i think my distributor is going bad, mainly the ignitor coil. anyway to check?

 

the coil is what keeps your car running, the ignitor just makes it fire and start, if the car starts, its prolly not the ignitor....but the coil could cause the car to stumble and not stay running.....

 

how do you know its going bad? is it 'rough'

 

well yesterday i go to start the car and it just turns and turns with no spart at all. i took of the cap and the terminals were yucky, i scraped them clean as best i could and put it back on. the car still wouldnt fire so i took the cap back off and filed the rotor abit so there was a fresh layer of exposed metal. boom she fired right up. i guess maybe its just the cap and rotor getting old and gunky... still made me late to work because of that bullshit.

 

buy a new distributor cap. it aint a couple of bucks anyways. on my old car, i used to change it out with every plug change.

 

to test ignitor, get a test light. put one side of light on - side of coil. put other side of light on + battery. have somebody try to crank the engine. I haven't tested this way. I haven't had any problems w/ ignitors yet that i've been dying to try to test this way. If the light flashes, the ignitor works, suspect coil. If it doesn't then replace ignitor.

 

sounds like a plan, thanks glen

 

Why not do an easier way. Like trying to pull the no#1 plug wire out form it's place and put it close to a ground, ie like the nut that is on top of the valve cover or better yet use a good sparkplug in the dark. Battery good and all, fuse from the battery still good too correct? I hope this help.

You smell fuel everytime you crank over the car?

 

This method will only tell you if it's sparking. It won't tell you which is bad, the coil and/or ignitor.

 

correct.
so did you find out anything yet on your problem?