At worlds end: no spark: A little progress

[cudabob496]

poor ground somewhere?

[734406pk]

Additional ground wires were added in an earlier post, I believe,with no change. I would highly recommend that the Summit RTR distributor be wired in direct to the coil until after the plug wires have been replaced and spark restored to all 8 cylinders. Get the engine running normally, then we can go from there. I will echo what has been posted earlier: "One step at a time". 

[cudabob496]

I agree, be methodical. I just threw out "poor ground somewhere" because
that tends to be a common cause when the answer cannot be found, after
a lot of troubleshooting.

[70chall440]

Definitely the worst part of electrical work. It seems simple enough but then you have a box that lends itself to suspicion because you typically cannot determine if it is good or not. In this case, you are lucky that you have a means to check it. I don't mind electrical work, in fact I like it usually, however when you run into one of those issues where it "should" work, but it doesn't it defies logic and lends to extreme frustration.

[734406pk]

I agree, be methodical. I just threw out "poor ground somewhere" because
that tends to be a common cause when the answer cannot be found, after
a lot of troubleshooting.

You are 100% right in my opinion! The ground circuit which is every bit as important as the positive side is often overlooked. Electrical system diagnosis, in general, can be challenging due to the fact that you can measure it but not see it.

[734406pk]

Definitely the worst part of electrical work. It seems simple enough but then you have a box that lends itself to suspicion because you typically cannot determine if it is good or not. In this case, you are lucky that you have a means to check it. I don't mind electrical work, in fact I like it usually, however when you run into one of those issues where it "should" work, but it doesn't it defies logic and lends to extreme frustration.

You've got that right! This is why it is important to maintain basic troubleshooting logic and be methodical. We want to avoid an expensive (and frustrating) game of Whack-A-Mole! 

[cudabob496]

I had misses once and it was moisture in the distributor

[734406pk]

Yes, moisture in the distributor will do that. There should be a screened vent in the distributor or a small hole drilled in the cap to vent condensation build up. Check and see...not all caps are  designed the same.

[cudabob496]

Yes, moisture in the distributor will do that. There should be a screened vent in the distributor of a small hole drilled in the cap to vent condensation build up. Check and see...not all caps are  designed the same.

Yep, MSD sent me a cap that was not vented (the vent was plugged), and I had bad corrosion in the cap. I drilled two small 1/4 inch holes in it.