plug firing order

deriley · Post by **deriley** » Mon May 29, 2006 5:09 pm

Hi, I need help fast. My 79 2000 is miss firing badly, I'm not sure my plug wires are connected right. Does 1 start at the front of the car or towards the back. I have a diagram showing towards the back, however when I bought the car they were at the front.

mdrburchette · Post by **mdrburchette** » Mon May 29, 2006 7:46 pm

Number 1 is furthest from the firewall or first behind the timing cover.

So Cal Mark · Post by **So Cal Mark** » Tue May 30, 2006 1:39 am

one is definitely at the front, and the firing order is 1-3-4-2. With the engine idling, remove the plug wires from the dist cap one at a time. Use some insulated pliers and the cyls that are misfiring won't make a difference with the wires disconnected

deriley · Post by **deriley** » Tue May 30, 2006 8:37 pm

Thanks guys, I was able to figure this out. I bought this car a week ago and it was running at that time,although it did sit for a year in a heated garage. I even drove her home. Granted she was missing badly on the way and she had no power. I changed her plugs and plug wires, new air filter, fuel filter, cleaned the carb up, put in a new coil, dist cap and rotor and now she won't start at all! I can't even get her over to a friends pit to changed the oil and filter. I did discover when changing the rotor and dist cap the wires inside were frayed, my husband had me silicone them. Could this be causing the problem? What else can a check? I am so disappointed!

So Cal Mark · Post by **So Cal Mark** » Tue May 30, 2006 9:31 pm

when the wires fray on the pickup unit, it's time to replace it. That will definitely cause a misfire or no start condition

deriley · Post by **deriley** » Tue May 30, 2006 11:10 pm

Thanks Mark.
i'll get/order one tomarrow and try it. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

deriley · Post by **deriley** » Sat Jun 03, 2006 8:54 pm

OK, so I put the new pick up unit in the car. She started right up Hurray!Let her idle for about 5 minutes and decided to take her down the road, loaded up my bulldog (he loves this car, will sit in it for hours) headed up the road, about a mile later pulled into a drive way to turn around and she dies, will not start period, and my husband is off playing with his friends. Some passerbys helped to push it to a friend shop and the friend gave me and Month a ride home. Looking back, when checking the plugs for spark it seemed like they had a week spark. What now? Alternator, couldn't get a good look at it on the road but I did see naked wires. Look
forward to getting knowledgabe opinions.

So Cal Mark · Post by **So Cal Mark** » Sat Jun 03, 2006 10:07 pm

bare wires? where? Did the battery have enough power to operate the starter after it stalled?
when you installed the pickup, did you make sure the gap was correct between the reluctor and pickup?

deriley · Post by **deriley** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 2:17 am

Bare wires looked like they were connected at the alternator. I did reach down to see if they attached somehow (as I said I could not get a good look and no tools with me) and it sparked. Sometimes the engine would start to turn over, sometimes not and then it seemed the battery would not have any juice. I'm afraid that I don't know what the reluctor is, I installed the pickup exactly in the same position that I removed the old one. Another thought I had. . . this seems to happen ( 3rd time) after I've driven her for a few miles and everything is hot.

So Cal Mark · Post by **So Cal Mark** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 3:09 am

if you have a stalling/no hot start problem, the ignition module may be breaking down. The good thing is that those modules are pretty inexpensive now, it's the same unit that GM used on their early electronic ignitions.
The reluctor is the toothed cam in the dist. You have to make sure the gap between the reluctor teeth and the pickup unit is correct. But the first step is to make sure the battery is charged and the connections are clean and tight

deriley · Post by **deriley** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 7:26 pm

Is the ingition module located behind the coil? If so I had that tested and it is working just fine. Could it test find and still not be working properly? I did get a good look at the wires to the alt. today.
The heavy green one had about 2" of coating striped off and the wires were split in 2 with a nut connecting 1/2 of the them to the alt.
I got my hands on a Chilton foreign Car Repair manual from 71. I looked to the dist., and couldn't find any thing about a reluctor. I assume I need to remove the shaft Please let me know if this is wrong.
THX

So Cal Mark · Post by **So Cal Mark** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 8:18 pm

the ign module is behind the coil and when they have intermittent problems they will work fine until the problem occurs; usually when hot

the 71 manual won't have info on your ignition system since yours' has been converted to an electronic unit; they debuted in 1979.

deriley · Post by **deriley** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 11:57 pm

Thank you Mark, I'll pick a new one up tomarrow. I also downloaded and printed the complete manual for the 124 Spider 75-82 that I found on this site.

So Cal Mark · Post by **So Cal Mark** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 12:16 am

you should be able to buy a module for under $20 these days

mdrburchette · Post by **mdrburchette** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 6:02 am

"Sometimes the engine would start to turn over, sometimes not and then it seemed the battery would not have any juice."

Have you checked your battery output?