| Re: [GMCnet] no spark on HEI [message #323728 is a reply to message #323702] |
Sun, 10 September 2017 18:53  |
mrgmc3
Messages: 210
Registered: September 2013
Location: W Washington
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An item on the HEI distributor that will leave you with no spark is the pickup coil. It is the circular 8 pointed "ring" that slips over the distributor shaft and resides beneath the centrifugal advance weights and screws to the advance plate. It's job is to time each cylinder firing by sending a pulse as the distributor shaft passes each "point" on the coil. It has two bare wires that connect it to the module and the wires flex as the advance plate moves back and forth. The wires will ultimately fatigue and break, providing no timing signal and no spark.
You can reach the wires with the cap off. You can tug lightly with 2 fingers. If one is disconected that is your problem. If one comes loose in your hand then you found it before it was going to break and strand you. You must remove the distributor to change the pickup coil. You'll need to use a punch to push out the roll pin that holds the distributor gear to the shaft. Lift the shaft out and swap out the coil.
I carry a spare ignition module, ignition coil and pickup coil in my GMC at all times.
Chris Geils - Twin Cities / W Wa
1978 26' Kingsley w/ very few mods; PD9040, aux trans cooler, one repaint in stock colors, R134a, Al rad, Alcoas, 54k mi
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