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Wont start now, oily spark plugs

2736 Views 18 Replies 12 Participants Last post by  Corts76
All she does is crank but wont turn over. the timing light is not firing neither so I reestablished TDC with a rag and harmonic balancer indicator. lined up the rotor on a terminal and ran my wires in the firing order. there still was no flashing coming from the timing light, the engine just kept cranking without starting. I pulled out the multimeter and traced my 12 V throughout the ignition system and the distributor is getting 12V. So i checked the plugs and the were oily. Will this prevent the engine from firing? I replaced the intake manifold gasket a few weeks ago, and removed the valve covers without changing the gaskets. there was a little oil on the manifold smoking when it was running. I think it came from the valve covers when they were open. The last thybg i did was pull the number 1 plug, connect the plug wire and used the exhaust manifold as a ground, cranked the engine and checked for a small blue spark. there was none


Should I change the gaskets and get new plugs first? Or is there some other tests of spark I can do?
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I agree, one issue at a time. Are you sure it's oil and not fuel? If the timing light is not flashing you either have a defective light or no spark. As long as you have 12v at the right spot, no spark can be either the module or the pick up. Sounds like you bought a new distributor so you'll have both covered.

A common problem with module failure is the coil ground strap. Some coils have a wire that hooks in with one of the retainer screws, others have a strap that goes from a retainer screw to the terminals at the cap. Make sure you have on or the other. With out it you will fry multiple modules looking for the issue.

I don't have an HEI lying around or I'd post a picture.

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