The engine will rotate, but it wont fire. I was backing out of a friends driveway, and the car backfired, and shut off. Usually when the car dies out, it will start right back up, but not this time. I tried tow starting it, and when you popped the clutch and it would catch, it counded like the engine was only runnning on 3or4 cylinders, no throttle response, and it died when you pushed the clutch in. I checked the spark coming off of the ignition coil, and it was a weak yellow, checked at the #1 plug, and it was the same. Went and bought a new msd blaster 2 coil, and this did not help, still a yellow spark,(shouldnt it be bright blue?). What can I look into next, duraspark box? Is there anything else in the ignition circuit behind the duraspark? Another idea I have been tossing around is that my battery drains rather quickly,I dont have a ground running off of the neg. terminal, and the battery is only a 550 cold crank,(shouldnt I at least have like a 750? My father dissgrees though). Well my question is, can a bad battery have enough power to turn the starter, but not enough to fire the engine? (it has been recharged numerous times though). Could I have a short? I have been reading a little bit about an igniton regulator, will this give me weak spark? Oh by the way I forgot to mention that I am getting gas, (for one thing you can smell it, for another,you can see it in the see through filter attached to the line on the carb. Anybody have any suggesstions, any help would be appreciated, thanks.
need help, my 84 5.0 will not fire
- Thread starter 5.0 Fiend
- Start date
Mavrick
Founding Member
You don't have a ground running off the negative terminal? You need a ground to complete the circuit, otherwise your car shouldn't crank at all... there should be a black ground wire from the neg. side of the battery taht connects to the motor itself.
Your battery is probably pooched if it's been drained and recharged several times.
Your battery is probably pooched if it's been drained and recharged several times.
Mavrick
Founding Member
You need to ground the negative terminal to the engine block.. from the factory it grounds to the block right above the oil pan, on the very front drivers side. Make sure it's a good ground.. i would start here and see if that helps your problem any.
I guess I could try that, I bought the car this way, and it ran everyday like this for about 4 weeks, except I had a problem one time where the car died, would not start for 15 minutes,then the battery started draining down, so I went to my buddy's house for a while. About 5 hours later came back to jump start, got in, and just for the hell of it, I turned the key, and it fired right, didnt have amother problem until now.
Dark Knight
Founding Member
you need a ground to the block, and from the back of the intake to the firewall...
usually when the car wont start when it gets hot, it's the duraspark..
usually when the car wont start when it gets hot, it's the duraspark..
Bullitt#1658
New Member
- Mar 3, 2004
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I had a 85LX B4 I got my Bullitt, and I had this problem B4. It's
probably the Duraspark box and/or the coil pickup in the distributor.
Also, check out the distibutor itself. The little weights in there have
nylon bushings. If they get worn out..you can have erratic spark as well.
FYI, be careful with that spark wheel under the rotor, it can bend easily and
there is a little pin that acts like a keyway..dont lose it. I had to use a
gear puller to get that spark wheel off. Let me know if that helps...man I am so glad I dont have to mess with that stuff anymore..that or the Holley carb.
probably the Duraspark box and/or the coil pickup in the distributor.
Also, check out the distibutor itself. The little weights in there have
nylon bushings. If they get worn out..you can have erratic spark as well.
FYI, be careful with that spark wheel under the rotor, it can bend easily and
there is a little pin that acts like a keyway..dont lose it. I had to use a
gear puller to get that spark wheel off. Let me know if that helps...man I am so glad I dont have to mess with that stuff anymore..that or the Holley carb.
Yeah ok, I have read about the thick film ignition module, but it only quits when it gets hot right? Well my car isnt starting at all, is should still start with a bad module right? And dark night, what do you mean by a ground from the intake to the firewall? I have a holley 750 with an open air filter. How do you check the fuel filter in the carb? I never dumped any gas down the carb, I just took for granted that I was getting fuel since I could smell it, and see it in the clear inline filter. But my major question is, could a bad battery (even though it has been recharged), have enough juice to turn the starter, but not give proper juice to the ignition system?
I am going to borrow a timing light tommorrow, just to be sure I didnt hop some teeth. My questions are, where are the timing marks on the engine (numbers), and how exactly do I go about the timing procedure, I am not 100 percent sure. Do I plug the timing light into the number 1 plug boot, shine it on the numbers, and see what it reads?
Well this might insight some panic in you, but i had a similar problem with my 351W i used to have, and it ended up being the pin that holds the cam in on the front of the block behind the timing chain, which had broken clean off. This resulted in everything turning over like you're trying to start the car, but the cam had disengaged the distributor gear and caused the distro to not spark. Again, this could be way off track, but if you're going to check for a broken timing chain or something you might want to give this a look over as well.
BTW, the worst part of all of this is since the cam wasnt rotating, the valves werent moving, so durring all the trying to start the car i did, the valves beat the crap out of my pistons and ruined them. IMO, i know this is your daily driver, but before i went through all the replacing of solinoids and coils and all that, i'd check this out. I could be over reacting, but at the cost of my freshly built 351W, some lessons are hard learned!
BTW, the worst part of all of this is since the cam wasnt rotating, the valves werent moving, so durring all the trying to start the car i did, the valves beat the crap out of my pistons and ruined them. IMO, i know this is your daily driver, but before i went through all the replacing of solinoids and coils and all that, i'd check this out. I could be over reacting, but at the cost of my freshly built 351W, some lessons are hard learned!
Dark Knight
Founding Member
if the duraspark is toast, it wont start... bet thats the prob.. should run fine with a new one..
they came with a ground strap from one of the back intake bolts to the firewall, you should have it or make one..
a sure sign that it's going bad is when the car dies when you're driving down the road... then restarts..
there is no module on the side of the dist. on an 84.. carbed
they came with a ground strap from one of the back intake bolts to the firewall, you should have it or make one..
a sure sign that it's going bad is when the car dies when you're driving down the road... then restarts..
there is no module on the side of the dist. on an 84.. carbed
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