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Will turn over but not start....

What is an easy way to check for spark? Help me! My wife has already started saying I should sell it.


Dain
 
I get that from my wife once a week...I have a spark tester, but there's always the screwdriver method.... Google it, then be careful.


 
Well I pulled a plug and laid it on a piece of wood. When I cranked the ignition, I saw no spark

Thanks Dylan for taking my call. It looks like I need to trace back the electrical crap.


Dain
 
Yep screw driver is the easiest just dont get blasted.. hehe to late for me I think im sterile. ...

Sent from my SPH-L900
 
You need to ground the plug, with boot attached, to get a spark.
 
gr8dain said:
Well I pulled a plug and laid it on a piece of wood. When I cranked the ignition, I saw no spark


Dain
Click to expand...
The plug needs to be grounded to get a spark. The wood is an insulator.
Just need to find someone to hold the end of the spark plug to the engine block, crank the engine, should get a spark at the electrode of the plug.
 
Ok. So ...... I left it over night. It did not want to start. But it was starting to have a weak battery from the attempts. I went to my son's baseball. Just got back. Still no start. But put a battery jump pack on it to charge it up a bit. Pulled one of the plugs and set it against the block. Got my son to crank it. I had spark for sure. In fact it started and stumbled since a plug was out. So, put it back in and it started right up. Either the problem is still sporadic or it is a bad battery. Thoughts?* The last time I had the problem, I was jumping it with my truck's battery. The battery from a 4 cylinder wasn't enough but my v8 expedition was?* Is is just my battery?* When it initially did not want to start, it was cranking though. Hmmmm.



Dain
 
I just replaced mine due to somewhat similar behavior. Also have you checked your grounds?
 
My grounds should be fine but I will check again.

Just got back home from shopping and tried it again. No luck. Grrr. Won't really have time to mess with it tomorrow (Mother's day) so it may sit in the driveway all week.


Dain
 
You need to get it to fail again. When it won't start try the spark plug test. No spark could be a bad coil, electronic module or other electronic part. Sometimes it just needs to get hot for it to fail, than after it cools off it's fine till it gets hot again. My work truck would start than stall. I would have to crank it for about 45 seconds (acts like flooded or vapor lock) then starts like it was over choked. Only did this two or three times last year and I forgot about it till it just did it (temp was 87 deg). Next time it does it, I'll have to turn the key on and listen for the fuel pump. It could be vapor lock or a bad fuel pump. You might have a problem (like what I have) that you'll have to get to fail in order to find the problem.
 
Silly question, it do you have a full 12v to the DUI? Are you running a relay? I did the relay on mine with much success. My thought is that you've gotta battery or bad amps to the coil...not enough to saturate. Just guessing really...


 
Last edited:
If it gets really bad, just toss a white phosphorous grenade under the hood...that'll fix it!!


 
Acually if it dont start again jiggle all the wiring in the compartment. Might be bad connection or oxidated connector. U said u pulled the park plug so im figuring u moved somthing while u did that..

Sent from my SPH-L900
 
I was wiggling a lot of wires around the distributer.

Today's update - i can't seem to get it to not start. I don't know if that is good or bad. But I did not do anything to it since last night's no start episode.

Oh and for some reason, the temp gauge was working today. Odd.


Dain
 
gr8dain said:
I was wiggling a lot of wires around the distributer.

Today's update - i can't seem to get it to not start. I don't know if that is good or bad. But I did not do anything to it since last night's no start episode.

Oh and for some reason, the temp gauge was working today. Odd.


Dain
Click to expand...

Have you done any more with the battery?

The temp gauge and the ignition coil (stock system) both operate through the ignition switch as well as the bulkhead connector. You could have a loose or marginal connection in one of these locations causing the voltage to be low, which would cause a higher amp draw which would cause the connection to get worse, which would cause less voltage etc., etc.

If jump starting seemed to correct the problem it may have helped overcome the lower voltage caused by the loose connection(s).

Again I'm not familiar with DUI systems. But if I'm following what another poster had said about a relay, he may be referring to a relay instead of the ignition system being controlled by the ignition switch and the ignition system being fed through the relay from the battery similar to how the starter is controlled???

I would suggest getting voltage readings at the battery and ignition system input when everything is working properly. Then if it doesn't start in the future get readings at the same locations. This could help pinpoint or rule out some possible problem areas.
 
Nothing more with the battery. But I did fiddle with the ignition wires. Just jiggling them around. Thanks for the post. I will get the voltage numbers and write them down.


Dain
 
My wife and I went to Home Depot this morning. It would not start when we tried to leave. We push started it popping the clutch. So I got the battery tested today. It was 5 years old and had bad cells. Installed a new one. Will see if that helps.


Dain
 
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