woke up this morning for work and the car pretend like it was going to start, turned over for a split second then died ... I think I have a wiring issue to the starter.

One of the wires covering has been degrading over time and the connection broke and wouldn't start the other day. I temp wrapped it around itself and taped it off and it has been working, looks like I am going to need to actually fix the issue

But I was concerned when i removed the distrib. cap and saw on each of the copper tips inside there was a hard residue on each one ... what is this? normal?

jeff

Normal yes, but only it just means that it's time to replace it. I wouldn't just replace the cap though, replace the rotor too. When was the last time you replaced the plugs? Wires? Cap & rotor are very inexpensive as are the plugs.
Wires are a little more. Get yourself some Bosch Silvers or some NGK's. You should be able to get cap, rotor and plugs for around or under $20....

DEFINITELY fix that starter wire or It'll just haunt you at inopportune times until you do!!!

Need any more help....just ask!

~David

The cap looks brand new, and 200 miles ago the tips on the inside had no marks on them ... it seems maybe i have an electrical issue
?

What's your rotor look like??? Your spark? You getting a nice bright spark? Like blue or white? Not red. Red spark is not good....

Good wires to your coil too? Check those!

How can I check the color of the spark ... I think I may not even be getting spark. I just replaced the cap and rotor...and i also replaced the plugs about 200 miles ago. I pulled the plugs and they are very clean, so I assume they are firing correctly. Might my starter be dead? I re-did the wiring the the "flamethrower" on the fender, the plug and cap are new, plugs are new, the spark plug wires are rather new -- they look very clean on the outside, and I assume they are in at least good enough shape to fire. The past few days it seemed like i would turn the key and it would crank for a bit, then RIGHT as I let go of the key it would fire and then run. This morning it would just barely fire for a second, but not long enough to fully run. Now I get nothing but crank crank crank crank crank. I def. have fuel so it's something sparky ... I REALLY need this car to be on the road tomorrow

Also, is my ignition coil (this is the flamethrower right?) dead? It was the wire to this, not the started that fried ... prior to this i am near certain my rotor and cap were in good shape, after it seems the rotor was really ZAPPED on the metal tip. It was one of the connectiong to this that fried and then was kinda temporarily fixed for a few days now its dead

Well no matter how new your cap is, it's not good now because it's corroded.
You can remove that corrosion but this is an extremely temporary fix. Don't count on it to get you around. You can check your spark by pulling a wire on a plug and while someone turns the motor over hold the metal end of the wire 1/4" away from a metal source like the head or such. If your electrode prong does not protrude from the wire end then you can cross it with a screwdriver. Use gloves and don't touch metal with your hands. Best thing is to get someone who lives with you who has checked for spark before and knows what they're doing. Then you would do the same test to the wire that plugs into the center of the coil to check to see if it's getting spark. The first test is a check to see if spark is getting past the coil TO the wires. Understand?....If not......I or someone will explain further.....but yes, those 2 wires to the coil must be in good shape and not split for frayed...

Everything in the ignition system (I believe) is now new except the ignition coil and starter. I get plenty of crank so I'm assuming the starter is fine? This leaves the ignition coil which to me seems like the obvious answer because the wire connecting to it (It was one of the wires closes to the firewall which I believe is power) was shorted and melted and probably ruined the coil. I have brand new plugs, rotor, cap, wires so is it the ignition coil? The only other thing I can think of would be the wiring

Can I replace my petronix flamethrower coil with a regular bosch replacement? I'm not sure if anything/what might be different about the unit in there as compared to stock

Thanks for all the helo so far David

In all honesty, I'm not versed on the specs of the Pertronix coil. Therefore I wouldn't want to give advice and have you take it as verbatim solid information. Perhaps those who have upgraded to this ignition system could give you more accurate answers. Either way, make SURE that those wires are corrected before replacing the coil or you'll just be back to square 1 and out another coil perhaps.

Best of Luck!

I picked up a replacement coil and put it in, after a few tries it just started right up ... ran fine for about 2 minutes, then really started to chug and idle real bad and then it died...now it won't start up again.

