I had the exact same issue with my 350 SBC in my Nova this weekend. Cranked and cranked with no spark and power to the coil. Left the car overnight, bought new module, coil, cap and rotor from the local AutoZone the next morning. Before taking it all apart, I turned key for $hits and giggles and it fired right up. My car also has a Delco cap & rotor. Never had this issue with any GM HEI in the past.
It certainly makes things hard to diagnose, I have started to use MSD caps and rotors etc because the terminals are brass where the AC Delco stuff is aluminum, I'm finding they will coat with a corrosion in just a few hundred miles and this will also make for a no spark issue , certainly any ignition parts made in China are very poor quality 😀
My dui ignition (working 17 yrs. now) has plastic screws holding the rotor on.. I believe the metal screws provide a grounding point for wayward voltage just a note to consider.
I've wondered about the DUI distributors, I don't know anyone around here that runs them and it's good to get feedback on someone that has very interesting I have considered a switch this sounds like the way to go thanks 😊
Me too. My chevelle would crank but no start. Ran some diagnostics...had 12V to the distributor, the coil was out of spec with 1.4 ohms, the module was 0 ohms across all connectors, and no spark at the spark plugs. Changed the module and coil..still no start. The cap and rotor will be changed next. All the parts are MSD. As an aside, the MSD failed right after it was installed in the new motor.
I recently bought three starter relay switches from O’Reilly’s. Three bad ones in a row. Fourth from NAPA worked. Of course after I replaced everything else in the circuit. Ha.
Sorry to hear, it seems to be a very common problem and can be frustrating when trying to diagnose a system when several new parts are bad , I run into this problem at work on a weekly basis, thank you for sharing I appreciate it
This has been a problem since at least the late 1970's. Maybe earlier. I went to vo-tech school from 1983-1985 in auto repair. The instructor I had for the ignition systems unit was a former GM mechanic who had run into this. And I worked in a GM dealership for several years after graduation. GM issued a technical bulletin on this. Back then the rotors had a tendency to burn right below the cap/rotor contact button. Often they would burn a hole through the rotor. But, the rotors would burn in other places. GM/ACDelco never fixed that problem with their rotors. I don't know why. Maybe it was too much of a money maker for them. Some switched to Standard Blue Streak, Accel, and other brands of rotors. I haven't heard whether this corrected the problem.
You are absolutely correct this has been a problem for a very long time, I am also in the automotive trade and see this far to often actually I think it's getting worse as more and more parts are manufactured in other countries today and quality takes a dive
Gary, I agree that too much manufacturing has moved out of the country so that companies can make bigger profit margins. There has also been too much consolidation in the parts industry as well. Too many mergers and buyouts of manufacturers. And nearly all of the parts stores are part of chains instead of being independent as they used to be where the owner(s) could pick what they wanted to stock and not. Unfortunately it's the same in most other industries as well.
Yes, I had to walk a couple of miles home one night. The next day, I could not find any problems (visually). As luck would have it, I tried another rotor and it worked. No more champion plugs (too much resistance was putting the heat on the rotor and it had burned an pin hole thru the rotor to ground).
I had the same problem i went to orillys it was running great shut it off when i left crank no start so i had another distribiter i replaced the modgual and the coil rotor cap tryed to start it the same crank no start. i even hot wired it from the battery and nothing would work so towed my elki home and orderd a brand new msd distrubiter so waiting for that. Im going to rewire the wire from the fuze box just to be sure. the new msd distributer puts out 86.000 volts instead of 50.000 so i will have to regap the plugs to 60.thousents and reset the timing for such a long duration. got my fingers crossed never had that happen to ever. too strange
Let me know how you make out cuz oddly enough this happened to me again two weeks ago so I made a switch to MSD cap and rotor only because the MSD stuff has brass terminals compared to the ac Delco aluminum, I noticed a white powder it hasn't happened since but not sure this cured it thanks for sharing 👍
You can tell by the looks of the old "OEM" part that it is cheaply made. Don't pay extra for OEM. It's made in the same factories that aftermarket parts are made. ACDelco doesn't make parts.
Yes I agree, many years ago AC Delco was a good quality go to part however for the last 10plus years all the brand names have moved manufacturing to other countries and AC Delco is one of many
@@garythegear No. AC Delco doesn't have manufacturing plants anywhere. That isn't how China works. Everything is owned by the government in China. US manufacturers strike deals with the government owned facilities to make parts for them. The Chinese plants just put the same parts in different boxes that have the US brand name on them and ship them out.
Thank Clinton for made in mexico.
I had the exact same issue with my 350 SBC in my Nova this weekend. Cranked and cranked with no spark and power to the coil. Left the car overnight, bought new module, coil, cap and rotor from the local AutoZone the next morning. Before taking it all apart, I turned key for $hits and giggles and it fired right up. My car also has a Delco cap & rotor. Never had this issue with any GM HEI in the past.
It certainly makes things hard to diagnose, I have started to use MSD caps and rotors etc because the terminals are brass where the AC Delco stuff is aluminum, I'm finding they will coat with a corrosion in just a few hundred miles and this will also make for a no spark issue , certainly any ignition parts made in China are very poor quality 😀
@@garythegear I’m going to go that route as well. Those caps and rotors used to last 10k miles. My set barely has 1000 miles on it.
