Lucky you! Meanwhile I get to drive my time bomb

 

Lol
Ok one last stupid comment.
Could it be as simple as a stupid short upstream. Though that wouldn't tell you why the voltage is low on primary.

You ever get the feeling fmc is sitting there watching us flounder?

 

Hell if I showed you under my dash and showed you the wiring from the PO up there, you'd either burn me or the truck...or both. I honestly don't know how this truck hasn't burned down yet...butt spices and scotch locks all over the place. It's not a pretty sight. So who knows...a short could be possible.

And I bet he's out there thinking that at least one of us has no idea what they're doing...but hey, that's why he's here to help us

 

Well one thing I know for sure is you can't learn it if you don't do it.
Good luck Dave.

 

BTW I'm working with a few guys today that could use some butt spices

 

The primary voltage you've observed is not ideal, and needs to be addressed. However, 5 volts should still be enough to facilitate spark. You've shown that the coil voltage is the same whether the truck runs or not. It's not changing. It certainly could be a sign that something upstream (such as the ballast resistor, connection to ignition switch, etc) is on the verge of failure, but you've already verified that the coil switches when you presumably don't have spark.

So far, you've stated that:

1) The coil is switching during the fault condition
2) The plugs do not fire during the fault condition
3) Wires, plugs, caps, and rotor are not suspect

All three cannot be true, obviously. Therefore, one or more of the following must be true (using the same numbers):

2) You actually do have spark, and aren't testing properly
3) One or more of your replacement parts are bad.

I'm making the obvious assumption that when you're cranking the engine while the test light BLINKs, the engine still in fact does not start. That's why (1) doesn't appear in the second list.

If the back of this truck's dash is a rat's nest, then you might be best served by starting from scratch and rewiring everything. You already know you have to address your coil voltage problem anyway. Possible causes for that were described early on in the thread. However, I urge you to vet your understanding first. It's highly probable that one of the three things you believe to be true is in fact not true. Otherwise the truck would be running when in fact it is not.

 

Lol!! No way we can let him get away with editing that!! Sounds like one hell of a party!

 

It wasn't me, I swear! Though there was a bit of shady wiring when I had it, I can't remember wiring anything actually. Good luck though, hope you get it all sorted out. I can't really think of anything other than what's been suggested already.

 

Dear lord that turned that statement into something waaaay off of what it was supposed to be! Lol oh well its good entertainment.

 

If you replaced the engine, and it was doing this before, it has to be something that you have overlooked because you thought it was "right".
I am definitely not the smartest one here.
And i "rebuilt" my 4x4 hubs about 6 months ago and they they werent right. I just kept puttin them back the way they were cuz i thought the PO musta had em right. Nope
After that, i saw everything as "wrong" and started from zero. And redid my brakes and found out the PO had the lefts and rights swapped.

It will get figured out, man.

Check your grounds again, grind paint to metal, do whatever.

And your attitude is great. Good luck to you Dave.

 

Thanks man this issue is stumpin me that's for sure. I checked tonight for any signs of a resistor. Nope. Nada. No resistor to be found anywhere (no ceramic thingy or fat pink wire). My "new" coil is a 12v coil so from my understanding it shouldn't need one anyway. Wiring to the ignition switch is untouched and is plugged in tightly. Tightened the spade terminal to the + side of the coil...was fairly loose. Also taped up a bare electrical solder joint that appeared to be from the (-) coil post to the distributor.

I swear to god if the issue was those stupid connections...

 

Maybe multiple reasons. This being one.

You wouldn't be any different from the rest of us.
Good luck bro.

 

Well, I've been driving it around after tightening those connections up a bit and haven't stalled yet...I'm sure those aren't the only issue but...I think they helped.

I have the option also to get new QUALITY parts for a semi-decent price. I'm talking about the ICM, coil, cap, rotor, etc. The total bill for all that stuff is only around $80ish. Would it be wirth just biting the bullet and buying it to replace my *newer* cheap replacement parts? I assume yes but...wanted some opionions first.

Also. Seeing as how I can't find/do not have a ballast resistor, should I get one and a 6V coil? Or should I just get a 12V coil and call it a day?

 

You're chasing your tail. You need to understand why the coil is getting switched, but the plugs are NOT firing. The other stuff is important but isn't the difference between running and not running. Refer to my previous post; it's not clear to me that any of my advice is actually getting used.

 

You commented that either I have spark and am not checking correctly, or that my replacement parts are bad. There is no spark when the truck dies. I started by pulling a plug wire and holding it to the exhaust manifold and no spark jumps. Then I pull the coil wire off the distributor and hold it to the AC bracket and get nothing. To the best of my knowledge, that's how to check for spark...please correct me if I'm wrong.

In responjse to your 2nd comment about the parts, yes they are cheap parts and are suspect to being bad...hence why I asked if I should just redo the system with good quality parts.