On my way to work this morning I had to slow down on the freeway for some stopped traffic. When I got off the gas I heard an awful ticking noise from the motor that got slower as the engine RPMs came down. After a couple of minutes of stop-n-go traffic it went away. I was maintaining 35lbs of oil pressure while I was idling. I didn't hear it any more until I was on my way home. After about 15 minutes of driving it came back loud and stayed for the rest of the trip home. When I got home I used a screw driver on the engine and on my ear to try to figure out where it was coming from. It sounded like it was around cyl. #1. So I pulled the plug wire off of #1 and the car went dead. I put the wire back on but couldn't get the car to refire. I had my daughter turn the engine over while I checked for spark. I don't have any spark now but I do still have 12 volts going to the dist. Could the ticking have been coming from a dying HEI or was that just coincidence? Have you ever heard of an HEI just dropping dead? MARK
noise Could be that or a timing chain. Pull the cap and see if the rotor is turning. If it is and you have 12v to the cap at the lead wire check for voltage at the dist module. If you're good there then suspect the coil. Hope its not the T-chain! GOOD LUCK...Tim
Excessive heat from the incap coil will often take out itself and/or the module. Definitely look 'em both over.
I would check the Module, they have gone on me in the past. One other problem i had was snaping the roll pin for the distributor gear. good luck.
If your distributor shaft bushing/bearing failed it can cause a noise like you describe. This, in turn, would cause excessive heat in the distributor; thereby, frying the electronics. Just a thought...I've had it happen.
If what's inside the cap is called the coil, I replaced it this morning but I still don't have a spark. I haven't verified the rotor spinning yet. I'll do that after work. Thanks. MARK
Most likely your module is bad. Take it out and test it at AutoZone. New ones are cheap. Make sure you use the heat conducting grease on it.
Okay. So I replaced this and now it starts and runs okay. Is this the module? I pulled it out of my V6 distributor. I still get a pretty loud tick though. It comes around after the car has been run for 15 minutes. And oil pressure is still good. New thread or just search the old ones? MARK