Ya I'm pretty sure everything back in the day was made with brass terminals and Contacts but this new stuff is all beer can material
My dui ignition (working 17 yrs. now) has plastic screws holding the rotor on.. I believe the metal screws provide a grounding point for wayward voltage
just a note to consider.
I've wondered about the DUI distributors, I don't know anyone around here that runs them and it's good to get feedback on someone that has very interesting I have considered a switch this sounds like the way to go thanks 😊
Me too. My chevelle would crank but no start. Ran some diagnostics...had 12V to the distributor, the coil was out of spec with 1.4 ohms, the module was 0 ohms across all connectors, and no spark at the spark plugs. Changed the module and coil..still no start. The cap and rotor will be changed next. All the parts are MSD. As an aside, the MSD failed right after it was installed in the new motor.
intermitant electrical issues are the worst, please let me know how you make out , looks like you covered all the other possibilities
I recently bought three starter relay switches from O’Reilly’s. Three bad ones in a row. Fourth from NAPA worked. Of course after I replaced everything else in the circuit. Ha.
Sorry to hear, it seems to be a very common problem and can be frustrating when trying to diagnose a system when several new parts are bad , I run into this problem at work on a weekly basis, thank you for sharing I appreciate it
@@garythegear just bought a new coil, cap, rotor etc. for an 84 Grumman with Chevy 350. Still no spark. Maybe another bad new part?
Did you swap out the ignition module also? this is a great source of no spark problems
@@garythegear it was a bad module! 🙄
Wow there you go good job , kinda difficult to test those things glad you got it figured out
This has been a problem since at least the late 1970's. Maybe earlier. I went to vo-tech school from 1983-1985 in auto repair. The instructor I had for the ignition systems unit was a former GM mechanic who had run into this. And I worked in a GM dealership for several years after graduation. GM issued a technical bulletin on this.
Back then the rotors had a tendency to burn right below the cap/rotor contact button. Often they would burn a hole through the rotor. But, the rotors would burn in other places. GM/ACDelco never fixed that problem with their rotors. I don't know why. Maybe it was too much of a money maker for them.
Some switched to Standard Blue Streak, Accel, and other brands of rotors. I haven't heard whether this corrected the problem.
You are absolutely correct this has been a problem for a very long time, I am also in the automotive trade and see this far to often actually I think it's getting worse as more and more parts are manufactured in other countries today and quality takes a dive
Gary, I agree that too much manufacturing has moved out of the country so that companies can make bigger profit margins. There has also been too much consolidation in the parts industry as well. Too many mergers and buyouts of manufacturers. And nearly all of the parts stores are part of chains instead of being independent as they used to be where the owner(s) could pick what they wanted to stock and not. Unfortunately it's the same in most other industries as well.
Yes, I had to walk a couple of miles home one night. The next day, I could not find any problems (visually). As luck would have it, I tried another rotor and it worked. No more champion plugs (too much resistance was putting the heat on the rotor and it had burned an pin hole thru the rotor to ground).
This appears to be a way more common problem than I thought thanks for sharing 👍
Good vid man
Thanks
I had the same problem i went to orillys it was running great shut it off when i left crank no start so i had another distribiter i replaced the modgual and the coil rotor cap tryed to start it the same crank no start. i even hot wired it from the battery and nothing would work so towed my elki home and orderd a brand new msd distrubiter so waiting for that. Im going to rewire the wire from the fuze box just to be sure. the new msd distributer puts out 86.000 volts instead of 50.000 so i will have to regap the plugs to 60.thousents and reset the timing for such a long duration. got my fingers crossed never had that happen to ever. too strange
Let me know how you make out cuz oddly enough this happened to me again two weeks ago so I made a switch to MSD cap and rotor only because the MSD stuff has brass terminals compared to the ac Delco aluminum, I noticed a white powder it hasn't happened since but not sure this cured it thanks for sharing 👍
Standard HEI parts are still USA made. Part number for the module is lx301 and the pick up is lx302. Just saying.
If you Google standard ignition parts it says they are manufactured in Poland and the head office is in new York???just saying
My new standard pick-up, module and coil all say made in USA on the box. BUT the vacuum can I just bought said made in Mexico. So I hear ya.
@frankzito1660 ya I certainly wish there was more USA made products we all suffer with the quality and it will unfortunately get worse 😞
You can tell by the looks of the old "OEM" part that it is cheaply made. Don't pay extra for OEM. It's made in the same factories that aftermarket parts are made. ACDelco doesn't make parts.
Yes I agree, many years ago AC Delco was a good quality go to part however for the last 10plus years all the brand names have moved manufacturing to other countries and AC Delco is one of many
@@garythegear No. AC Delco doesn't have manufacturing plants anywhere. That isn't how China works. Everything is owned by the government in China. US manufacturers strike deals with the government owned facilities to make parts for them. The Chinese plants just put the same parts in different boxes that have the US brand name on them and ship them out.
I didn't realize that Steve but makes perfect sense, thanks for the info 👍