I just love learning all kinds of things.
when I posted this problem I only said what I did and nothing more without feeding into or guessing .... whata shoulda mighta done.
Big Thanks for the replies gentlemen, ALL ways a never ending learning process.
OK
I removed the distributor and checked the 3 wires from the plug to the control module and internal condenser plastic block. these three wires go to an internal ''plastic block'' that has a condenser on one end and two connectors on the other end.
> One wire goes to the condenser [or noise suppressor?] via a small tab that when screwed down, grounds the condenser to the distributor body.
> The other two wires go to the connection that goes to the control module.
> these are all FIXED connections with coded wire connectors ie G =green, W = white as written on the control module to correspond to the colored whres from the pick up. the other side of the control module is fixed connectors and can not be swapped.
I removed the plastic block and put my VOM to 'ohms sound' mode, always check the VOM for it's function first, I heard that i had continuity. When I checked all three wires I moves the 3 plug end and plastic block around thus moving all the wires around. The continuity check was good on all three wires. I separated the condenser from the tab and checked that NO connection was present when I touched each of the wires at the 3 plug end to the ground tab. I then checked that none of the three wires at the 3 plug end made connection to the condenser [or noise suppressor?] housing itself being separated from the tab. So that tells me that the condenser is NOT connected or shorted to any of the wires through some fault. Just for cause I removed each wire solderless connector [one at a time ] and scraped the metal to show a good clean metal making a solid connection when it was plugged back into the coil assy. double checked the solderless connector tab so it would not back out of the plastic plug holder when it was plugged back in. I did this for ALL solderless wire connectors. I also scrapped the area where the screw touches the condenser [or noise suppressor?] hold down and just under the condenser on the distributor body so when the screw is tight it makes a good solid contact. I took the distributor to my work place mechanic and we checked the VDC of the pickup. the faster we spun the distributor shaft the voltage increased. The shaft spins freely so no gum was detected on the shaft bushings. The two wires that are connected to the pickup that plug into the control module look good. No black arc marks, no power flash residue, no missing insulation on any of the 5 wires i inspected, all were flexible and showed no signs of cracked insulation w/ tight connectors. so far this distributer looks to be in good shape.
she would NOT start
after I replaced the distributor back into the engine block and plugged all the wires back together.
Tomorrow I'll have Caroline crank the engine over again and i'll double check for spark to ground.
With the key turned to ''on position'' I have 12.0vdc at the battery and a slight voltage drop at the HEI red coil wire. I'll scrap the battery and starter terminals /lugs tomorrow after she gets a good trickle charge tonight cause she's been sitting so long.
Then I'll retest the coil ........................ again.
Did i miss anything ??
Jim
