firing up

[scy135]

I need help my 74 Vega won't fire up I took a spark plug out and there's no spark. there was a broken wire from the back of my distributor And a broken wire on the negative terminal on my coil. I tried to splice a piece of wire to reconnect them. Are they supposed to be connected?

[dadhad1]

What's the 'other' wire?
What is your set up?
Have pics or can you explain?

The 'other' wire maybe for your tach.
Your coil needs to have a GOOD healthy 12V to it. Good ground and good positive connections.
Put a meter on the + & - with key on and see what you're getting at the coil.
Also, polarity is critical. If the polarity is backwards, at times it will run but throw your timing way off.
Make sure your main feed wire from the top of the coil to top of dist cap has good integrity as well.

Mike

[scy135]

i have the original 140 I4 engine in it still. i was told that the broken wire behind the dizzy goes to the negative post on the coil. but i told him that it still wont start and so he told me to wire the + and - post directly to the + and - on the battery and i tried it but still nothing im not getting any spark at all i took one of the plugs out to see if its sparking and nothing. plus the coil got REALLY hot so i stopped and disconnected it. the car just cranks and cranks i just dont know what going wrong. i put new cap and rotor new wires and spark plugs maybe the dizzy is bad?

[dadhad1]

Isolate isolate isolate.
I looked at the wiring diagram and there does appear to be a - wire from the coil to dist. try this next...
did you verify you're getting 12V to the coil?
With the known good 12V to the coil, pull the high voltage feed wire off the center of the dist, while other side connected to the coil, hold the boot end removed from dist near good chassis ground and have a buddy turn the motor over. (I like to wear thick gloves or oven mitts for this test as the voltage will set you back a step or 2 if your hands are in the way).
If you get spark there and not from a same type test from a spark plug boot, your dist would be the likely cause. If you get no spark from the coil, change out the coil.

Do you have a Service Manual for your car? I actually have one for a 74. If you want, I can make copies of the applicable troubleshooting pages if you can't solve the issue from this and I can email to you.
PM me your email if you want, but it sounds like you have a little more rough troubleshooting first.

Let me know.

Mike

[cosvega76]

Does this engine still have the old-school points distributor in it? If so, that wire from the distributor absolutely has to go to the negative side of the coil, it's the connection between the points and the coil. What are the points gapped at? With the rubbing block of the points on the peak of the distributor cam, you should be able to just fit a .016" feeler gauge between the two contacts of the points.

There should be a forked connector with two wires attached to it that goes to the positive side of the coil. It should have about 6-8 volts on it with the key in the "on" position.


Chuck

[SeniorSavage]

Here's the WD for that fellas.

cheers.

[SeniorSavage]

also the complete one in pdf form.

cheers.

[scy135]

im not sure about the points if it has points i didnt check ill have to take the cap off again later today and check it when i did the cap and rotor the rotor just popped in and that was it. maybe i got a bad coil and ill have to get another one. but for now i have work so ill give it a go when im off in a few hours thanks a lot peace for now =)

[scy135]

I'm getting 12 volts on both the posts on my coil is that good?

[cosvega76]

Yup, it means the wiring to the coil and the coil are probably good, but either the points are open or the wire is broken between the coil and the distributor/points.

Chuck

[scy135]

The wrote is broken so maybe I'll try to splice in another piece of wire and as for the points how do they look like and where are they?

[cosvega76]

See if you can view this image:

http://www.rockauto.com/getimage/getima ... 418-01.jpg

In the upper right hand photo, the point set is the part at the 3 o'clock position with the two wires going to it. The part at the 11 o'clock position is the condenser.


Chuck

[scy135]

ok cool so hopefully it isnt a bad dizzy i want to try and set the points but the thing is i dont know how to set them

[cosvega76]

With the distributor cap and rotor removed, rotate the engine by hand until the rubbing block on the point set is situated on the peak of one of the cam lobes of the distributor. Loosen slightly the screw holding the points in place. You want it loose enough to be able to move it, but tight enough for them to hold the position.

There is a slot in both the point set and the plate that it is screwed to. Use a straight-blade screwdriver in the slot and twist to move the stationary point closer or further away from the moveable one. Use a .016" feeler gauge and fit it squarely between the point contacts, adjusting the screwdriver until you don't have any slop in between and the contacts don't move apart when you slide the feeler gauge in between them.

Then tighten the screw and check to see that your setting hasn't moved.

If you have a dwell meter available, I can cover that procedure next.


Chuck

[scy135]

Ok so I found out my ground wire was messed up cuz I wasn't getting any current on it. So I replaced it and now I am. I set the points to the .016 setting I'm still not getting any spark. Bad dizzy?