doing the ol' in out trick with the icm plugs but this time it didn't work. Well I changed the ICM, ignition coil, cap and rotor, spark plugs, fuel injectors and fuel pump relay(just in-case). I have not tested for voltage going to the coil (pink wire right?) but I will. My car is stuck in another town. But I did check for spark with a tester. No plugs are getting spark. Could this be caused by the pick-up coil? I have never changed this but it is fairly inexpensive and I'm fairly poor. Is this a realistic possibility or highly unlikely. Thanks in advance.

I just decided at 2am that I should replace the entire distributor anyway, it is still the original distributor and I looking around underneath the cap it's pretty ugly in there rust etc...My question here is I was thinking of going with the MSD 8366 for $300 but there are also Rochester dizz's for $125. Large difference. Is it worth it to go with the MSD or does it make much difference? I have an MSD Coil and msd 6a. Thanks again for your help

 

Do you hear the fuel pump running for 2 seconds after you stop cranking?

 

I had a similar (not identical) problem with my '85 Camaro Z28. The 'pink and white wire' that connects to the coil was the problem and the conductivity of the wires had broken down causing no spark from the coil !
In my case the factory dizzy I took out prior to this problem and replaced with a Mallory Dual point dizzy. My point being that the 'pink and white wire' which were originally connected to the factory dizzy had to extended and attached to the mallory coil which in time lost spark and that was the cause. Two peices of wire and the car ran like a dream again.
Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for the tip mdz28. I would like to pick your brain a little more if I can. Aperion - I did not hear the fuel pump but I changed it about one year ago and have never really heard it much since it was changed. Not ruling out that it is not the pump but that is my most dreaded thing to replace. Does anyone know if I went with an In-Line, out of tank fuel pump (msd or something) can I just leave the old pump in tank? Today I put in a new dizzy. So now I have new coil, dizzy, control module, fuel pump relay (wich clicks when I turn the ignition to on for a few seconds and then clicks off. I think this is normal but I do not hear the pump going), cap and rotor are new, all fuses are fine. My pink and white wires are in pretty bad shape. Are you talking about the wire to the coil or the wire's from the coil to the ICM? When I got the car there was an MSD-6A in it and I took it out when I was having problems once for troubleshooting and never put it back in so the wires that were cut to connect to it I spliced them together with one of those twist on caps. one on red and one on pink both to and from the coil. I measured the voltage at the pink wire coming and going from the coil and multimeter says 12v both ways. I didn't have anyone to crank the engine and see what happens but I will tomorrow. Does anyone know what the wires at the fuel pump relay are and what voltages? I'm not sure my pump is coming on and would like to test it. The relay comes on for a few seconds when I turn the key to run but I want to be sure that there is voltage coming out of the relay to the fuel pump but I do not know wich wire it is. I am trying to remember but I know I saw Orange, pink, brown with white stripe, green with white stripe and perhaps black.

'Two peices of wire and the car ran like a dream again.'

Two peices of wire I assume you replaced the pink wire or white or both but from where to where? did you replace the wire all the way to the connector? if so, how?

Thanks again everyone.

one more thing...what i am trying to determine as far as the fuel pump goes is wether there is voltage going from the relay to the pump. If there is not than I know it is not the pump if there is than it is probably the pump/

 

could very well be the pickup coil. i replaced mine not too long ago and it was pretty near toast! definately helped it and its pretty easy to do! not too expensive either.

 

If the fuel pump primes when you turn the key, but doesn't run for 2 seconds after you stop cranking, then the ECM isn't getting reference pulses from the distributor, and it's most likely the pickup coil at this point.

 

Hi again,

The two wires (pink and white) were originally connected to the HEI OEM dizzy. I think these are ignition related wires and as I had removed the oem dizzy, I had to cut these 2 wires back a little and then extend the wires to reach my Mallory coil.
The wires are in a large loom (plastic serated tube), and if you stand drivers side, look to the lower right of the dizzy toward the bulkhead and you will see it. Near to the dizzy there is a branch out of the big loom and this is where I cut my wires back to, just above the intersection.
The wire I used to extend only lasted a few years and was obviously cheap stuff ! Anyway I had your problem, no spark at all. I tried another coil, plugs, leads etc. Then I tested those two wires and hey presto THAT was the problem. I would always now check for this and the 2 wires are crucial to sweet running of the spark system.
I wish I knew how to post pics, I could have put some on to show what and where I mean.
I am no expert but have ran my car for many years with great success, maintained and modified myself.
I saw you were asking how to check your fuel pump. Here is my crude yet effective way. Remove the supply pipe at the engine end as close to throttlebody or carb as you can, place the pipe into a clear container and switch on your ignition. If the pump is working it will pump into container !
Some pumps are extremely quiet and this is how I checked (it worked for me)
My car is completely different to many now and has NO computer or sensor's, is only battery, dizzy, plugs, fuel and timing to run which is fantastic generally. Gas mileage is 30 mpg on a run with cruise speed of approx 75 mph. Neither have I got a catalytic converter, gases run from headers to back box as one continuous pipe and the OEM back box is my only silencer (sounds good !)

 

Hi,

Just thought I would mention that the 'pink and white' wires had an OEM plug on the end originally that connected to a plug from the module in the HEI OEM dizzy.
As my car is running on an aftermarket and external coil, I cut the OEM plug off. The main point to watch for is that whether it is HEI or similar with module type coil or a stand alone (like my Mallory), the connections of these wires must be good, very good in fact to maintain an efficient spark system from the coil.
I would advise against the twist cap type wire connector you speak about and either solder the wires together and use shrink tubing to protect the joint, or a mechanical block with screws type and wrap the connecter block well with insulation tape. The better the connection the better the spark from your coil in any situation.

 

Well.....stuck......