Help! no spark to plugs will not start??

[dodj]

Then it has to be the smaller red MSD wire that has to be connected to the brown cranking power wire @ the ballast plug , if it is not connected there there is no power to the MSD box while cranking

This seems most likely to me

I did not change any of the wiring and all looks as it was. I also hot wired from the battery + to the coil+ and cranked and it did not start???
Still lost and confused.........

If you wired 12v to the coil and then cranked, and got no spark, then small red msd wire (see above quote from CP)probably doesn't have 12v on it when cranking. When you took the dist out and spun it by hand, the key was in the 'run' position and was supplying the needed 12v to the red MSD wire. You need to check the wiring connection that CP mentioned, or if you want a quick check, run a jumper from the battery +ve to the red MSD wire and crank it. If it starts (hopefully) you will have to disconnect that jumper to stop the engine.

[doncarson]

Hi all.
Still not starting. I checked to make sure I'm at TDC, Totally disconnected the alt, ran a 12+ wire from the battery to te small MSD red wire, and still no spark at tye plugs nor from the dist trigger. I just replaced the dist inductor/ reluctor piece before I tried this latest round. I still get spark when I jump the brown-purple MSD wires.

Thanks for everybody's help, but I thing the car is possesed

[Strawdawg]

What happens when you remove the MSD from the equation?

[Chryco Psycho]

well to me everything has to be working if you can rotate the dist by hand & get spark & if the dist is actually rotating when the engine is cranking then it should fire assuming the right wire is being fired , so the only thing I can see that could be a problem is if the power wire is not being triggered in the crank position but you hot wired that sooooo .........................

[dodj]

Well......with the info as I understand it, spark if spun by hand, no spark when cranking, coil, and msd hot wired.... .....The only conclusion I can come up with is the engine isn't turning the rotor.

[doncarson]

I removed the dist cap and the rotor turns. I double checked to make sure that the dist was at #1 cyl at TDC, and it is. I disconnected the alt altogether, hot wired the small MSD wire and no spark from the dist trigger ? I just replaced it with a new one with no luck.....

[dodj]

But it will produce a spark if spun by hand?

[CHL2T]

I totally feel yer pain, but I would suggest to eliminate the msd and go back to stock electronic and go from there. I am sure that there are many here among us that would agree since this is not the first thread involving msd or the last I'm sure.

Good luck and I hope you can get it worked out

[ShelbyDogg]

A coil hooked to the MSD should never be directly hooked to the battery positive. You could have killed your MSD. You can do that with a factory ECU because that one only grounds the negative side.
The gap in the distributor should be set to .016 with a non magnetic feeler guage between the pickup tooth and reluctor points (I've used steel even though my set also has a brass .016)

Pull the center coil wire off of the cap and lay it's end within 1/2" of the valve cover. Pull the distributor back out or use another one to plug into the pickup wires. With the key in the run position, spin the shaft fast. With the key in the start position, spin the shaft fast.  Did you get many sparks in both positions?

TRY EVERYTHING AGAIN WITH THE BLUE ALTERNATOR FIELD WIRE UNPLUGGED! (since this is alternator related)

[doncarson]

Well..
After trying EVERYTHING, I trailered the Cuda to my engine builder, Kilpatrick engines and he tried a NEW Mopar elect dist and the same thing, with the dist out and turning it slowly no spark, spin it quickly and spark, we changed it to a MSD dist and it sparked EVERY time when turning very slowly or quick. As soon as the motor with the MSD dist was cranked it started instantly and never started so easy....
He tried two Mopar dist with no luck..
It's the wierdest thing I've ever herd but it's never started easier....
Thanks all for all of your suggestions!
Don

[the_engineers]

Are we sure that we're not over complicating...ran fine > changed alt > won't run...to me that screams that something went wrong on the alt install.  Do you still have the old alternator?  Can you "temp" it back in long enough to give it a shot?  Could you be shorted at the rear lug, etc, etc.

Remember, Keep It Simple!

[ShelbyDogg]

I get a spark by just pulling the cap and rotating the reluctor points past the pickup point. You should have been able to do that with the play that the mechanical advance gives you. There is no way both distributors had bad pickup in them unless the gaps were set wider that the .016 called for.

 You shouldn't ever need help troubleshooting a no-spark condition, just in case it happens and you're stuck on the side of the road.

Either way, glad you got it running.

[dodj]

Interesting, I have a mopar performance distributor along with the msd and it works well.
Glad you got it running 

[Strawdawg]

Next time you feel adventuresome....set the gap to .008" and try it