Thread: Should be a simple answer, but I need help.

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Hey out there!, so I'm having problems with my 355 not wanting to fire anymore. I've tried all kinds of things but I think I may have figured out. I don't think I'm getting enough power into my distributor? It's a 355 put into an '81 Firebird so there are a few things rigged up here and there that i've been fixing since I got it. Is there any easy way to tell for sure? Or just a fairly easy fix or something to just go and try right now?

Any help would be appreciated, Thanks!

whats the ignition system you have on it? have you broke in the cam yet? if it just wont fire anymore it could be an ignition module. ignition modules tend to go bad unexpectedly.. start with basics though make sure everything is making good connection ... i ask if you have the cam broke in because if you dont.. simple way to see if you have any spark at all is pull a plug hook the wire up to it and hold it to a ground to see if you have any spark at all. Hope this gives you a place to start

The cam is broken in, It's an MSD HEI distributor, I already replaced The module and have tried several different caps and rotors and have a brand new set of wires on. I am getting spark, but only at the cable end, and it's a very weak spark, If i put a plug in the wire and ground it out I get nothing. I've heard of people having wiring issues that cause enough power loss that the plugs won't fire or something along those lines. It ran great up until late October then it wouldn't start.

Weak spark would normally indicate a bad coil.....

The coil that is on it now is brand new, I supposed it could be bad. It's an Accel coil, I bought it in October after this problem started. I tried another coil I had laying around and had the same thing happening. I've been swapping out distributor parts trying to get something different but no matter what I do I get a weak spark.

check to make sure the wire to the distributor carries a full 12 volts...

It's carrying 12.76 volts.

I had a grounded ignition wire act like this; unplug the ignition wire from the distributor and try runnng a wire from the battery to the ignition side of the HEI and see if it starts.

Okay, the wire going TO my distributor has a negative polarity... My friends old chevy truck does too. I'm guessing this is normal? So would I run a Wire from the negative battery terminal to my distributor?

That I dont know; I've never heard of a negative wire going to the ignition side of an HEI. The one's I've had always had the + wire going to them.

Chuck the Accel coil and anything else Accel unless it's the high dollar stuff. Their low and mid range products are garbage.

Okay, but does anyone know why the wire going to my distributor is negative? This car started and run great with it like that.

did you lose your engine ground? to the frame?

I suppose it's possible. But would I still don't know why my ignition wire to the dizzy is negative.

yes you can just hook up a wire from the positive side of the battery and if everything is OK it should start