Need Help, no spark

[RestoCreations]

Originally Posted by FWB

not to knock your methods.....but how are you determining there is no spark. if its just because it won't start with the timing 20 deg retard...that may be an issue

There is spark to the coil wire. There is no spark to the plugs, as detected by installing a spark tester, which has a bulb that lights up when spark is present. I have also installed a plug and grounded it to see if spark is present at the plug. Still no spark.

The timing is no longer retarded 20 degrees at start up. That was something i tried initially, as it was an option on the box and the car was knocking at start up. That setting had no effect when i tried to activate it. I left it in that mode for several weeks, but finally set it back to the normal setting. I probably should not have even brought it up because it just added a level of confusion, but it seemed somewhat pertinent since it did not appear to function.

BTW, the distributor is set at TDC. Trust me, it is not a simple issues such as that. Fuel pressure is good, battery charge is good, Plug wires are correct, grounds are excellent and i even added more just to see, etc and so on. There is obviously no way to check the box to see if it is defective, so that is what i am going with. I think the mode for selecting 4-6-8 cylinders etc. is screwed.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by RestoCreations

There is spark to the coil wire. There is no spark to the plugs,

If I am reading this right, and when you pull the coil wire out from the middle of the distributor cap and hold it close to the block and crank the engine and you see a spark, and then you plug it back in the cap and take a wire off a plug and do the same thing and see NO spark, then the problem is the rotor and or ball at the top of the distributor cap that touches the rotor. Replace the cap and rotor and bend the rotor prong up to make a nice contact on the little ball.