Since it started and ran fine for a bit I should assume the wiring is all fine ...

When I pushed on the throttle it would pick back up again but as soon as I let go it died. But when it was about to die and then I hit the throttle something up front screetched for a second then stopped. Upon startup a few days ago it did the same screech noise.

I checked the vacuum lines while it was chugging and the one right in front of the engine that goes into the metal bell shaped thing between the engine and the fan and it was hissing. I put my finger over part of it and the hissing stopped ... i temp put a piece of electrical tape over where the noise was coming from, but it still wont start

Please help

I don't know why it would be hissing but any hose you would find that is leaking. Replace it immediately. This leak will prevent the car from running properly at all. Until you fix all the leaks there is no point in continuing to troubleshoot. Fix the one/s you KNOW are bad. Then while the car is idling spray some carb cleaner at every point that has a hose connection. If the idle suddenly rises then you have a leak where you just sprayed. Also spray each of the intake connections. Those gaskets go bad and leak also. You cannot, I repeat, cannot, have any vaccuum leaks. These motors run on what is called a "closed system". What this means is that no air can enter. If you have the car running and pull the dipstick OR unscrew the oil filler car the car should die. If it doesn't, you have a leak. When possible make sure the radiator cap and gas cap are in good condition and don't leak as well.

Keep us informed....

The fuel pump fuse was so finely cracked I couldnt tell until I pulled it and it fell apart ... The car starts right up now ... but that hose is surely leaking. I duct taped it to see if I could get it to run continuously and it mostly does. It has slight idle chugging, but it seems like as long as I had slight gas applied it would run

Would it hurt the car to run it with the slight leak? Or should I take my girlfriends car to work one more day until I can replace that hose. What size hose is it and is this a standard hose i can measure and cut or do I need a specific fitment?

You are really my lifesaver here :)

I have found out that the issue isn't the vacuum hose -- it is either the big fat hose that comes from that same thing that heads under the intake manifold, or it is that thing itself (the little metal housing that has the blue cap on top...not sure what that is) but it is coming from that unit because if i grab it from the top, it stops making a sound like air is escaping and the car runs better

I'm thinking that what you're talking about is 11741264742 the slide aux air valve hose(NOT to be confused with the one mounted on the valve cover near the distributor.

The valve I'm sure is fine but the hose gets cracks in the joints. I think I paid about $15 for mine....

http://www.bavauto.com/assets/imglib500/11741264742.jpg

Our cars are of the age that ALL the hoses should be replaced. Until you do this you'll be chasing idle issues forever with no resolve...You will waste money on tuneup parts, fiddling with adjusting mixture of air and fuel and all sorts of things which will only end up in screwing things up worse...So get those hoses replaced before doing ANYTHING else....Even I didn't do em all at once but I did a couple every payday so that within a month or so I had em all done. Best $$$ I ever spent.

Hope this helps!

~David

I replaced a ton of the black vacuum lines to no resolve ... Then when fiddling with the car I was thinking to myself ... did i have this idling issue prior to changing the ignition coil -- no. It wasn't bad idle problem, it was just that the car wouldn't start. So I said "what did I do after the car stopped running and before i finished the ignition coil .... I checked the oil"

You weren't kidding about the closed system and it being very important. The dipstick wasn't fully seated in the whole ... i pushed it in and started the car up, ran fine, stayed running fine.

It got me here to work today on the 1hour long commute ... nice smooth 1,100 RPM idle

Cool! I'm glad it was something simple and inexpensive. You followed the simple rule of process of elimination by backtracking the series of events that led up to the symptoms of the problem. Good Job!

Now it's dead again ... a fuel issue. I'm not smelling gas. I recently replaced the fuel pump relay and fuse ... I think the relay may have gone bad real quick, or I may have a wiring issue. Perhaps after running a tank of old fuel through the car it is gunked up ... Know of any way I can get a picture of the wiring to the fuel pump relay plug? The wires came out when i removed the plug and I dont know what goes to where. I have two green wires with yellow stripes together ... one green wtih violet stipe, one brown, and one black

What places should I look first with a fuel issue?