things to check for no spark?

[Blue_71]

i KNOw the battery is good (bastard's been charging for two days.. do not use cheap chargers and wal mart batteries!!) and it will turn over fine, maybe a little fast, but it just wont even try to fire.. im going to try a different cap, coil, and wires, anythign else i should check?

[Zkast]

Check your basics. Does it have spark? Pull a plug wire and verify good spark. Next does it have fuel? make sure your getting fuel - with the engine NOT CRANKING, look at the throttle plates of the carb and hit the throttle a few times to see if the accerator pump is pumping.

You say it spins fast? Like there is no compression? What changes were made to this engine before it ran or is this a new install?

I know I know... so many questions lol but you know the drill. err brill as it may lol

[Blue_71]

it was running, then it sit for two months, then i ran it twice (5ish minutes each time) then it acted like it ran out of gas, but the metal line had come loose. it was turning fast like that before, and all ive done is changed the plug wires during the 2 months it sit. but it has ran twice on the changed wires. it does get gas by hitting the throttle, but i havent checked for aprk, i just assume it isnt getting any, because put short theres no boom going on it sounds like

[O'l Buck]

you have HEI?....if so, check the ign wire and make sure it's hot, if it is, prolly the modulator.......if point type, check the ign wire, grounds, points, etc......usually it's just a simple matter of a loose connection, or a burned coil, which probably is not the case here.

[COBALT]

Don't assume anything. You have three places that the current from the starter could be interrupted: the starter, the coil, and the distributor.

I figured this out when I was trying to get my truck started the other day. Take a 6V latern battery, and pull the wires off the + side of the coil where the starter and battery/alternator supply the coil with power. Hook a jumper wire to the + side of the battery, and use a simple tester (one with a bulb in it) to connect the - side of the battery to the distributor housing. Have someone crank the engine. The light on the tester should blink indicating that the coil is getting current to the distributor. This isolates the starter, and confirms the distributor is getting current from the coil. Of course this is a simple test to see if the coil is good. Checking the distributor is as simple as making sure you're getting spark on all of your plugs. If you have a timing light run the + to the + on the battery, ground the - and use the plug wire connection to verify you're getting spark through your wires. That will isolate both the distributor and the wires. Then you'd know your plugs are either fouled, need gapped, or need replacing. Remember after a few times doing this your soaking your plugs with fuel/air that hasn't burned.

[GMCPaul]

Check and make sure before beginning that the rotor is in fact spinning when you crank the motor as when a timing chain jumps off or breaks they act about like they have run out of gas and if its jumped off or broke there is no spark as distributor will not turn. A few things I didn't see mentioned are listed below.
On HEI causes of no spark would be, no power to distributor, coil in cap bad, or HEI module. On the points models check for points gap.
GMCPaul

[slam33]

Check the cap, I had one that had worn the carbon button down to nothing and it just wouldn't go.

[Blue_71]

it does have HEI, ive had past problems with the wire ging to the BATT terminal, which i cant figure out where the PO has it run to. i never thought about the timing chain, but it was acting like it was out of gas, and still kind of is... hoping its something simple because im supposed to start taking this motor out to trade it to another one.

also, i looked before i got on here, and it looks like gas has got puddled in the intake and isnt getting pulled into the chamber? is that possible?