strutaeng
Full Access Member
It's most likely a distributor/rotor/cap related problem.
Those can be annoying to resolve because it can be an intermittent no fire. Sometimes moisture or cold weather causes it. Or there's a worn shaft or gear worn in the distributer shaft. It fools you because you'll have spark and everything else needed, but engine still won't fire. I think what happens is the spark jumps around in the cap, and goes to the wrong cylinder somehow. If it's wet or humid, put a heater or hair blow dryer toward the distributer and let it heat up for 45 minutes and see if that does it. Remove the cap and see if there's excessive play on the rotor; crank the engine and make sure the rotor rotation seems consistent with engine rpm. Aftermarket caps are notorious for having crank-no-fire issues and short lives on these engines; most guys carry an extra spare cap on their glovebox.
Yes, engine will start and run w/o cam position sensor. Some aftermarket cps seem to also cause starting issues. You'll need a scope to properly diagnose that.
Those can be annoying to resolve because it can be an intermittent no fire. Sometimes moisture or cold weather causes it. Or there's a worn shaft or gear worn in the distributer shaft. It fools you because you'll have spark and everything else needed, but engine still won't fire. I think what happens is the spark jumps around in the cap, and goes to the wrong cylinder somehow. If it's wet or humid, put a heater or hair blow dryer toward the distributer and let it heat up for 45 minutes and see if that does it. Remove the cap and see if there's excessive play on the rotor; crank the engine and make sure the rotor rotation seems consistent with engine rpm. Aftermarket caps are notorious for having crank-no-fire issues and short lives on these engines; most guys carry an extra spare cap on their glovebox.
Yes, engine will start and run w/o cam position sensor. Some aftermarket cps seem to also cause starting issues. You'll need a scope to properly diagnose that.
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