No Spark

[bkilby]

Hey guys. I have this '87 Wag sitting here that was running...then stopped. I was driving it around the block and all was fine then it died with no more starting. It cranks but no spark. Fuel is fine. The two wires going to the coil both have 12V going to them. I changed out the ignition box for another that was sitting around and even changed the coil. Still no spark.

What are the most common things to look for? It has the 360 with the Ford style distributor. I'm not familiar with this ignition setup.

[babywag]

pickup coil inside distributor or wires to pickup coil.
cheap easy to replace.
a good one will register ~600-900 ohms between two pickup wires.
many time the wires break internally from decades of flexing, can't always see it.
the duraspark style connectors are also crap.
couple minutes and some weatherpack connectors cure that.

[bkilby]

Thanks Tony. I'll look into that distributor and it's wiring. Having 12V going to both wires on the coil is normal?

[babywag]

I wouldn't worry about coil showing 12v on both sides.
It isn't abnormal to see 12v on both sides, in certain circumstances.

If you hook a test light to coil terminals, and crank the engine, does it pulsate? Or just stay lit?

[bkilby]

I wouldn't worry about coil showing 12v on both sides.
It isn't abnormal to see 12v on both sides, in certain circumstances.

If you hook a test light to coil terminals, and crank the engine, does it pulsate? Or just stay lit?

If you're talking about the two wires going to the coil, they both pulsate when cranking. I'm going to try testing the dizzy like you mentioned.

[babywag]

If light flashes the pickup is telling the coil to fire.
No spark from coil in this situation suggests a bad coil.

[bkilby]

Copy that. The pickup coil measured 506 ohms. We're fixing some wiring then we'll try again. If the coil is bad, that means I have 2 bad coils. Lol. Can I use a regular coil just to see if it starts or is that a bad idea?

[babywag]

yes regular 12v coil is fine
resistance wire in the circuit drops voltage when running
I've gotten a LOT of bad brand new ignition parts in recent years.
Had better luck with used OEM junkyard stuff...sigh

[bkilby]

When I tested those two wires, the battery was getting a little low so I charged it up for a bit. Now I test those two wires and they are not flickering but staying on steady. I'm guessing the pickup coil in the dizzy?

[babywag]

yes, probably.

[bkilby]

Ordered a new (rebuilt) dizzy from NAPA. $54.00. Should be here tomorrow. They wanted $42.00 just for the pickup coil. I'll see what happens then. I really hate to spend money on this rig as it's not mine and I'm just trying to help a friend sell it. It does have some cool stuff on it though.

[babywag]

swap on the old distributor gear to new one just to be safe.
standard sells a pickup ~$20 if you're not in a rush or have a parts house that sells their brand.

[bkilby]

Well the new dizzy didn’t help. I’ve tried 3 coils and no spark. I’ve tried 2 (condition unknown) ignition modules. What next? Lol.

[babywag]

wiring troubles?
too bad you're not closer. maybe this was reason it got parked?

[bkilby]

We?ve chased and checked all wires. Only issue I see is no resistor wire.
One coil tested bad, 2nd tested good. All indicators are pointing to the ignition
Module. I think...