so like my post a while back, the dart still wont start. john (aka dadtruck) came and helped me put in my nos dist from OCPNW. still no spark. i have recently replaced the following trying to get it to start or general upgrade:
1. new bluestreak cap and mo 3000 rotor
2. nos distributor from OCPNW
3. new hei module properly grounded and greased
4. tried a different known to be good coil
5. new ignition switch
6. new starter relay

it had neutral safety switch problems, that is currently grounded. i have continuity in the fusible link. when i went to the hei i bypassed the resistor.
will crank and crank but no spark, volts at battery are 12, on hei module pin b is 10 v, pin c is 0 v, pin w and g both about 1 v it looks ike. coil 10 v across posts.
it was running and driving fine, i parked it, was inside for about 2 hours, went back out and wouldnt start. been sitting almost 3 weeks.
only guess i have now is spark plug wire from coil to dist, seems like that would give me some trouble first and not just go out and stay out after running. help greatly appreciated!

Pull the coil wire from the distributor cap and hold it 1/8" from the engine block. Crank the engine. If it doesn't spark, check the wire for continuity. If its suppression conductor, there should be 5-10K ohms per foot resistance. If its OK, go further up the line. Disconnect the coil wires and measure the winding resistances. Its wound as an autotransformer. Also check resistance from the winding to the coil case, which should be infinite. If you have access to a megohmmeter ("megger"), use it to check for winding insulation leakage. If the resistances are OK, the ignition module may have failed.

Ken

no spark there, tried a dif wire to the block and still nothing, new hei unit, not sure how to check that other stuff, what wire would cause this problem i wonder...going to michigan this weekend, i guess next step is to check all the ignition related wires, bleh, i love wiring but not really feeling like unwrapping all my wires, is that the next logical step?

Where are you drawing power for the HEI unit from? The easiest way to wire it up for a quick-and-dirty test is to attach the (+) feed for the HEI unit to the (+) feed for the coil and then make sure you have the (-) coil feed form the HEI hooked up the the (-) terminal on the coil.

Did you snip the little plastic nub off the back of the HEI unit to make sure that the back of it is touching the grounding surface?

my hei doesnt have the + or - terminals, i guess B is battery since thats the hottest one, - would be the other one on that side of the terminal? this isnt a new hei conversion, its been running hei for a couple years or so, it is properly grounded, problem came before swapped hei module and had been running same module with no problems...thanks for the suggestions though, and i will double check all the ground stuff just to be sure. dont think i have a megger, so back to being clueless on what to do.

anyone have any more ideas? my dart has been sitting for almost a month now and im completely clueless. i cant imagine something in the wiring just going back while sitting. i was driving it, parked it for 2 hours and now has no spark. im going to tinker a little more tonight, but really am feeling pretty bummed out about the whole situation. ive tried everything i can think of and had dadtruck out tinkering with me and still nothing. in short, HELP! (please)

Im not sure, maybe have someone check the voltage to all of the parts while cranking, and have you swapped the two distributor wires around to see if that helps.
Good luck
Dave

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81 Dodge D150
It looked easier in the book .

thanks for the ideas, on the first post in here i listed voltage with the key on, checked lots of other places and have voltage there too (both sides of ballast resistor (internally bypassed 3 years ago) both sides of the alt regulator, not getting spark from coil, so dist wires arent the problem. if the hei ones were reversed it would at least kick over though, thanks for the additional thoughts though!

I know you said the distributor is NOS, but have you popped the cap and checked to see if the rotor is turning?

-James

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yep, the old one was as well. i forgot to update, charlie s pmd me and talked me through some stuff, it would appear that in my frugality with wire i had lying around, (running the same color w same tracer bundled together) i switched terminals and probably fried the new hei unit, grabbing a new one and trying it this weekend...i wouldve bet almost anything i had them on there right, and i did have 12 v at the b terminal and nothing at c before, but somewhere in there they got switched apparently. hoping thats all it is. thanks all!

Check for continuity through the distributor's pickup coil. I had one of these fail on my W150. The FSM will list the nominal resistance value and tolerance. If the coil is open or shorted to ground, the ignition module won't get a triggering signal.

Ken

checking to make sure the dist works is on my list of things to do, it SHOULD be good because its NOS 80s from OCPNW. but like charlie said to me, it has been known to happen and is possible....thanks!

I just went throught he same problem..every thing was hooked up right but still no spark from the coil..It ended up being the distributor was out of adjustment. Not sure what its called but there is a screw that adjusts a pickup that the roter connects with. That was ajusted and it throws spark like crazy..

Test the spark with the distributor in your hand..hook it all up right and just spin the gear. you dont need the cap on just a wire from the coil to a ground. (You may not even need a wire mine would throw a spark all the way to my fender..bright blue and 2 inches long )

Try to adjust it so when you spin it slowwwwwww you still get spark..It worked for me

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Its so nice out side, I think I'll go lay under my car..