[BearInTheCorner1]

Unfortunately had to leave my Sierra 413 sitting for about 2 months. Has never skipped a beat on starting until now. Car turns over fine, but doesn't start.

Followed the service manual section on ignition system and think I may have narrowed down the issue. The manual describes a test for the distributor to measure between the negative terminal of the ignition coil and the negative of the battery while inserting a flat blade screwdriver in and out of the distributor to trigger it. The manual says that the voltage reading should be at around 12v but then fluctuate by a volt or so when the screwdriver is pulled in and out.

The issue is, I am only seeing 1.5v when I measure between the negative of the coil and the negative of the battery.

If I remove the positive from the coil, I'm getting battery voltage on the wire that normally goes to the positive of the coil. So I believe the coil is getting power normally. Likewise, if I remove the wire that runs between the distributor and the positive terminal of the coil, (but leave all other connections in their normal places) I then measure 12v between the negative side of the coil and the battery. So I believe it's an issue inside the distributor.

The coil resistances all measure within spec, so I don't believe there is any issue with the coil.

So I believe the issue is either the distributor or a bad ground somewhere. I guess if it was left to sit for 2 months it could be corrosion.
Can anyone share some experience with issues that occur within the distributor that could cause this? As far as I know the only electronics involved within the distributor are the generator and igniter.

[BearInTheCorner1]

Seems like this forum isn't very active anymore.

Turned out that the generator/igniter module in the distributor was faulty. New one in and we are back in business.

[fordem]

BearInTheCorner1 wrote:

Seems like this forum isn't very active anymore.

I had no "experiences to share" and your logic appeared to be impeccable.

But, yes, I'm usually here everyday, and often it's only me - sadly the forum isn't as active as it used to be, seems many people prefer facebook groups, which is a shame as facebook does not seem to lend itself to the sort of organisation that a forum does.

[Gwagensteve]

As forums mature, traffic decreases as most questions can be answered by searching, and there are structured sections such as “good tech” where answers can be sought without having to create an account and ask a new question each time. A forum doesn’t provide the instant gratification of FB though.

Interestingly I hopped on here the other day and there were 67 visitors browsing the forum- people are definitely still using it, it’s just not as chatty as it was pre FB.

[fordem]

I wish that "instant gratification" thing worked for me.

I'm a member of ONE FB group, an Australian JB74 Jimny group, it's got a couple of very knowledgeable members, who obviously have access to data that would take me quite a bit of time & effort to track down piece by piece. I joined so I could ask one question, and so far, I've not been lucky - I need the part number for the FSM on DVD for the five door JimnyXL, I managed to get the part number for the three door DVD and after a bit of searching, I've been able to purchase one, but now I also have a five door, I'd like to have that DVD also.