1974 2.0, not starting.
Very good condition, stock, but not driven 3 yrs.
I replaced coil, points, condenser. Some injectors.
Also put in a High torque starter. New battery.

I can get the coil to spark. I haven’t gotten an external spark plug to spark.
Engine turns over fine.
Fuel pump working….and pushes gas out tubes in engine area.

Two things. 1. If I take out spark plugs, high pressure gas does not shoot out those holes, upon turning the engine.( it used to)
2. When I turn the key the volt gauge is 12+, but when the start position on key is engaged, the volts drop immediately to zero.

You need to check for fuel delivery, you can pull the injectors from one side, 2 10mm nuts, make sure you have the injector seals to reinstall, place the injectors in a container, spray paint caps work fine, crank the engine a few turns, look for fuel.


Sorry I just saw there is no spark at the plug but spark at the coil, distributor issues, points, cap maybe condenser or points advance plate?

maybe ignition switch?

If you are not getting spark at the plugs and your coil is sparking it can only be your rotor or plug wires. Is it a strong spark?

I took my ignition switch apart, it seemed fine.
I made a remote starter button, with key on, not all the way turned, still no go.

I thought my coil spark was good, not crazy snap, but showing.

I’ll check more at the distributor

Thanks for ideas.

My thinking was a ground.

How much does the brain, cpu, do?
Does is just tell the injectors when to open?

Check that the ground wire in the distributor is still in tact and looks better than this one.
Click to view attachment

I did see that little strap and it was good.

You get no flash from your timing light while cranking? On none of the plug wires? How many injectors did you replace?

Start with the ignition system.

You say you get spark from the coil wire, but not from the plug wires. You probably have a broken center contact in the distributor cap. So put a new cap and rotor on the distributor.

Once you can verify you have spark at the plugs, then spray some carb cleaner in the intake and see if it tries to fire. If it does, then tackle the fuel system. If not, go back to the ignition.

Try that and let us know what happens.

Clay

Ok, I’ll try those things.

Ok, I’ll try those things.

Just fixed this very issue. Full rebuild on the car and it started to give me a very hard time starting. My issue was a defective ignition switch. Starter ran but would have a tough time starting sometimes not at all. Diagnosed the issue by checking voltage at the coil + terminal while the ignition switch was put in the run position, Found 12 volts. Checking voltage again when the switch was moved to the start position would intermittently show zero volts. Changed the switch and it starts every time. Chinese junk part it was. There were pieces parts floating around inside when I got it apart.

the car was away from me for a month on a truck.
Still not starting.

1. I do have spark now, with #1 with a timing gun, (that seemed to be a bad rotor)
2. I installed a remote starter switch, push button...and bypassed the key switch for that.
(i think my seat belt lock out was a mess for that, so I bypassed)

(I will check voltage at the coil with key turned)
(i will also check voltage at the starter, it is poor functioning)

3. I have an injector in a paint can lid, if I turn the key....the fuel pump goes...but no gas comes out. (it may be my key not turned far enough, that gets some relay going)

I do have extra CPU.

long ago, if i had the spark plugs out....gas would shoot out at high pressure. but not anymore.

on a last note: i did flip the two fuel lines around...in the engine bay...in case one was pressure and the other a return...but no nothing happened.

what things need to be in order...so I can get gas out of a pulled injector?

Have you checked your fuel pressure?

I have not checked pressure.
But has pumps well at the first connection in bay.

I read there are connection zones in distributer to send voltage to injector.
I wonder how much voltage?
There is a fuel pump relay that works, kicking on with the key turned.

There are trigger points in the distributor if you still have the original. Fuel pressure is easy to test, I would do it at the fitting in the passenger side rail. Just good to know.

Hearing the pump run and having pressure are two very different things in this car. Your regulator could just be dumping it back to the tank.

It ran for a good long hour today.
And started twice with key and the start button.

I did buy a new ignition switch (2 actually) that didn’t seem to be my biggest problem. But I’m glad it’s new.

To get it started, we just kept tow-rope pulling the car, engaged in second gear, key on, jump starting, pulled with our Q7, and stopped every 100 feet, and messed with points, timing-by ear, and changing to a used $100 “brain” from eBay.

I think the main problem was the rotor or points. I haven’t ruled it out the old brain, but the new-to-me brain worked too.

My coil gets wicked hot, but it is a non stock flame thrower.
Years ago it would start so much better with that coil, than a blue Bosch.

My car would work for a while,
Then just get worse. It made no sense.

I thought for sure it was the manifold P sensor.

Then I started to noticed the points keep going out of specification.

My rotor was too rough from rust, and would just sand on the plastic tab on the points. And the points wouldn’t open.

So that was one of the main issues.

A good old blue Bosch should work just fine. Have you checked voltages at the coil etc while running?

Couple of thoughts...

Seems like there may be multiple issues conspiring here. It's important to tackle one at a time before moving on. Some of these things fall under regular maintenance in getting a car that's been sitting back on the road.

– If you've got 3 year old gas in the system, the injectors may be fouled. I'd pull them and send to Mr. Injector for evaluation / cleaning. While he's doing that, drain the system, remove the filler neck on the gas tank, shine a light down and verify that it's clean in there. If you see a rusty mess at the bottom and a dirty filter sock, at the very least you'll need to change the sock.

– Change the fuel filter

– With the ignition system...I usually don't like throwing new parts at problems before fully diagnosing, but these systems are 50 years old and the quality of points manufactured today isn't great. I'd consider a 123ignition unit for d-jet, paired with a new blue coil. You can get both from 123. Invest in a new set of wires as well. Even if this doesn't end up being the root cause, your car will run better and more reliably.

If the fuel system is clean and fresh and the major components of the ignition system are solid and the car still doesn't run right, we can explore other things. Good luck and please report back!