Electrical Issues

[SpyderJoe]

Hi guys,
It has been a while since I posted. We've had some great weather here in the northeast so I had my 79 spider out for a few hours. My wife and I stopped for some icecream and when I went back to the car it wouldn't start. She, (my spider), turns over strong but would not start. I put it in 2nd gear and had a buddy push it. I popped the clutch and it started but it ran really rough and when I touched the accelerator, nothing happened and as I pushed in the clutch she went dead again. We did this a couple of times and the same thing happened. The headlights, radio and internal light do not work but the brake lights and side orange marker lights work.

Luckily I kept my AAA membership and had it towed to my house.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

[kilrwail]

I would suggest checking all the connections at the coil and distributor, either for a bad ground or intermittent high tension lead. The symptoms sound familar, but in my case were brought on by high ambient temperatures and a long, hot drive (after FFO 08). Cured itself after cooling off for 15 minutes.

[So Cal Mark]

you could have an ignition module that is failing, and the heat soak killed the spark. Will it restart once it's cooled off?

[SpyderJoe]

Thanks for the reply guys. I am a novice when it comes to the electrical system. How do I go about checking ground at coil and distributor? I had a new ignition switch installed last fall so I am not going to focus on that just yet.

[SpyderJoe]

Hi guys,
I was following directions in my manual on troubleshooting this problem. I put the voltmeter on the coil and turned the ignition switch to on. The manual says it should read 12 volts but I got 0. I then put it on the battery and it reads 12+ volts. I checked all of the wires from coil to distributor and they are in good shape. I had a new ignition switch put in last year. Could it be the ignition switch again as SoCal Mark wrote? The car will not start while cold..

Thanks.

[mbouse]

new or not, the electrical system relies on good solid connections. did the new switch use the old white connectors?

those connectors get corroded over time. clean and check all the connections for good solid tight mechanical fits.