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1989 Sedan de Ville won't start


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The coil is probably fine - the cause of the no-start was the button in distributor was gone.  A new cap & rotor should solve the problem.

Kevin
'93 Fleetwood Brougham
'05 Deville
'04 Deville
2013 Silverado Z71

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KHE,

        I agree on the coil only because I could still detect a spark even with the button gone.  I have already acquired a new coil, so I will end up putting that in but keeping the old one as a backup.  The new rotor and distributor cap are on their way along with a new set of spark plugs, though I may wait on the plugs until I'm feeling a lot more ambitious.  The four on the front side would be challenging enough to remove due to space constraints, but the ones on the firewall side appear to be an absolute nightmare to get to.

        Thank you for your input.  It is appreciated.

Brian

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Bri the Tech Guy   http://britechguy.com
britechguy@gmail.com   (540) 324-5032
"If it's got you screaming, I'll help you stop!!"
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1 hour ago, guyslp said:

KHE,

        I agree on the coil only because I could still detect a spark even with the button gone.  I have already acquired a new coil, so I will end up putting that in but keeping the old one as a backup.  The new rotor and distributor cap are on their way along with a new set of spark plugs, though I may wait on the plugs until I'm feeling a lot more ambitious.  The four on the front side would be challenging enough to remove due to space constraints, but the ones on the firewall side appear to be an absolute nightmare to get to.

        Thank you for your input.  It is appreciated.

Keeping the original coil as a backup is a good idea.  Keep a positive attitude on the rear plugs - they might not be that bad - On the Northstar, the rear bank is no problem at all.  The 4.5 shouldn't be that difficult to R&R the rear bank plugs.

Kevin
'93 Fleetwood Brougham
'05 Deville
'04 Deville
2013 Silverado Z71

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The spark plugs are easy, even easier with a double swivel spark plug socket by Snap-on, Mac, Matco, Craftsman, Mickey Mouse etc.. 

THERE IS ALWAYS ENOUGH TIME TO DO THE JOB RIGHT - THERE IS NEVER ENOUGH TIME TO DO THE JOB AGAIN !!!

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And now, gentlemen, the end of the story and it's a happy ending.

I had to order the distributor cap and rotor and those arrived yesterday.  Since it's been pouring rain for 2.5 days up until today I could not have done the work in my driveway anyway.

I put the new rotor, distributor cap, and coil in a short while ago and she fired right up with the first turn of the key!!

I thought I'd also add a photo of the old distributor cap with a note about what it taught me.  Because the brass "washer" [brush clamping] part of the coil-to-rotor assembly was originally found as shown, beneath the base of the distributor cap, I had made the mistaken presumption that this was where it belonged.  Upon getting the new parts it became abundantly clear that there was no way that this would work as the spring could not reach the contact point on the coil if you tried to place it with the washer below the cap not to mention that there was no way it could be kept in place such that the cap could go on centered around it, even if you held the spring from the top.  Once I'd made that attempt/mistake it dawned on me that the hole in the center of the new cap was precisely the diameter of the "finger" [carbon brush] on the new assembly and with the washer part resting on the upper side of the distributor cap and the insulating pad over it between it and the coil the spring was just long enough to make contact with the pad on the coil.  I hope this observation may prove helpful to anyone who may find themselves in the situation I was in and who's never worked with a coil-in-cap distributor before, as I hadn't.

Thanks very much again to all for their assistance and observations.

 

Coil_Seat03_w_Spring.jpg

Brian

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Bri the Tech Guy   http://britechguy.com
britechguy@gmail.com   (540) 324-5032
"If it's got you screaming, I'll help you stop!!"
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