No spark coid wire off?

Tiny
JOHNHENRY77
  • MEMBER
  • 2000 CHEVROLET 1500
  • 4.3L
  • V6
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 250,000 MILES
2000 Chevy Silverado 4.3l vortec v6. This is a friend of mines truck and he called me to come see if I could get it going and this is where I'm at on it so far. I checked for spark at the plugs and it has none I pulled the cold wire off the distributor and check for spark and it does have spark. So it has spark going into the distributor but none coming out to the spark plugs what could be causing this. Before I was called to come work on it he had someone else working on it and this is what they replaced so far. A new icm, crank sensor, coil, and a new distributor was installed. Im not sure but if they didn't install the distributor in the right place or 180° out from tdc could that cause no spark out of the distributor. It also has a brand new cap and rotor button on it that came with the new distributor. Thanks for any info you can give on this.
Tuesday, August 26th, 2025 AT 3:34 PM

12 Replies

Tiny
MECHTRIX
  • MECHANIC
  • 382 POSTS
Yes a misaligned distributor or 180 degrees out
Will definately cause a no spark or no fire situation
You can quickly find out by rotating the engine to tdc on cyl no 1. (On the firing stroke) Take off the distributor cap and see if the rotor is pointing directly at the no 1 cylinder in the firing order.
If not take the distributor out and realign and if it runs use a timing light to reset the timing it all done good luck
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Tuesday, August 26th, 2025 AT 4:47 PM
Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 54,137 POSTS
If the spark goes in but does not comes out the distributer the spark is shorting through the rotor. I know you say it is new but, that is where I would look, also, remove the distributor and crank the engine over to see if the rotor spins.
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Tuesday, August 26th, 2025 AT 5:04 PM
Tiny
MECHTRIX
  • MECHANIC
  • 382 POSTS
Distributor cap " yep good idea ken it s a quick way to see if the rotor spins when you crank the engine good luck
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Tuesday, August 26th, 2025 AT 6:02 PM
Tiny
JOHNHENRY77
  • MEMBER
  • 7 POSTS
Ok thanks guys I am on my way now to work on it. I'll get back to you and let you know if I have any luck
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Tuesday, August 26th, 2025 AT 6:58 PM
Tiny
JOHNHENRY77
  • MEMBER
  • 7 POSTS
About the rotor turning when I crank the engine. Yes it spins and also I did check for continuity between where the coil wire plugs in on the distributor and the center of the cap where it makes contact with the rotor and that was good. So when I get there I am gonna check the distributor to see if it is in the correct spot and if it is then I will swap out the rotor with a new one and see if it will fire then.
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Tuesday, August 26th, 2025 AT 7:07 PM
Tiny
MECHTRIX
  • MECHANIC
  • 382 POSTS
Yeah I think its just out of time probably 180 degrees or evan just a couple teeth out of time if you straiten that out it migh just fire right up and you wont need any parts. Good luck let us know
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Tuesday, August 26th, 2025 AT 7:20 PM
Tiny
JOHNHENRY77
  • MEMBER
  • 7 POSTS
Well the distributor was not installed correctly. When @ tdc the rotor was pointing to #3 on the cap so I pulled the distributor out and reinstalled the it with the rotor on the #6 that is stamped inside the distributor. And still has no spark out of the distributor. Only has spark from the coil to the cap.
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Thursday, August 28th, 2025 AT 11:08 AM
Tiny
MECHTRIX
  • MECHANIC
  • 382 POSTS
No 6 is 180 degree off
. Start at no 1 cyl tdc on the firing stroke. Also agree with ken about the rotor check that or replace it. If you still have the old one you can try that
good luck hope this helps
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Thursday, August 28th, 2025 AT 11:38 AM
Tiny
JOHNHENRY77
  • MEMBER
  • 7 POSTS
Not cylinder #6 the #6 that is marked inside the distributor that it says the rotor is supposed to be pointed at when first installed. It also has a #8 inside that that the rotor is supposed to point at if the distributor is being installed in a 8 cylinder and or put on the 6 if it is installed in a 6 cylinder. Is that not correct.
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Thursday, August 28th, 2025 AT 11:59 AM
Tiny
JOHNHENRY77
  • MEMBER
  • 7 POSTS
I replaced the cap and rotor with new ones already and had no change.
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Thursday, August 28th, 2025 AT 12:02 PM
Tiny
MECHTRIX
  • MECHANIC
  • 382 POSTS
Ok great then replace the rotor or make sure theres continuity between the tip of it and the shaft that it sits on.
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Thursday, August 28th, 2025 AT 12:20 PM
Tiny
MECHTRIX
  • MECHANIC
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It needs to start at number 1 at tdc
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Thursday, August 28th, 2025 AT 2:47 PM

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