[1980SteelBeast]

Not really! I'm not to that point YET!
So today I'm driving and all of a sudden,the car dies. As any guy knows,I had some choice words on a hot day in Dallas. I got stranded,had to be pushed into a parking lot before I could see what happened.
I tried to get it to start with no luck. I figured maybe the carb wasn't getting fuel so I get some fuel from the fuel line to pour in the carb. Nothing,it just cranks without firing. Thought it was fuel related.
I called Donny and he shows up with starting fluid and it cranks.(Odd)
I get to my house,it fires up without a problem,I shoot a burnout vid,no problem so I go to McDonalds to get a snack and in the drive thru line,it shuts off.
I called Donny,he comes over for the second time in less than 3 hours and he see's there's no spark from the wires. Long story short,he called a tow truck for me to get home which is 3 mins away from my house.
So,what could be going on? Could the distributor be playing out,bad coil,rotor?:dontknow:
I think I may have eliminated the fuel delivery problem...:dontknow:
HELP before I get fed up and buy a Ford!:let_it_all_out:

 

[gwgdog66]

I had what sounds like the same thing happen to me in my 87 GMC Sierra Classic. The ignition Module in the distributor went out.

 

[cees klumper]

If there's no spark it could be as simple as a loose wire or a short in the ignition circuit someplace. Check the whole circuit I suppose. New components are usually cheap (coil, points, wires, plugs) so inexpensive to eliminate as possible culprits. You may want to have two sets of fresh plugs handy; I have found even brand new plugs can go bad surprisingly easily when the engine floods due to no spark. Good luck and when this is behind you you will again love the beast. At least you have Donny the Master Mechanic behind you!

 

[gilby]

I had what sounds like the same thing happen to me in my 87 GMC Sierra Classic. The ignition Module in the distributor went out.

..X2..:beer:

 

[1980SteelBeast]

I had what sounds like the same thing happen to me in my 87 GMC Sierra Classic. The ignition Module in the distributor went out.

Could it be the coil? Its a new DUI Performance distributor which is about 1 year old..

If there's no spark it could be as simple as a loose wire or a short in the ignition circuit someplace. Check the whole circuit I suppose. New components are usually cheap (coil, points, wires, plugs) so inexpensive to eliminate as possible culprits. You may want to have two sets of fresh plugs handy; I have found even brand new plugs can go bad surprisingly easily when the engine floods due to no spark. Good luck and when this is behind you you will again love the beast. At least you have Donny the Master Mechanic behind you!

I feel so bad having to call him for help,especially twice in one day...
I put new wires on last Thursday but I do have some new plugs to put in,but I don't think all the plugs could be bad at the same time.
I tried to put a screwdriver in the plug boot and hold it to metal to see if it would jump spark but I got nothing....:dontknow:
Had to ride in a Furd while my baby took a ride on the slab.

 

[m5d1k]

X3 Had a similar situation happen last year.

 

[84caballeroguy]

I had what sounds like the same thing happen to me in my 87 GMC Sierra Classic. The ignition Module in the distributor went out.

Man I tried to post on this a couple hours shop but the darn opera mini on my phone was giving me hell!
X4 on the Ignition Control Module. I had the same thing happen to mine a couple months ago. I tried the wires, coil, and plugs before I bought the $16 module!

 

[1980SteelBeast]

Its a HEI so where should I start digging?

 

[84caballeroguy]

Its a HEI so where should I start digging?

Remove the distributor cap and rotor, there is a black electrical piece below the rotor that has a wire harness plugged into each end of it start there that part is the ignition control module which is much cheaper than the coil and more than likely your problem.

 

[jlcustomz]

Another common possibility, If you ran an aftermarket tach, be sure the wire from dist can,t ground out somewhere & act like a random kill switch.Had this on a work truck(Wasn't me that ran the wire through firewall with no grommet.)
If you decide to add in a msd 6a box, It will eliminate use of that d- word module.
PS, time to add that pantera song to a video.

 

[DONE DEAL DONNY]

Another common possibility, If you ran an aftermarket tach, be sure the wire from dist can,t ground out somewhere & act like a random kill switch.Had this on a work truck(Wasn't me that ran the wire through firewall with no grommet.)
If you decide to add in a msd 6a box, It will eliminate use of that d- word module.
PS, time to add that pantera song to a video.

Never thought of that!!! Thats a real good possibilty!!!
Donny

 

[1980SteelBeast]

Another common possibility, If you ran an aftermarket tach, be sure the wire from dist can,t ground out somewhere & act like a random kill switch.Had this on a work truck(Wasn't me that ran the wire through firewall with no grommet.)
If you decide to add in a msd 6a box, It will eliminate use of that d- word module.
PS, time to add that pantera song to a video.

Could be the prob and hopefully its that simple of a fix! That broken song is the song of the day when you guys see the vid I'm gonna post when the daylight comes out. I even have body damage...:let_it_all_out:

 

[HKDUP87]

Mine would start then not work next day start again for a day then not it was the control mod. on mine. I started with the coil and thought it was fixed but it did the same thing. control mod. no problems after. There's two different ones that look the same and auto zone gave me the wrong one the first time. One has plug in connectors and one has what looks like big stake- on's

 

[CANTED]

If you have HEI, you should keep a spare module in the glove box. Way cheaper than a tow bill.

 

[ccc]

if you have power at the dist plug 99% of the time its the module. when they get hot they will shut down ,when they cool off they will sometimes run for a few then do it again.the coil is rarely the fault because when they die from my experiance they are dead and dont come back. make sure you put the heat sink compound on the entire bottom of the module before you instasll the new one or it will burn up very quickly

 

[oldtinsmith]

if you have power at the dist plug 99% of the time its the module. when they get hot they will shut down ,when they cool off they will sometimes run for a few then do it again.the coil is rarely the fault because when they die from my experiance they are dead and dont come back. make sure you put the heat sink compound on the entire bottom of the module before you instasll the new one or it will burn up very quickly

X2. I had a module go bad on a 305 sbc in a Regal, and a coil in my '80 El Camino. In both cases, the symptoms were just as ccc said.

Doug

 

[80v6]

Ignition problem.

If you decide to replace the Module, my posts on ignitions in that section should help you with the installation side of things. Good luck.

 

[Beepster]

X2. I had a module go bad on a 305 sbc in a Regal, and a coil in my '80 El Camino. In both cases, the symptoms were just as ccc said.

Doug

X3. With no spark, there's a pretty limited amount of problem-solutions involved. Start with the cheapest, and work your way up.:beer:

 

[IDMiller]

OMG!!!! thats exactally what mine did back in FEB!!!! I replaced 100% fuel system including carb, and nearly 100% electrical system.. It finally went away AFTER i bought the condenser thats with the electronic control module. I swear to the elky higher power that I never dreamed that was causing the problem AND it was INTERMITTENT! I thought it was only to surpress radio noise from the dist... NO it always surpresses the spark to the ecm. After disecting the ecm the condenser is nothing but a cap. Some times it works some times it "leaks" to the ecm and causes it to gingerly overheat and then it shuts down. Bam no spark. it's 8 bucks don't over look it like i did.

 

[dills88]

check to see if you have power to the dist. i had troube with mine the fact. wireing wasnt soider broke at some joints i think it was made on a friday