Chevy & GMC Vans

Well,

After i fixed the vibration problem, it was running pretty good.
I saw one sparkplug wire was arching alittle so i brought new plugs and wires.

I replaced the parts, and now this stinking truck won't start!
i've done plugs so many times on astro's! i've even did my head gaskets!

I've checked for spark, i've checked fuel, it's all there!
Checked the firing order.

I honestly don't know what in the world this can be.
All it does is keep cranking!

i feel like kicking this van!

Make sure that your leads are all the way clicked on the cap,coil, and plugs. A weak spark will go when the plug is in the air but not under pressure in the engine. Also check for any wires you could have bumped loose or vacuum lines.

It has to be something stupid since it was running before. You put the rotor in the cap right?

Jboy2 wrote:I saw one sparkplug wire was arching alittle so i brought new plugs and wires

Where was it arcing? I'm just wondering how plug wires fail.

timelessbeing wrote:

Jboy2 wrote:I saw one sparkplug wire was arching alittle so i brought new plugs and wires

Where was it arcing? I'm just wondering how plug wires fail.

Your kidding right?

Hi Jboy.You said you replaced the parts.My question is with what??.Did you get the recommended Delco stuff??.Not saying that is you problem per say,but it might be a contributing factor.What color is the spark??.Sometimes things happen all at the same time.Maybe before you swapped out the parts,you had a coil going south.As stated,check the wires on the dizzy.

I don't think it would be the oil pressure switch wires because if you knocked them off it shouldn't have any spark at all.That kills the ignition.

Let us know what you have found or where you are with this.

Oh yeah.I know your frustrated with this right now.I hate it too when I try to do something to make it better and lose what I had to begin with.Just gotta trust in the fact once you get it fixed,it becomes a faded memory quickly.

menrvan wrote:

timelessbeing wrote:

Jboy2 wrote:I saw one sparkplug wire was arching alittle so i brought new plugs and wires

Where was it arcing? I'm just wondering how plug wires fail.

Your kidding right?

No. I've actually never seen an arcing spark plug wire with my own eyes. Shocking!

By they way, the contraction for "you are" is spelled "you're". "Your" is a pronoun that indicates possession, as in "Is that your van?"

The insulation will dry and crack letting the spark go out the side of the wire and usually against the side of the block. I once had a wire fail and the spark went around the foil on the inside of the dog house and into another plug lead and caused a nasty back fire through the intake. Everytime we took the dog house off the van ran fine put the house on and the backfire came back. It wasn't until I touched the distributor cap and got shocked good and damn hard on idle that I found out my year old leads were bad.

Ouch! Nothing like 20,000 Volts going through your body to wake you up. I think that's pretty bad for your ticker.

By they way, the contraction for "you are" is spelled "you're". "Your" is a pronoun that indicates possession, as in "Is that your van?"
That the second time.Are you the grammer police?First time I checked my pronunciation.It was fine.Now this.I speak as we do in america.The newspaper is printed like this.You sound like the spanish people.Each believing thier own dialect is the only true spanish.

Menrvan sorry but timeless is right. I don't want to get into a grammar debate but you used the wrong spelling. If it was a verbal conversation it would have sounded fine but in print you used the wrong spelling. Spelling doesn't change by area English is English no matter how poorly it is spoken in some areas.

Now that school is over let's get back to vans.

menrvan wrote:By they way, the contraction for "you are" is spelled "you're". "Your" is a pronoun that indicates possession, as in "Is that your van?"
That the second time.Are you the grammer police?First time I checked my pronunciation.It was fine.Now this.I speak as we do in america.The newspaper is printed like this.You sound like the spanish people.Each believing thier own dialect is the only true spanish.

Timeless is right. Sorry dude, there's only one english and it doesn't matter how you enunciate. Maybe he's anal about spelling and punctuation,,, who knows? either way you look / read better when the spelling is correct. If it were an application for employment stupid things like that will set you apart from others.

btw: grammar is spelled w/ 2 A's.

edit- I'm sorry, I couldn't resist.

menrvan wrote:That the second time.Are you the grammer police?First time I checked my pronunciation.It was fine.Now this.I speak as we do in america.The newspaper is printed like this.You sound like the spanish people.Each believing thier own dialect is the only true spanish.

If I were the grammar police, you would be sentenced to life for this paragraph alone!
HAHAHA ... get it? ... sentence...

Caint weall jest git alone???

LOLz, Jim

Everyone makes the occasional (or sometimes common) mistake, but if you still get your point across clearly then nobody cares. Using run-on twitter style posts is lazy, and makes it a pain for anyone who's trying to help to read it, let alone understand it.

I was actually poking fun with the "your" bit, because I got impression that I was being told "you're an idiot for not knowing how spark plug wires arc". I kept trying to diffuse the conversation with humour, and was met with this reaction. Charming.

All grammar aside, here is my $0.02.

I know this may sound like really going back to the basics, but I have been fouled up by this many times...
Since you said you replaced the wires I would check the following:
- Make sure the order is correct in the correct rotational direction. With the Number 1 plug wire in the number one position on the cap.
- Make sure the cap is seated properly. Compare the new cap to the old one and make sure it looks the same.
- Make sure the spark plug wires do not run parallel, they need to cross at 60 to 90 degree angles. Electricity can jump wires if they are running in parallel.
- Check for any grime at the base of the distributor that could be grounding it out. (I had the same issue with my VW after changing the cap and rotor. A little grease bugger fell on top of a ground line and fouled out the distributor.
- Recheck the spark plug gap. Even if you are getting spark out of the cylinder, under pressure the spark may not be able to jump the gap.

Hopefully one of those do the trick for you and get you back on the road.