Whichignition Box?
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Correct. I used to have some FMS wires that arced like a MOFO. Had one hell of a time finding the issue. One night... purely by mistake... Low and behold.
Cleaned up the ground strap at the back of the engine to firewall. Moved the location of the small headlight harness ground wires off the radiator support but the lights work fine. The ground point that was on the fenderwell by batt tray is on the inside of the fenderwell on bare metal
I'm running out of ideas here... You say you ran JR's checklist from top to bottom and couldn't find the problem. You say there's no arching. Your ignition worked before you moved stuff around. Could be anything from a pin that's not making contact to a 20+ year old broken wire somewhere, to something that's not grounded correctly.
You say the car won't start at all? Run the no start checklist if that's the case, and see what turns up. If you think the coil might be the cause then slave in another temporarily. You can also try to send power and ground directly to the coil from the battery to rule out saturation problems leading up to the coil.
If you've stabbed the dizzy recently, then restab it. It might not be sitting where you think it is.
You say the car won't start at all? Run the no start checklist if that's the case, and see what turns up. If you think the coil might be the cause then slave in another temporarily. You can also try to send power and ground directly to the coil from the battery to rule out saturation problems leading up to the coil.
If you've stabbed the dizzy recently, then restab it. It might not be sitting where you think it is.
I haven't taken out the distributor so I'll rule that out. I will follow the no start checklist from start to finish again and follow the wires from this diagram to look for any issues
View attachment 129293
View attachment 129293
now that I think of it, I noticed my check engine light does not come on during starting. I'll need to pull the cluster to see if perhaps the previous owner removed the bulb due to egr etc not being connected
LOL... Did you remember to plug the EEC back in and connect up the salt and pepper shakers?
Wait... I mean, that would be dumb! Nobody would ever forget something so simple (except me once... sat there and scratched my head for the better part of half an hour
).
Didn't unplug the EEC or mess with the main harness at all. I did check the salt and pepper shakers but will double check them again!
For my partial wire tuck I moved the harnesses from the top of the shock towers to go in through the back and into the inner fenders. EDIT- only did the drivers side as pass side was already done. I will go over all connections and trace the wires to see what's going on!
For my partial wire tuck I moved the harnesses from the top of the shock towers to go in through the back and into the inner fenders. EDIT- only did the drivers side as pass side was already done. I will go over all connections and trace the wires to see what's going on!
Update... picked up an hei spark testor and after bypassing aftermarket ignition i'm getting spark. Also picked up a noid light and getting injector pulses as well. Fuel pump primes and have 40 psi at the rail, so now i'm totally stumped. 
gearheadboy
15 Year Member
I just stopped by here and haven't read everything but...You have spark, you have injector pulse, you have fuel pressure, if you have compression, you have RUN. Now with that said pull a plug. Is it wet? If they got wet and it is flooded it will not start. Remember you may have not had spark with you aftermarket ignition long enough to foul the plugs. And second if it does dry one off enough to spark...BOOOOOOM! The next thought is how did you check spark? Some spark testers will spark with a very weak spark and not light a plug. Try the old screw driver method. You may not really have spark. Same how long has it been since it ran? Is the fuel crap? Spray a little carb cleaner in the throttle plate and see if it fires off of that. Keep me posted.Update... picked up an hei spark testor and after bypassing aftermarket ignition i'm getting spark. Also picked up a noid light and getting injector pulses as well. Fuel pump primes and have 40 psi at the rail, so now i'm totally stumped.
checked for spark using one of these HEI spark testers.
View attachment 129098
Confirmed spark at the coil wire where it attaches to the cap, and at several spark plug wires. I did pull the #5 plug as it is easiest to get to and it was wet with fuel. If they are are wet due to the aftermarket ignition failing, can I simply burn off the fuel one plug at a time off the car with a torch or are they done? I did install brand new correctly gapped plugs for the application just prior to first startup.
View attachment 129098
Confirmed spark at the coil wire where it attaches to the cap, and at several spark plug wires. I did pull the #5 plug as it is easiest to get to and it was wet with fuel. If they are are wet due to the aftermarket ignition failing, can I simply burn off the fuel one plug at a time off the car with a torch or are they done? I did install brand new correctly gapped plugs for the application just prior to first startup.
Hey I have one of those! My little clamp broke off and I was testing spark on an S10. I was like "No clamp, hm... My bare hand will be alright!"
Oh boy did I regret that. I got about four good jolts all the way from my finger tips to my elbow before I realized I was a dumb ass.
I'm getting good spark from it, so I guess I'll pull the plugs and burn off the raw fuel and see if she'll fire
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