TheSamba.com :: View topic - Need help please, stranded on I-57 Update: No longer stranded

Sat Nov 11, 2017 12:32 pm

So, she just stopped running.
I think it could be my distributor or cap and/or rotor

If I put my timing light lead on the coil wire, I get strobe, but if I put it on any of the spark plug wires, I get no strobe.

What else can I look for? What else can I do? I am 200 miles North of Memphis.

Sat Nov 11, 2017 12:57 pm

Most likely the rotor inside the distributor has gone bad or the top is not making contact with the center of the cap. Make sure the cap is on solid. The fact you have spark at the center wire shows that the distributor is turning. It is also possible that the center wire is not all the way in to the distributor. You might gently see if it comes out of the distributor center and if the end is still on it. If the end has fallen off cut a 1/4 inch off the end to carefully expose the center core, and try putting the end back on. If the cap is on solid then you can check to see if the center of the cap on the inside is stuck back up, or if the center of the rotor is a style the spring clip can be raised a little. Can you have someone bring you a replacement rotor that goes inside the distributor if it is broken?

Based on your description it appears the problem is somewhere between where the end of the center wire goes into the cap and the tip of the rotor where the spark jumps to the plugs. You may also find a long carbon line or debris on the inside of the cap that is shunting the spark from the center of the coil to ground. When you say you have a strobe I am assuming you have an inductive light on the center wire and this is not a light bulb or something on the green wire.

Sat Nov 11, 2017 1:01 pm

gintaras wrote: So, she just stopped running.
I think it could be my distributor or cap and/or rotor

If I put my timing light lead on the coil wire, I get strobe, but if I put it on any of the spark plug wires, I get no strobe.

What else can I look for? What else can I do? I am 200 miles North of Memphis.

Think about this....your timing light shows you are getting a pulse of voltage from the coil...so your points are working...but check the gap anyway and make sure the clamp has not slipped on the distributor.

So the voltage pulse is not jumping to the spark plug wire posts.

Check to make sure that the carbon rotor brush in the center of the cap...has not broken off, cracked or popped out.

Check and clean the rotor and posts inside of the cap.

Check the wires to your condenser for fraying or cracking.

What tools and parts do you have? Ray

Sat Nov 11, 2017 1:06 pm

Thanks for the replies, this is a '79 with fuel injection, coil and distributor, no points.

I don;t have anyone that could bring me a rotor, I have cleaned it, the contacts in the cap are definitely a little rough, I tried raising the rotor ever so slightly and got a bit of strobe from my timing light when the pickup was on one of the wires, but that did not last long.

Sat Nov 11, 2017 1:09 pm

can you put a piece of paper wadded up under the rotor to raise it just a little without raising it so far that the key slips, then limp to a store to get a new cap and rotor?

Sat Nov 11, 2017 1:11 pm

I've been trying that, and nobody has a rotor, only a cap. I have a bicycle, I might ride the 12 miles to Autozone for the cap and give it a shot.

Sat Nov 11, 2017 2:04 pm

what city are you in?

What happens when you raise the rotor? Do you get a flash on the other wires? Do you have a pencil where you could rub lots of pencil lead from the center of the rotor to the brass at the tip? Not saying it will work, it might if the rotor is what burned up.

Sat Nov 11, 2017 2:06 pm

SGKent wrote: what city are you in?

What happens when you raise the rotor? Do you get a flash on the other wires? Do you have a pencil where you could rub lots of pencil lead from the center of the rotor to the brass at the tip? Not saying it will work, it might if the rotor is what burned up.

I'm in BFE, Goreville, IL

I am about to try the pencil trick right now..

Sat Nov 11, 2017 2:13 pm

California emissions or Federal? Does it have the hall effect distributor?

Sat Nov 11, 2017 2:20 pm

if the pencil trick partially works you could shave some pencil lead and mix it with glue or nail polish then paint a couple coats on the top and let it dry. That might get you a few miles down the road. Paducah KY is 44.1 miles and they have some parts stores open until 9pm. Benton IL is 33 miles north on I-57 and they have some parts stores open until 9pm also. you might also be able to nail polish or super glue one or two stands of wire to the top of the rotor from brass to brass. but if it comes loose it could cause lots of problems for the solid state ignition. Remember that rotor is traveling at a pretty good clip.

Sat Nov 11, 2017 2:37 pm

SGKent wrote: California emissions or Federal? Does it have the hall effect distributor?

California, hall effect, yes

I am getting a tow to Paducah, KY, 45 miles South. Advanced Auto says they have the rotor in stock.

Sat Nov 11, 2017 2:45 pm

gintaras wrote: SGKent wrote: California emissions or Federal? Does it have the hall effect distributor?

California, hall effect, yes

I am getting a tow to Paducah, KY, 45 miles South. Advanced Auto says they have the rotor in stock.

Perfect - keep us posted. Replace the cap too and the center wire from the coil to the cap just to be safe. Simply removing the cap and bending that wire could cause it to look like the rotor is at fault. If you have an ohm meter you can measure between the end of the wire at the coil, and the center post inside the cap to make sure there is a connection. Then you can measure from the tip of the rotor to the center to see if it is burned out.

Sat Nov 11, 2017 2:51 pm

gintaras wrote: SGKent wrote: California emissions or Federal? Does it have the hall effect distributor?

California, hall effect, yes

I am getting a tow to Paducah, KY, 45 miles South. Advanced Auto says they have the rotor in stock.

Buy the cap too. Call ahead and have them get one for you or call the other parts stores.

Sat Nov 11, 2017 4:50 pm

NO DICE!

I put on the new cap and rotor, and I STILL have no spark, it must be the dizzy itself, or the coil, but I tested the coil and it is at 1.1 ohm, it makes my timing light strobe when I put the induction pickup on the coil wire to the cap, but I get NO strobe from any of the spark plug wires.

SO, is there anything else I can check? I bought the dizzy from keift en klok (sp) 2 years ago

I am now stuck in Paducah, KY

Sat Nov 11, 2017 4:52 pm

did you replace the center coil wire with a new one? They sell it by the foot and the connectors that go on the end.

Sat Nov 11, 2017 4:57 pm

SGKent wrote: did you replace the center coil wire with a new one? They sell it by the foot and the connectors that go on the end.

I did not, but I know that it has continuity, tested with a multimeter

Sat Nov 11, 2017 5:00 pm

So hold it near the shroud and see if you get a good spark when cranking. Personally I would buy a lead and replace it - It could be shorting out to ground thru the sheath. It is almost physically impossible for all 4 spark plugs to go bad at the exact same instant.

Sat Nov 11, 2017 5:09 pm

SGKent wrote: So hold it near the shroud and see if you get a good spark when cranking. Personally I would buy a lead and replace it - It could be shorting out to ground thru the sheath. It is almost physically impossible for all 4 spark plugs to go bad at the exact same instant.

I'll be doing that in the AM.. We took a break and went to a brewery and got some food, it's been a rough afternoon..

Sat Nov 11, 2017 7:40 pm

could be the coil

Sat Nov 11, 2017 9:54 pm

It could be many things including the main coil wire grounding out and that is why fiddling with it changes things. You may be getting a strobe on that wire because it is going from the coil straight to ground. Good luck.