1965 Buick Skylark 4.9, 300 Cranks but won’t start

[JMJ]

OK, that is not a Big Cap GM HEI distributor. It is a small body distributor like the original points distributors. It may be an aftermarket distributor, or it may have been converted to electronic ignition with one of many available kits. It might help to see what is under the distributor cap. In any case, you need to check for spark first.

It's definitely an after market product per the previous owner. I will pull the cap off and take some pics. Will the parts I ordered work on this or will it depend on what's under the cap?

 

[JMJ]

It's definitely an after market product per the previous owner. I will pull the cap off and take some pics. Will the parts I ordered work on this or will it depend on what's under the cap?

Do the plugs look that bad? I already have the replacements but wondering if they look like they could be the culprit.

 

[LARRY70GS]

It's definitely an after market product per the previous owner. I will pull the cap off and take some pics. Will the parts I ordered work on this or will it depend on what's under the cap?

Everything except the contact points.

 

[LARRY70GS]

Do the plugs look that bad? I already have the replacements but wondering if they look like they could be the culprit.

Plugs look good. I think you have no spark. Need to know what ignition you have. Could be Pertronix, MSD, or Mallory Unilite distributor. The distributor cap has GM HEI style terminals, so the cap you ordered likely won't work as well. The more I look at the pictures, the more I think that is an aftermarket distributor.

 

[ulycyc]

Looks like a Pertronix as Larry mentioned. Not sure what coil you bought but many aftermarket like brand matching low resistance coils.

 

[LARRY70GS]

Looking at the wiring, I think it might be MSD ready to run distributor. TA Performance sells a look alike one,

Ready-to-Run, Ready-to-Run Distributor 215-300-340-350, Black Cap, TA_724B | TAPerformance.com

 

[JMJ]

Looks like a Pertronix as Larry mentioned. Not sure what coil you bought but many aftermarket like brand matching low resistance coils.

This is the ignition coil that it came with and yes the HEI distributor is an aftermarket. I can put the old coil back in, since I believe it still works.

 

[ulycyc]

At this point just crank the car and see if you have spark by holding the coil wire close to ground as someone cranks the car. Then if no spark we can try and figure out your problem

 

[JMJ]

At this point just crank the car and see if you have spark by holding the coil wire close to ground as someone cranks the car. Then if no spark we can try and figure out your problem

Will do. It will have to wait until Saturday when I have someone to crank the motor for me.

 

[JMJ]

Sorry I have not been back for an update. So I was able to track down the Distributor Cap and Rotor set from Southwest and once the parts arrived I changed them out. I noticed the older cap had the missing center button/ball so I decided to get these installed first. Once that was done and I still got not spark, I suspected the Ignition pickup coil went out. I jiggled the wires and no luck. Now I need to order a new pickup coil or just replace the whole distributor and start over, which is where I am leaning.

With that said, any recommendations on what to buy? I was planning to get a quality run ready system.

Please Advise.

 

[2007LucerneCXL]

Starting over may be the proper way to eliminate any possible problems. If something isn't correct in the wiring swapping parts may be costly and still not going to fix the problem. As with any troubleshooting call out it has a starting point and proceeds to a end point confirming every component is operating properly. Eventually the problem will be found but jumping around from part to part it can be overlooked.

No photo of the rotor, but if discolored or burn marks it would have been operating at some point.

 

[JMJ]

Sorry for the delay, I ended up buying a new distributor and did not initially change the harness and it would not start. I changed the harness with the newly supplied one and it worked. GO figure...

Thanks for all your help.

 

[G-783375]

I have a base model 1965 Buick Skylark 4.9, 300 that cranks but won’t start, even with starting fluid.

I had to replace the battery since it died and would not recharge. The battery was about 4 years old so it was bound to happen. This is a garage kept car and I drive it every other weekend or so.

That weekend I needed the space, so I pulled the car out of the garage and left it out overnight in the cold (20-30 degrees). I went to start it and get it back in to the garage later the next day and it would not start. I figured it was just cold and kept trying until I smelled gas so I assumed I flooded the engine. I decided to let it sit for another day to see if that would help.

On the second day, with a fresh new battery and some starting fluid, I tried again and no luck. I could see that I was getting gas through the carburetor jets and I had plenty of power from the new battery but still no luck.

I did some research and found that in most of these cases either the spark plugs get wet it can foul them or possibly the ignition coil is bad. I pulled two spark plugs and they look ok not terribly bad. I then decided to buy an ignition coil since the odds are that this is the culprit. Once I replaced the ignition coil, I start cranking and still no start with starting fluid.

I also just ordered new spark plugs, distributor cap and rotor kit, contact points and sea foam motor treatment for the fuel tank. I will be installing these once the parts come in.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

Do you still have your Skylark?