66 Chevy No power to coil? HELP

[66K10383]

Hi,Ive been lurking these sites for some time now. Ive been into 64-66 chevy trucks for as long as i can remember. 2 years ago on valentines coincidentally I picked up this jaw droping(to me) 66 Chevy pickup that was bought new in the area with factory 4x4 and a 383 (rust included),kinda funny to think back when i first popped the hood and saw a v8 i was disapointed since the only other chevys i had been around all were I6s which is what I wanted for the simplicity and reliability.......... until I fired it up!
HOLY ****! WHAT A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE! Whew, I get all excited just thinking about it. It was in the middle of winter and i was outside under the hood cleaning away, aperently under the inch or so of grease were chrome valve covers a cloged up Edelbrock 1406 with a sticky choke, and a Holly street dominator intake. Just a little different then a 250 I 6. everything else was stock original with the exception of a very ****ty paint job i assume was thrown on with the 383 maby 15 years back(just a guess) .let me tell you the sm420 is not a good tranny to go flying through the gears with

The truck became my DD for a few months and I never had a problem with it
except for the sticky choke and half cloged carb denying instant start up(no money for rebuild), sometimes it would fire up instantly with a single bump of the key.
I had a few close calls with the manual steering,bad 33 12.50s and a 13in steering wheel with the power of a 383 behind it.(crazy times for an unexperienced driver).luckly I never put a dent on it.

I got some fresh 235/85s on it and it now drives like a dream compared to unbalanced badly worn 33s. sorry about the life story but i miss my truck

about a month back I drove to a friends place and it ran as usual, i was there maby 10 minutes. she fired right up and as soon as i hit reverse she died.
no start. it sat for afew days awhile I tried to sort it out. some one said try the starter. so i swaped that with another one I had laying around and nothing.

I noticed it would fire while the starter was engaged(engine turning over) but it would cease as soon the starter did, I was told try the ignition switch itself. I pulled one out of a 64 parts truck that happened to use the same key as the original, direct swap. Still the same story.

Finally I got a test light and ran it to the positive side of the coil, key on no light. some old man said I could run a wire from the positive of the batt to the coil for direct power, it works, my engine will run. I then heard the coil should get 12 volts only during cranking, then drop to 9 volts running in effort to prolong the life of the points. Is this TRUE?

What would cause the no power issue to happen out of nowhere? could it be the solenoid on the starter its self?

I just recently thought HEI Distributor! Would that fix my problem? I think it should but I honestly dont quite know enough about them. Dose anybody have an opinion of points distributor VS HEI Distributor?

A couple of pics

http://www.flickr.com/photos/59058330@N03/5979617862/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/59058330@N03/5979627316/

[turbostar]

Sounds like a bad ballast resistor. The ballast resistor is on the firewall and its purpose is to drop the current thru the points during normal operation. However,the ballast resistor is bypassed during start for easier starting. That would explain it starting but then dying.It is easy enough to test-just put a small jumper wire across its two connections.If it runs,you've found your problem.

[61_FL_Apache]

Ballast resistor? I thought that was a Mopar thing.

[66K10383]

Yea, I asked 2 people at a junk yard and they ended up getting in an argument over something being a chrysler only thing. I just walked away

[61_FL_Apache]

I have owned chevy's all my life and yet to find one. I won't argue either just have not seen one.
Posted via Mobile Device

[turbostar]

Come on guys,this is a common component prior to electronic/hei ignitions. Our trucks all came with them.It is a rectangular ceramic divice mounted on the firewall. You can bypass them in an emergency and the downfall will be accelerated pitting of the points. I'm not sure,but they may have originated when the factories(all) converted from 6v to 12v.

[turbostar]

Anyone got a picture of a truly stock engine compartment? Post it and you'll see the ballast resistor.

[turbostar]

Better yet,go to ebay motors,parts, then enter ballast resistor chevy. End of discussion.

[bama63]

our trucks do not have a ballast resistor, the cloth covered wire in itself is the resistor and in the last thirty years or so i have seen plenty of them break inside the cloth covering and cause a problem check there first and imho go with the hei dizzy do away with the resistor wire and be done with it.

[66K10383]

Maby you mean a voltage regulator? opposite of the battery under the hood.
The wire that goes to the + side of the coil(mines yellow) should go to the starter right?

[bama63]

try this and see if it helps

[66K10383]

my yellow coil wire goes into what looks like the original harness. im not really into tearing into something like that when its not 100% the cause, especially when its an old truck. Thats how those things get "molested" so to speak even if it were for a good cause.

I will probably end up tearing into it, Ill just try to do it neatly

THANKS FOR THE DIAGRAM! It will be very helpful

[61_FL_Apache]

Originally Posted by turbostar

Better yet,go to ebay motors,parts, then enter ballast resistor chevy. End of discussion.

Your right on your ebay search, however, they are for 50's vehicles. Our trucks from 60-66 dont have them. Just sayin!

[Clyde65]

They have the resistor wire. usually there is a 6" piece on the yellow wire that is the resistor wire.

[61_FL_Apache]

Originally Posted by Clyde65

They have the resistor wire. usually there is a 6" piece on the yellow wire that is the resistor wire.

Like a fusable link? I didnt see one on the diagram above.

[Clyde65]

I havent seen them in any of the stock diagrams, but when I put a couple " stock/modern" replacement harnesses in, the resistor wire was attached to the coil wire.

I looked up on the internet and there are some ballast resisters available for our trucks from parts houses.

[wildearp]

I just recently thought HEI Distributor! Would that fix my problem? I think it should but I honestly dont quite know enough about them. Dose anybody have an opinion of points distributor VS HEI Distributor?

The HEI will make consistent power. When running with points, dwell is critical and will change with points wear. Points problems can easily make you think you have a carburetor problem.

The HEI only takes one wire from the ignition to make it work. If you are running a GM internally regulated alternator, and perhaps others, the exciter lead must be connected to the accessory side of your ignition switch. If it is wired to the same point as your coil, a diode must be added to that wire in series. This is to prevent the alternator from keeping the coil powered with the ignition off.

You do NOT need a ballast resistor or wire for a HEI. If you have it, get rid of it.

[66K10383]

If need be can I run a second wire over the yellow wire to the starter?

The wire that leads to the S on the solenoid is purple in the diagram, Right?

Hoefully ill get pics soon, the wires that run to my starter have what appear to be the 3 correct leads, plus 2 or 3 wires that are just hanging there taped off. it looks to have been this way for quite some time.

Thanks for the help.

[66K10383]

So I got the harness out of my truck, It includes the plug from the firewall, The first wire that splits off is the yellow coil wire with my temp gauge wire. then theres 1 purple wire,1yellow wire,1 black or brownish wire, then 3 cloth covered wires. 2 of the cloth covered wires end taped off with each other,the other cloth wire runs with the yellow wire to the starter,the blackish brown wire runs to the center terminal of the starter by its self. then ofcourse the purple wire

[66K10383]

****YEA! ROMP Trot trot trot. It runs! I havent heard that in awhile

turns out the wire coming off the starter was brittle and just kinda crumbled away. I just jumped the bad part of the wire and there she goes, it fired right up.

Thanks

[66Gilbert]

Originally Posted by 66K10383

****YEA! ROMP Trot trot trot. It runs! I havent heard that in awhile

Now that you got it running how about some more pictures of it.

[66K10383]

OH defiantly pics to come, and questions too.BE forwarned, its not nearly as pretty as 66Gilberts truck. Now I need to flush the cooling system,and change the oil. If im lucky ill rebuild the carb and eventually replace the chatty clutch.