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No spark issue

Twainrider

New member
I'm trying to figure out a no spark issue on a 1980 115 Chrysler. I've looked up the diagnostic procedures at CDI and looked through other posts here, but I have a few questions that keep nagging me. I've listed the diagnostic points that I have questions about below.

Disconnect all kill wires AT THE PACK.
  1. Which are the kill wires? I'm guessing one of them is the white wire, but I'd like to confirm that. It would have to be disconnected at the terminal block since it's hardwired at the pack. Is this correct?
5. Connect a spark gap tester to the high tension lead coming from the ignition coil and set it to approximately 7/16". If it fires when you crank the engine over, there is a problem in the distributor cap, rotor button or spark plug wires.

Neither one of my gap testers will fit onto the coil wire. How is this supposed to be done?


3. Connect a DC voltmeter to the white/black wire (while it is connected to the distributor) and rotate the engine. There should be some fluctuation in the meter reading. If the reading is high or low, and fails to move up and down, there is a problem inside the distributor.

I get a reading of 12.5 volts on the white/black striped wire as the flywheel goes past TDC and I have constant power on the blue wire with key on at the distributor. This seems to check out.

4. Connect a DC voltmeter to the blue wire, then disconnect the white/black wire and with the key switch turned on, strike the white/black wire against engine ground. The unit should fire each time.

When I strike the white/black wire against the ground on the motor with the key on, I don't get a spark. Although it does show voltage on the meter. Does this confirm the CD unit is bad?
 
Okay, I am getting spark on the white/black wire at the distributor when I touch ground. I guess I didn't have the key on when I tried it before.
 
So after testing this, that and the other for several days, I decided to try to test for spark again. And suddenly I now have spark! No idea why though. Maybe corrosion on terminals that I removed. Oh well, I'll take it as a win
 
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