76 dodge w100 no spark when key turned

Asked by Wolf Aug 27, 2018 at 05:58 PM about the 1976 Dodge Power Wagon W100 4WD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I have a 76 dodge w100, the problem i am having is
when i turn the key to start the truck the starter
cranks like normal, but the distributor does not get
energised. When the key is in the run position the
ignition energizes. The original amp meter had
fried and has been routed out of the system, the
fusible links have been replaced, and distributor is
a hei with cap mounted coil. I have tried running
power directly to the coil from the batt with no
success, ive tried running the line off the ign acc
on the fuse panel with no luck. Ive ohm checked
the coil and it tests out proper. Ive volt checked
everything i can think of and all seems righr. The
only weird result ive found is if im volt checking
when i crank the motor voltage to the coil seems to
dump to around 6v. Ive replaced the column
switch, run new wires to starter relay and tried
even running the old coil wire to the new coil and
still nothing. Im hoping someone has some idea
the right direction to move forward reviving this rig.

Ben77W200 answered 6 years ago

I’ve just spent days trying to get my ‘77 W200 to have spark. It was “going bad” over the last two weeks. Now no spark at all. New parts: ECU Coil Resistor Distributor Cap Plugs Plug wires ....everything that can be changed. I am about to start looking under the dash...have you looked in your dash or column?

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Wolf answered 6 years ago

I have looked in the dash it was a mess, a common problem occurs at the amp meter, the hot lead tends to cook the amp meter, if you cut the leads off the gauge and splice them together that will complete the circuit (if the ampmeter infact cooked) i did that fix on mine and it solved my issue, unfortunately i decided to replace the old points distributor with a late model coil in cap hei, then my problem became no spark when cranking (key turned to engage momentary switch), but i do get spark when i release the momentary into "run" position.

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