Can you take some pictures of the distributor and cap?

 

Thanks redbull-1. It's getting dark now and about to rain for two or three days straight. As soon as i can get any better pics, i will.

-js

 

This video should make it easy to see where you plug the coil into the cap. The red spark plug wire that is plugged in the opposite face as the other four wires is the one that is unplugged in your pictures.

The camera in the video is set up from above the passenger headlight.

 

Thanks PAhonda.

I'm afraid that i don't see that particular configuration in my car. I've looked and felt all around the distributor, and just cannot find anything whatsoever where something else might go to be plugged in. The four spark plug wires converge on one vertical face of it, but there just isn't anything else there, or on any other face of the distributor/cap, as far as i can tell.

I appreciate these efforts, and will check again, and also see if i can get some better pics.

Thanks again.
-js

 

Do you know if someone swapped the distributor before?

Although I don't see the whole cap from your pictures, part of the distributor cap looks similar to the EX model with the internal coil. If someone swapped the distributor with one with the internal coil (inside the distributor), then that external ignition coil wire would not be needed.

When the car started, it kept running, right?

 

Hi guys.

Something just occurred to me. Among a handful of other work, i had the distributor replaced 3 or 4 years ago. Small shop, guy who knows a guy kind of thing. So i don't have the box or the brand, or anything. But it's definitely different from what used to be in there and what's supposed to be in there, so this helps explain why what i'm looking at in there doesn't match any of the many diagrams and pics and schematics i've looked at, nor any of the things you guys have been kind enough to share here. It also.....maybe?....might explain why that coil is hanging down there unconnected in the first place. But how in the heck did i ever get the car to start a time or two?

So now i've got to ID this thing. Would it help if i took some better and closer pics? Or is there a limited number of possible replacements for my particular car?

Thanks very much for your help so far.

-js

 

Hi redbull-1

For some reason the site keeps logging me out, and i've only just seen this post right now. You are all over it! Indeed, the distributor was replaced (and forgotten about).

But now i guess this opens a whole nother can of worms, as the car still won't start. The one time a couple weeks ago that i got it to start, after basically playing with the way the unconnected coil fell, i only took it around the block and it ran very sluggishly with very little acceleration. Which was basically the problem i'd had before, leading to the distributor replacement.
Also, it was hotter than heck that day, which is something that the car doesn't ever seem to like (stallouts, etc.)

A week prior to that, which was the first time i'd tried it in about two years, was with the new battery and when a friend played with the unconnected coil, leading to a full start.....and, after a couple stall outs and with increased gas, it did keep running. Overjoyed, i sat there in the driveway and let it run for a few minutes, but the next time i tried it a day or two later, it won't crank.

Welp, i guess that's kind of where things are right now. It would probably be a good idea to find out for sure if that's the EX distributor that's in there now. I mean, just because i can't find any post or other thing to connect to doesn't mean there isn't anything there, but it sure seems that way to me. Should i take some more pics?

Many thanks,
-js

 

Hello -

Operating on the assumption that the replaced distributor is one with an internal coil, i'm looking at other things....though i don't really know what i'm looking for. Again, the car cranks, but no fire.

I took off the air filter cover and sprayed some ether for 2-3 seconds down around the intake. By the way, the bottom side of the filter itself looked pretty bad. Dingy tan/brown all around, with a decent amount of grit on and in between the pleats. I brushed it out and fished a lot of grit and plant matter out of there with a screwdriver.

Question 1: I'm pretty sure, given how crappy it looked, that i could use a new air filter, but...is a dirty one something that would keep the car from starting?

I then put the filter back in and sprayed a couple of seconds worth of ether around the edges of the filter, screwed the cap back down, and tried to start the car, but it still won't fire.

Question 2: Can i safely assume at this point that it's not a fuel issue, and that i should be looking at spark?

The tank, which had been kept pretty much bone-dry for months as the car sat, has been half-filled with about seven gallons of 87 octane.

Are there more easy diagnostics i can/should do about fuel, or is it time to move on to spark?

Thanks,
-js

 

I've seen cars that start with really REALLY dirty air filters. Restrict high-speed performance, but they start. Get a new one, but most likely that isn't the problem.

You sprayed starting-ether in there, so I'm voting for a spark problem.