No Vroom Vroom!

[ubarw]

Hey all... My '80 seaswirl with the GMC engine, omc drive, has been sitting for some time now. Whe I parked it, it wouldnt start, seemingly no spark. I replaced the coil, cap, rotor, and points. <br /><br />One question I seem to recall from when I worked on it last, is whether I have the coil hooked up right. Theres a wire running from what I think is a resistor to the coil on the positive side. I am not sure if this is right.<br /><br />I am going to drain the gas, since its likely very stale, and Dribble a little Mystery oil into 4 each cylinder before I try to turn it over. The engine only has 305 hours on it, so its worth the work. <br /><br />Does anyone have any thoughts on where to start?<br /><br />Thanks!

 

[Don S]

Re: No Vroom Vroom!

Talk about having to read between the lines to find anything out........<br />Ok, you have a 1980, OMC, with a 4cyl Chevy (probably a 140) with standard ignition (points) with stale gas.<br />You are going to dribble some Mystery oil into the cylinders.....Why? Will the engine turn over? Do you have spark if it does turn over? <br />Does the starter engage and spin the engine, can you turn it by hand, are you getting gas out of the accelerator pump holes in the carb?<br />Do you have a service manual? It's hard to work on anything if you don't know what your setting the new stuff at (Points, timing, etc.)

 

[ubarw]

Re: No Vroom Vroom!

I am sorry if I wasnt too clear. When I parked it, it wasnt running. At that time I couldnt find a spark. I tried a flash of starting fluid down the throat, and no pop. At that time, it would turn fine, but no fire. <br /><br />My Mystery oil treat ment is so that when it turns over, hopefully it will protect it for a bit. I looked at turning it over by hand today, but I couldnt see where to put the socket.<br /><br />I have a service manual, and tried to figure out what wire go where from the diagram in the manual, but it is so hard to follow.<br /><br />Right now the battery is on the charger, and we will give it a spin tomorrow.

 

[arboatdr]

Re: No Vroom Vroom!

welcome ubarw! Start with a volt meter at the coil 12v to the positive side with the key on. If no voltage work your way back to the key switch with your volt meter and find the open. If you do have voltage at the coil and still no spark take the distrib cap off and inspect the points. The points should be clean and shiney with little or no corrosion. If they are not try cleaning them with an emory board and check fire agian. You will need to replace theppoints after filing them for sure. Set the dwell with a dwell meter to 28 - 32degrees. If you do not know how to do so take it to your local dealer for a relativly simple fix. Be sure to put a timing light on the engine after replacing points since dwell change can effect timing. Good luck and keep posting.

 

[waterone1@aol.com]

Re: No Vroom Vroom!

Ubarw, I thought I was the only one using Mystery oil...LOL. I agree, if an engine has been sitting a while, there is nothing wrong with putting a little bit of thin oil in the combustion chamber to lube the rings and such. Whether it does anything or not, it just makes you feel better about those rings sliding up a dry cylinder wall.<br />About your ignition problem, lets take the dist. cap, rotor, wires and such out of the equation for a minute, if you put a known good spark plug or a spark tester on the "hot lead" (secondary) of coil and of course ground the casing to the engine block and crank the engine...do you get spark ? If so, look at the rotor, cap, wires and such. If not, get a volt meter or test light, ground the negative to the block and put the positive on the coil primary positive.....turn on the key....do you have 12V or close....if yes, that part is fine....if no....look at the key switch and positive wiring. If you are still troubleshooting, this is where I prefer a DVM (digital volt meter) over a test light, connect one side of the dvm or test light to the positive battery terminal and the other side to the negative terminal of the coil......now crank over the engine...you should see the test light dimly flash or the meter pulse, as you intermitantly stop cranking you should see the test light glow brightly or the meter go up to 12V. If this does not happen, you have a problem with the points or the ground connection of the points.