Hello All..I'm new to the forum and hope y'all can help with an issue thats driving me crazy. I bought a 79 Berlinetta for my sons 16th birthday. 350 5.7 auto, pretty much still stock. she had sat up for a while so we had the problems that you would expect. Rebuilt the tranny (350), replaced the radiator, brakes, all hoses and belts, tune up, complete brake system, steering system, etc etc etc. The ignition system has a new distributor, coil, cap and rotor. The problems is that the car will not fire internittently with no reliable pattern. Sometime upon the first crank of the day, sometime at night after a day of perfect operation and on a few occasions has simply died going down the road. I've replaced the already new coil and module. Ran perfect for 2 days and then would not start. A screwdriver in the plug wire showed no spark. It's interesting to note that after the car sits for a period of time (usually about an hour, it starts right back up. Any ideas or suggestions??
Thanks in advance for any assistance.

 

sure sounds like a ignition modual, maybe a bad wire, bad connection or (although i really doubt it) a coil. need to try and isolate it a little more. is it getting juice to the coil when there is no spark? does it have the coil on the distributor, if so the **** between the coil and cap can go to pieces.

 

It does have 12 volts to the coil when there is no spark at the plug. Thanks

 

The coil is the one that sits on the cap

 

well u got juice to the coil so its between the coil and the distributor. check the carbon **** between the coil and the dist. only other thing i can think of is the ignition modual. it should be inside the distributor. i think u said u changed it. u may have got a bad one. i keep a spare in the car and on the netter. check the ground and wireing to the dist.

 

Thanks for your help. I did change the module (rather the mechanic did) and the coil as well. Both had been installed in June. I will run down the wiring and see if I can find a weak spot. When you say "carbon ****" are you referring to the little electrode with the spring on it? If so, thats in good shape. I appreciate the pointers and will let you know what happens. Thanks again!

 

To update......Changed the distributor about two weeks ago and no problems since....guess I got a bad one. Thanks for the tips!