Newbie here, I just bought a '78 chevy C10, has 94K miles on it. I was driving home and it just quit. Distributor is not turning when I crank the engine, but the pistons are moving, or I can tell #1 is moving. Any ideas? Thanks in advance! 78chevy
Timing belt or distributor gear. It is easier to pull out the distributor and check to see if the gear is still there. If it is then it is probably the timing chain.
Thanks for the input, I have already checked the distributor gear and it's o.k. so I guess I'll be pulling the timing chain cover tonight. Thanks again
I was wondering if you found it in the time chain if not might want to check the pick up in the dist. that part can go after a few yr gone bye. test the top end of the dist.
It turned out to be the timing chain, actually it was the cam gear but I replaced the chain, cam and crank gears as a set. Just curious, how would I check the pick up in the distributor? I have it running pretty good but I am still working out a few things. If you have read any of my other posts you probably know that I bought this truck a couple of months ago so I am "discovering" new things all the time. Someone did an engine compartment rewire on the basic stuff but I guess to avoid dealing with rewiring the HEI dizzy, they put in a contact points type, which is OK for now but I am eventually going to replace it with an HEI.
Pickup Coil, Buy useing a multimeter . [SIZE=-1]how to test[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]Connect an ohmmeter to each terminal of the pick-up coil connector or wire and ground (one terminal at a time). The ohmmeter should indicate infinite resistance. If it doesn't, the pick-up coil is no good.[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]Connect the ohmmeter between both terminals or wires of the pick-up coil connector. If a vacuum advance unit is attached to the distributor, apply vacuum from an external source and watch the ohmmeter for indications of intermittent opens (if no vacuum unit is used, flex the wires by hand). The ohmmeter should indicate one steady value within the 500 to 1500 ohm range as the wires are flexed. If it doesn't, the pick-up coil is no good.[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]If the pick-up coil fails either test. Replace it with a new one.[/SIZE] Oh sorry I was thinking of Hei because of your Yr. That would be much better for tune ups. I have not worked on point on 6 or 8 cylinders since 1990 except a few push movers.
Good to have the info on hand since I an going to be replacing it with an HEI as soon as possible. I found a guy that has a '79 C10 and is willing to let me have parts dirt cheap since he is trying to get rid of his "parts" truck, if it will just stop RAINING!! Thanks again,
