Not turining over *help please*
 

My 71 Chrysler Newport(383, 2 barrel) last Thursday decided not to run anymore. It ran beautifly just a few days prior to. I've discovered that it must be electrical because it's getting fuel Ive changed, the plugs, distributor cap, rotor,points(at .020 gap), balast resistor, and now the coil but im still not getting spark. theres another box I see on the fire wall it looks like an electronic ignition switch but I wasnt aware the 71 had an electronic switch could that be part of the issue.

I noticed the last year that the radio cuts out around corners so im assuming not grounded or it's shorting out.... how plausable is that an issue for not starting?

It only has original 33000m on the engine it's been babyed from the previouse and myself the second owner of the car usually only gets out for moparfest newhamburg.

A cheap digital multi-meter is your best friend. http://www.mymopar.com/downloads/1971/71ChryslerA.JPG http://www.mymopar.com/downloads/1971/71ChryslerB.JPG Here's a schematic for the beast. Recheck ALL connections. It dont take much to stop 12v.

This is going to sound stupid but have you checked your battery terminal connections ?

Nope, I bet I know what it is. The control box MUST have a solid ground. Make sure the screws are run in and out and the contact area is clean. I've seen it several times.

make sure too that your ground is good from the engine to the firewall and engine to frame. On the full framed cars {like yours} the ground wires become more important.

On my J10 I had a problem with it not running well. Turned out to be a grounding issue. Maybe ground everything back to the battery cable in series.

if he changed points i don't think he has electronic ignition.

that point gap sounds a bit small, anyone have specs.?

run a jumper from the pos. battery terminal to the hot lead on the coil. if that doesn't help put a jumper cable (heavy) from the battery neg. terminal to a heavy bracket (alternator) and report back.

yes you are correct, no electronic ign for 71 chrysler. 72, maybe for the Imperial. Anywho, the gap should be set at .019 (.020 close enuf) but the best way to set the points is with a dwell meter at as close as you can get to 30 degrees dwell.
BTW, have you checked the ballast resistor. {still think you got some ground problems though}. BTW, does it turn over at all or just not fire?

Ive changed the ballast resistor , the battery connections are good, it turns over just not firing. I'm going to check the control box ground and the main ground tonight. Thanks so much for all the advice and tips they will sure be useful! thanks for the schematics scott they will help a bunch!

let us know how it turns out

this control box, where would it be on the fire wall? I thought this one box was the control box but i discovered it's not in series with the ballast resistor? I get juice from posi from coil to ground.... but no juice from posi from battery to negative to coil!

And you wont find power from the pos of the battery to the neg of the coil cause the neg of the coil is only grounded when the points fire. That causes the collapse of the magnetic field that fires the coil. Most folks have a problem getting their head around this, but the points are on the neg side of the circuit. Eveyone is used to switching the hot wire, but on dc you can switch a negative wire also. Ya dig? Is your dizzy clamp on and tight?

this might sound stupid but did you replace the condenser when you replaced the points my dad had a car that would not run cause of this.

I dont want to be rude, but, you do know how to gap the points, right? Yes the gap is 19 or so, but you did measure the gap while the dist cam was on a high lobe? I dont know your skill level so forgive me if I sound like Captain Obvious.

If you have an ignition box, I think it will be on the driver's side of the fire wall. Should look someting like this (i've got the mopar performance orange box).

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...0/DSC01359.jpg

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...0/DSC01358.jpg

I set the points at the highest point with a feeler gauge , it's the same what I do with my old Honda ct 70 bike. I'll have to do some more phoning around because everywhere i called they said my car doesn't have condensers and it was frustrating because I could clearly see them. theirs one under the distributor cap, and it appearance to be another one coming off the positive prong of the coil to ground. thanks for posting the pictures, mine is more in the middle of the car, is it weird that it's wired not in series with the coil or ballast ? Some one I knew told me to try for connection from posi of battery to negative of coil and i was confused why and then more confused when it didn't work so thanks so much for clearing that up for me.


thank you all so much for all the help and advice I feel really stumped right now... is it possible it's the entire distributor? timing chain?

pos of battery to (hot) pos of coil.

this eliminates the possibility of not getting power anywhere along the line.

a jumper to the neg bat to the block eliminates any ground issues.

with the points closed, if you disconnect the negative (dist) wire from the coil and briefly touch and remove that wire, you should get a spark from the coil wire.

oh, we're assuming the distributor rotor is pointing in the right direction to #1 at TDC. and is turning when the engine is cranked. someone already mentioned that the dist hold down grounds the distributor. if it's loose, you will rarely get a good connection from the shaft.

answer those questions/tests and you'll find your problem.

With my car off, I'm getting a light from negative to ground and positive to ground from my coil, also from positive from battery to neg on coil I get light. As soon as I turn my car on to (on) position my light shuts off from positive battery to negative coil. I have also check wire from coil to distributor to ground and I get no spark. whats the best way to check to see if theirs power coming out of the coil to the distributor?

see the above post and give me those answers. forget your other tests.

when the engine cranks the the rotor spins, if that's what you mean by it turning. In the right direction #1 at TDC? when you said spark from coil wire do you mean the wire I'm touching or the wire going out from coil to distributor?

positive battery to positive coil, negative from battery to block. I touched the negative coil side with a circuit tester and I get light.

yes, yes and yes!

heres the part number from my 383 its a 66 but i think its the same engine and dist. its at autozone
Part Number:
AL1531

She's running
 

Thank you all very much for all your help and advice, I very much doubt I would have gotten her running without all the great help!

so, what did you find?

SO???? what was it?????

3x on the issue

I guess when I set the point gap the first time it wasn't 100% on the highest point, it was a thou off and bam it started right up!

ok, thanks for the reply.

:D

thanks a bunch