Hello. I have a 1967 Camaro, put in a 454 from a 1983 RV with HEI distributor. Has been running fine. Now it won't start, NOT getting spark to plugs. Replaced Coil, Rotar, Module, Condenser, still no spark. Purchased NEW MSD HEI distributor and FIXED the problem. Drove it 10 miles turned it off. Now will not start, getting NO SPARK. Battery wire to distributor reading 12volts. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Check the dizzy cap for a crack. I had to take a Ford hammer (IE big) to the firewall on my '69 because the cap kept hitting the firewall on had runs and cracking it. That was with an Accel dual point in a 427 way back in the day,the cap on an HEI is even bigger.

 

Read MSD instructions. They may read to swap in a new 14 AWG wire for the ign power to HEI dist. HEI needs full battery power, not the OE resistive wire.
You can go to the fuse panel and add onto the IGN spade and tie back the OE cloth-covered wire.
Also, include the yellow wire from the R terminal on starter solenoid to get ign power in START position.

 

Thx Y2K,
I have checked the CAP for cracks and do not see any, I know they are hard to detect sometimes. I have about 1 inch between the cap and firewall. Not sure if the engine is torquing up enough to still get into the firewall when I fire on it hard. I did hear some clicking noise when firing hard that I thought was valve knock, so I backed down the timing from 12 degrees BTD to 10. This is far fetched but, could the plug wires be hitting the firewall and shorting out to cause a sparking noise and damaging the distributor?

Thx Everett#3390,
I can try the wiring changes you have recommended. I am wondering tho, since it started fine originally like I have wired it and ran for about 70 miles and all the engine break-in time and then failed, and then a new distributor worked for 20 miles and then failed, can the wiring you recommended possibly cause this?

Other trouble shooting, I have connected the distributor directly to the battery and held the ground wire close to the cap center probe and spark did occur. I attached a volt meter to the distributor BATT terminal wire and read 11.45 volts with key on and 9 volts while cranking engine. Not sure if any of this matters. As you can tell, I have lots to learn.

What do you think? Thanks for any more feed back.

 

Thanks for responding. I can't see any cracks in the CAP. I took the distributor out and connected the plus battery to the batt spade and held a ground wire from the battery close to the CAP center post and got an arc. Not sure if that means anything as I have a lot to learn. I am going to run a wire from the battery positive to the BATT connection on the CAP and try to start. Thought this might be a good test before attemting the wiring changes you recommended.

 

I took the distributor out and connected the plus battery to the batt spade and held a ground wire from the battery close to the CAP center post and got an arc. Not sure if that means anything as I have a lot to learn. I am going to run a wire from the battery positive to the BATT connection on the CAP and try to start. Thought this might be a good test before attemting the wiring changes you recommended.

 

Ensure when dist installed, its body has a good ground all the way back to neg post.

 

Thanks. Am I right to assume the ground runs from the distributor grounds from the bolt and bracket that tightens to the manifold that keeps it from turning through the engine to the alternator bracket where the ground cable from the battery connects?

 

In theory, yes, but with paint/rust, there may not be a path for completing the circuit.

 

Found my problem. The hot wire from the ignition switch to the distributor had a wire twisted around the factory horseshoe clip for a coil connection. It was all taped up and when I removed the tape it was frayed and intermittently connecting. I soldered it and now seems to have fixed my problem. I inherited the workmanship. Thanks for your feedback. I know this is a rookie mistake, but when I replaced the distributor the first time it fired right up. Guess my original distributor is ok. On to the next item. Thanks again. It was your ground suggestion that got me thinking. It is simple, takes positive and negative to get fire.... haha