84 k5 wont start please help i am a noob

[mo]

other than heat, I'm not sure why they die. i got stranded by one failing on me not so long ago in the snow. had to leave my truck and go back into town and pick up another, swapped it out and it fired right up. Happened similar to your situation, but I was driving all afternoon, turned it off, started it up back up a little while later, it ran for about two minutes and died.

I've had one die in my camaro also. Cut out on me on the freeway. That one was definitely due to heat. Can't understand how the truck one died, it was like 25 degrees out when it went, and the truck had been sitting for a little while, so it shouldn't have been to hot in there.

Anyways, hope it works for ya.

 

[diesel4me]

coil ground strap??

Did you forget to put the metal ground strap dewhickey back in under the ignition coil??..or the carbon button and spring thing under the coil??..done that myself a few times,and I know better!..

If you have 12V at the red or pink HEI wire,that means its not the power your lacking,something in the distributor is wrong..

If you put a test light on the "Tach" terminal in the dist.cap,and ground the other end,then crank it over,if it flashes then the module and pick up coil are working..DO NOT CRANK IT MORE THAN 5 SECONDS!!..it can POP the module if you do!..this is a crude but effective "side of the road" test to see if the module and pick up are working..

Ignition modules can fail suddenly without warning--usually they fail from a voltage surge or spike,or just from old age, or they overheat..if you replace yours,be sure to clean where it sits in the distributor,and use the special silicone grease under it for heat transfer,or the new one will toast up in short order..

Perhaps the pick up coil died inside the base of the distributor--if so,you'll probably need help changing that,it requires pulling the distributor out,and dissasembling it completely on the bench..sometimes its difficult to do on an older one that has lots of miles,and buying a used or rebuilt one is easier,all you do is swap distributors..

 

[DomeD U]

Did you forget to put the metal ground strap dewhickey back in under the ignition coil??..or the carbon button and spring thing under the coil??..done that myself a few times,and I know better!..

the only ground that i put on was the little black wire that went to the bolt that holds down the coil in the cap. Would not hooking up the second ground cause the module to go out, or would it cause the pickup to go bad?



Diesel4me I am new to this forum but it does not take long to figure out who the experts are, thanks for helping me.

 

[diesel4me]

coil ground..

Some HEI's used a wire for ground to the coil,others had a twisted metal "strap" thing that hooked over one of the bolts holding the coil on..I haven't had an HEI cap off recently,so I'm a bit rusty,but I think the strap goes under the coil,but don't quote me on that..

Easy way to see if its grounded is to hook your test light to the + battery terminal and touch the light to the coil's metal frame--if the lamp lights you have a ground..and another problem elsewhere..

 

[DomeD U]

Some HEI's used a wire for ground to the coil,others had a twisted metal "strap" thing that hooked over one of the bolts holding the coil on..I haven't had an HEI cap off recently,so I'm a bit rusty,but I think the strap goes under the coil,but don't quote me on that..

Easy way to see if its grounded is to hook your test light to the + battery terminal and touch the light to the coil's metal frame--if the lamp lights you have a ground..and another problem elsewhere..

she is running now......

now it is time to set the timming and go have fun......

thanks all

 

[Craig Artzner]

If you put a test light on the "Tach" terminal in the dist.cap,and ground the other end,then crank it over,if it flashes then the module and pick up coil are working..DO NOT CRANK IT MORE THAN 5 SECONDS!!..it can POP the module if you do!..this is a crude but effective "side of the road" test to see if the module and pick up are working..

I just used this test to fix our '85 C10 that wouldn't start this morning. Replaced the module and it fired right up.

I wish diesel4me would join up here again. He is sorely missed.