no spark, tried lots please help

[Curtis240Z]

ooOOOoo, so the black wire (#3 in first post) that is connected to the negative side of the coil currently is not supposed to be there. weird. from all of the posts that i have read there has always been a discussion about having that one attached (BW & GW to + of coil, and B to -).

where does that black wire go then?

The GW and long BW go to each side of the ballast resistor (white ceramic block).

The short BW goes to the + of the coil (along with the coil condenser).

The black wire goes to the the - of the coil. If you trace the other end of the black wire it should go directly to the spade terminal of the distributor. (You have a non-OEM yellow wire there now.)

Edited December 28, 2009 by Curtis240Z

[crazyoctopus]

yellow wire is going to the oil pressure sensor, or a sensor of some type at the front of the engine.

Now it makes all the sense in the world about that short black wire. right now it is not connected to anything then, and therefore not be giving me a ground. the brown wire heading toward the engine is connected to the dizzy condenser.

so if i remove the short black wire from the (-) side of the coil and the hard line ground to the strut tower, but keep the brown wire heading to the dizzy condenser i should be getting spark! sweet, i'll get that done first thing in the morn and let you know the details.

Thanks Curtis for the explanation!

Edited December 28, 2009 by crazyoctopus

[Curtis240Z]

Okay so the yellow wire is probably going to the water temperature sensor located below the thermostat housing (which connects to the upper radiator hose)

[crazyoctopus]

CURTIS YOU ARE MY SAVIOR!

the brass connection on the distributor wasn't conducive, so i replaced it with one that i made and BOOM it ran.

http://img19.yfrog.com/i/151.mp4/

there is some smoke coming out, of what i think, is the head and block. which means that i need to probably replace the head gasket, but that shouldnt be too much of a hastle!

thank you again curtis, that explanation of how the connections worked solved everything. when you are in southern california, let me know and your drinks are on me!

[Curtis240Z]

The color of smoke will tell you what your problem is:

White smoke that dissapates = water = water vapor if your car was sitting around for a long time OR radiator water from a blown head gasket or cracked head.

Blue smoke = engine oil from the piston rings or valve seals.

Black smoke = excessive rich fuel mixture.

[crazyoctopus]

it is the white smoke that dissipates so it is water. it could very well be just water vapor since it was sitting for a year in a garage, and outside these last 10 days. It would be great if it was just that, but knowing my luck it is a head gasket.

it was only coming out of the drivers side, and it seemed like it was coming out from underneath the intake manifold so that is why i am thinking just a head gasket. I am going to try to find its exact location tomorrow when it is light out.

if it was a blown head gasket, is there any harm in running it for a bit until I locate the point of vapor?

[Curtis240Z]

If it is radiator water, the level in the radiator will drop over time. Another test: before you start the car after letting it sit overnight, remove all the spark plugs. Then have someone crank over the engine while you watch all the spark plug holes. If you see an initial spray of water vapor come out of one of the cylinders, then BAD NEWS you need to pull the head.

If it is a blown gasket or cracked head, running it for awhile won't harm it as long as you keep your radiator level up so as not to cook the engine.

Edited December 29, 2009 by Curtis240Z

[crazyoctopus]

thanks again curtis!

[crazyoctopus]

i pulled all the plugs and put a piece of paper towel on the open holes (masking tape to hold it in place), let it crank for a few rounds and checked to see fi there was water on the paper towel. Nope!

i moved the heat shield so that i could look at the bottom of the intake manifold, and the smog bung on the exhaust manifold waited to see where the vapor was coming from

so then i plugged it all back in and let it run for a bit to see what would happen.

after letting it warm up for a bit the vapor was gone! turns out it was just water that was sitting on the engine. she is purring like a kitten now and in a few hours or so i am goign to install a new temp sensor so I can see hot hot she is!