After much troubleshooting come to realize that I have 12.47 volts at battery and only 6.1 volts at the ignition coil and at the ballast resistor. I am assuming something is wrong here..lol. Where should I start looking ? ignition switch ? bulkhead connector ? Car was fine the day before, drove home, parked it then no start his morning. Thanks in advance. Dave

6.1v on which connectors for the ballast? Check to see if you are getting source voltage to the blue wires on the ballast.

If not, then start probing back from the blue wires to see where you have 12V. The problem will be between that point and the ballast wires.

~THOR~

_________________
1984 D100 Shorty Custom
Certified Auto Appraiser - RevItUp Classic Appraisals
President - Cherry City Bombers CC
Part of Tyrde-Browne Racing

Another quick check / test... hot wire the car and see if it starts.
It is best to run your hot wire through the ballast resistor and not directly to the coil.
DD

Thank you for the reply, guys. Thor, you were correct; I was checking at the wrong side of the ballast ressistor. I will post back soon with what I find. I am startingto suspect I have a jumped timing chain more than anything else. Everything else electrically under the hood seems to be decent. Thanks again.

How many miles on the engine? Or is it one of those where the mileage may as well be 99999.9. If it has 120k or more, it's defnitely in need of a chain, especially if the one on there is a nice Nylon piece from '74.

Does it sound like it is cranking properly? If the timing chain is off, it won't jive quite right.

A quick check for your timing chain.... Take the dizzy cap off. While looking at the rotor, rotate the crank back and forth via fan (with your hand pressing on the belt to tension it) and if the chain is stretched, the rotor will take a bit of crank turning before it moves. If you can turn the crank anymore than 4-5 degrees before the rotor moves, your chain (and cam sprocket) is hosed.

Good luck!


~THOR~

_________________
1984 D100 Shorty Custom
Certified Auto Appraiser - RevItUp Classic Appraisals
President - Cherry City Bombers CC
Part of Tyrde-Browne Racing

The car has 102,000 miles on it originally the best I can tell. It was an ex- department of forestry car. Is it likely that I could still get 98-100 psi out of a cylinder if the timing chain was jumped ?? I have yet to find true TDC on #1 because the harmonic balancer ring has slipped so badly.
Trying to diagnose this thing while still working 12 hour days. LOL> at least i have a job i guess.

Ordinarily I wouldn't suggest this so early in your troubleshooting, but you may save a lot of time finding top dead center by removing the valve cover gasket and then turning the crank in any of the usual ways. Pull all the plugs to make it easy to turn over. When, on number one, the rocker arms are loose and neither is going up or down, you are at one of two possible top dead centers. Then look over at your damper and see if you are close to zero or 180 degrees out. You can fritter away a day easy trying to establish TDC if you are not used to doing it and may wonder if you really have it. No doubt at all with the rocker arm tale. And while I don't do cold lash settings, you will be able to see if you are anywhere near 10 and 20, or if you are way out.

rock
'64d100

If you are on compression stroke, the rockers will be loose. If they are tight when at TDC, then you are on the end of exhaust/intake stroke. The only way you could get them loose at both TDCs, is for the rockers to be WAY loose... hopefully they aren't that loose. You would definitely be hearing them if they were.

Bring it as close to TDC when the rockers are loose, and then make a new mark on the damper.... hopefully it will behave long enough for you to get that beast rollin.

~THOR~

_________________
1984 D100 Shorty Custom
Certified Auto Appraiser - RevItUp Classic Appraisals
President - Cherry City Bombers CC
Part of Tyrde-Browne Racing

you CANT establish true TDC by looking at your rockers, they are driven by the timing chain. if the chain is worn you are wasting your time. use a piston stop and a degree wheel.

_________________
I've been calling it as i see it for my entire life and that's not about to change. Take it or leave it.

I agree. That is the most accurate way to do it. If you have the time and resources, that is what I would recommend, however, if you are't pulling the head, using the rockers as a reference to which TDC you are at, will at least get you in the ballpark, and you can use the "Stick a ratchet handle in the spark plug hole" trick.

It may not be perfect, it may not be exact, however, it will make the car run, and further tuning can be done from there.

~THOR~

_________________
1984 D100 Shorty Custom
Certified Auto Appraiser - RevItUp Classic Appraisals
President - Cherry City Bombers CC
Part of Tyrde-Browne Racing

I had your ignition issue kind of. I drove the car home and the next morning I went out and no start. It would then start run rough and quit. My case, ignition control box went south.

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it's like a vw, sounds like a million miles an hour but goes really slow. (for now)

time and resources? How long does it take and how much does it cost to buy or fabricate a piston stop and degree wheel. weld a friggin bolt onto an old spark plug and make a degree wheel out of cardboard before making a permanent mark on your crank pulley based on a stretched timing chain!

if youve jumped a tooth on your timing chain your pulley mark wont be worth a damn. you might as well time it by ear.

_________________
I've been calling it as i see it for my entire life and that's not about to change. Take it or leave it.

Well hopefully next week I will get back out to the garage and actually determine TDC. I'm going to use a piece of brass or aluminum rod so I don't damage anything. Not sure how to would make a piston stop? how long of a bolt would I weld onto the spark plug shell ?
I have to do this w/o the help of the mark on the balancer/ pulley cause the balancer has slipped and is way inaccurate. My timing mark is like 35 degrees off TDC. LOL..

using a piece of brass or other item inserted into the sparkplug hole wont help you because it can easily shift out of position. if you cut off the head of a 5/16" bolt and knock the electrode off a sparkplug you can braze it or weld it onto the end. perhaps even a welding shop or garage can do this for you for free. this way you can thread it into the sparkplug hole and run it down, and it won't move. i have not made one specifically for a slant but it does not have to be precise... just long enough to stop it before the top of the stroke and do this repeatably at a certain position. remove the gasket and sparkplug tube, and run the sparkplug down and torque it, that way if the bolt has runout it will still stop at the same spot each time. or, true it up on a lathe.

if your balancer mark has slipped simply make your mark on the inner hub, and check that against your pulley mark periodically. you can carefully transfer it over to the edge with paint if you have a bolt in the crank with a center punch mark, or make a fixture that will fit snug in the hole with a straightedge to transfer the mark outward. when the paint mark slips, scratch it off and make a new one using the permanent mark on the hub.

_________________
I've been calling it as i see it for my entire life and that's not about to change. Take it or leave it.

steponmebbbboom,

You missed the question. The guy didn't ask how to find TRUE TDC, he was trying to get a car to start. All slants I have ever seen will start and run from 10 before to 10 after TDC. Rather than waste time finding an electric problem that may or may not be, it would be most helpful to him to know if his engine was in a timing range where it had a prayer of starting, then trace electric. I neither stated nor implied TRUE TDC will be found by rockers.

As to whether it would take more time to buy a degree wheel and piston stop, then locate true TDC, as opposed to pulling a valve cover, rotating the engine, then knowing if you were 10 or 50 degrees off.. hard to say. Even if a parts store were next door to walk over to, I think a valve cover could be pulled and a crank rotated before the walk next door, the purchase, and walk back could be completed, and no doubt at less initial cost. He is troubleshooting, not tuning. Once running, however roughly, he could later work on borrowing or buying the tools to find TRUE TDC, a good wideband AF unit, and some dyno time. Hence my suggestion.

rock
'64d100