AlpineII
Donation Time
Help!!! I am having a real problem getting my V6 fired up. I just can't seem to get it running again. Remember that I am just common labor when it comes to truly mechanical issues. Here is a quick story-board:
Rebuilt V6 with lots of upgrades including Holley 390 and Offey intake. Last fall mechanic got it all running like a top and man it was smooth and with a nice roar. But there was way too much wire in the engine compartment and we had one problem where we had to pull the power supply line to the dura-spark and coil (at fuse box) to shut it down. Spent some time looking at wiring with a friend who is electrically adept. So we thought we had the "hot-wire to ignition" all sorted out and spent some time shortening up the wiring, including the "stiff white wire" one the other side of the two-wire plug (red and white changing to going to white and 2 red/blues).
We were unable to re-start it. When trying to turn over it rarely tries to fire and when it does we have some back flame through the carbs!! Initially it seemed we didn't have power to the coil. There is a brand-new dura-spark II unit that had been runnning great but we swapped it out for the dura-spark II that came with the V6 with exactly the same results so we figure it its not the box. After a lot of checking of continuity of wire and and looking for spark at distributor and at plugs it seemed I was getting a weak and unreliable spark. So I ran off and bought a new coil.
Installed the new coil and it seems like I am getting a nice hot spark. I get the odd fire on a cylinder and it is hard to get them but it does not catch and I still get flame back. I keep wondering if it is 180 degress off! Looked at the timing and it seems we are on. Tried to advance and retard the timing to see if it made a difference. There is a very narrow band where I seem to get more ignition than others but always seem to get the flame back. We didn't have a timing light with us yesterday but will have one for our next attempt.
For the life of me, I can't figure out why it ran so good, for maybe 50 or so start-ups and short runs up to temp, and after the cleanup of the wiring we can't get it up and running again.
I don't have a ballast resistor in place and my buddy feels that the stiff white wire that I shortened to about 4 inches was a resistor wire that dropped the power to the coil. I thought that a ballast resistor, or resistor wire, only took effect after ignition had starter and power to the starter relay was cut.
Anybody have an idea what the heck is going on here? After all this work I seem to be stumped on what should be a simple issue. I seem to have fuel and power but why can't I get fired up?
Has anyone had similar issues?
Rebuilt V6 with lots of upgrades including Holley 390 and Offey intake. Last fall mechanic got it all running like a top and man it was smooth and with a nice roar. But there was way too much wire in the engine compartment and we had one problem where we had to pull the power supply line to the dura-spark and coil (at fuse box) to shut it down. Spent some time looking at wiring with a friend who is electrically adept. So we thought we had the "hot-wire to ignition" all sorted out and spent some time shortening up the wiring, including the "stiff white wire" one the other side of the two-wire plug (red and white changing to going to white and 2 red/blues).
We were unable to re-start it. When trying to turn over it rarely tries to fire and when it does we have some back flame through the carbs!! Initially it seemed we didn't have power to the coil. There is a brand-new dura-spark II unit that had been runnning great but we swapped it out for the dura-spark II that came with the V6 with exactly the same results so we figure it its not the box. After a lot of checking of continuity of wire and and looking for spark at distributor and at plugs it seemed I was getting a weak and unreliable spark. So I ran off and bought a new coil.
Installed the new coil and it seems like I am getting a nice hot spark. I get the odd fire on a cylinder and it is hard to get them but it does not catch and I still get flame back. I keep wondering if it is 180 degress off! Looked at the timing and it seems we are on. Tried to advance and retard the timing to see if it made a difference. There is a very narrow band where I seem to get more ignition than others but always seem to get the flame back. We didn't have a timing light with us yesterday but will have one for our next attempt.
For the life of me, I can't figure out why it ran so good, for maybe 50 or so start-ups and short runs up to temp, and after the cleanup of the wiring we can't get it up and running again.
I don't have a ballast resistor in place and my buddy feels that the stiff white wire that I shortened to about 4 inches was a resistor wire that dropped the power to the coil. I thought that a ballast resistor, or resistor wire, only took effect after ignition had starter and power to the starter relay was cut.
Anybody have an idea what the heck is going on here? After all this work I seem to be stumped on what should be a simple issue. I seem to have fuel and power but why can't I get fired up?
Has anyone had similar issues?