fragmare

I was getting ready to adjust my ignition timing earlier today. I had the engine idling and and the timing light hooked up. I was attempting to make a good connection between the inductive wire and the #1 spark plug wire/plug. It kept grounding out on the valve cover so i disconnected it from the spark plug wire and as i was attempting to reattach it, the engine shut down. I tried to restart it and it just cranked. I immediately suspected I blew a fuse, so I checked all the fuses in the dash fuse box and the box under the hood and they're all intact. I checked to see if I have spark and there is no spark. What the hell happened? Did I just fry my distributor, rotor or cap? Should I be checking other fuses elsewhere? I resoldered a sketchy looking joint on my main relay yesterday and it cleared up a intermittent starting problem I was experiencing... is it possible that new solder joint coincidentally gave out while I was making this adjustment? This is my one and only mode of transportation, so ANY help or advice in troubleshooting would be appreciated tremendously!

Former User

Give more details about this^. What grounded out? Did you accidentally unplug a spark plug wire? Or are the plug wires arcing spark?

You most likely blew the coil inside the distributor.

fragmare

When I got in the car and started it up to idle it, I noticed it sounded like one cylinder was misfiring badly. I got out and took a look at the whole setup and noticed the inductive pick-up clip was arcing directly to the valve cover (and grounding out). I unclipped it, got zapped a little bit, and was attempting to reconnect it to the plug wire from a different angle so it wouldn't be arcing. That's about the time the engine shut off. Yea, certainly seems like it's the distributor that took the brunt of this. I don't have a voltmeter to check the in/out current of the dizzy, but the coil being blown makes perfect sense. Guess I know what I'm buying tomorrow.

Former User

This^ suggests that you need to replace not only the coil but also the plug wires. If the spark plugs, cap, and rotor are also old, replace them as well.

fragmare

Yea, I was thinking the same thing about the plug wires. I inspected the plug wire for a an open and didn't see anything that stood out, but that' doesn't mean there isn't one. The cap and rotor are both pretty new (2 months old or so) and still look to be in good shape. While I had the cap off the distributor a few minutes ago, i took that opportunity to clean off cap's connections with a dremel and the rotor brush with a little sandpaper. The plugs are even newer and are still in excellent condition. New plug wires and a new coil are a must tomorrow, though. I'll be hoofing it down to the autoparts store first thing. Btw, how do you get the rotor screw off without the thing stripping out? It seems to be torqued in there really tight. I'd almost rather it be one of those little 6mm hex bolts you find in a lot of other places on this car.

Former User

Try soaking overnight or a couple of hours in PB Blaster.

fragmare

Thanks for all the suggestions and tips on everything. I ended up getting the screw out. I hit it with AeroKroil and let it sit for a while, then hit it with an impact drill w/ phillips bit... came out fairly easily after that.

I tested the coil and, yea, it's blown. The distributor assembly is pretty new and still under warranty. I'll see if I can get it (or at least the coil) replaced tomorrow. If not, I'll just spring for a new coil. Again, thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

Former User