I bought an 85 4 door that had been donated to American Cancer Society -- spoke with previous owner who said it died while his son was driving it, so he called ACS to come pick it up -- sometimes it will run 2 blocks, sometimes 20 feet and sometimes it just won't start -- fuel pump is working but a spark tester did not show "spark" at the plugs
Does this old "whoopty" have an ECM? if so where is it? my plan is to get a different coil at the "Pull-A-Part" and try that & also pull off the distributor cap and make sure the rotor bug and cap contacts are in good shape -- when it is running it runs GREAT. when it's not running it is DEAD

 

The only electronic part is the ignition module inside the distributor. There may be a small ECM but it is used only to fine-tune the carb and is not involved in generating sparks. There could be another problem with the car's wiring so no power is reaching the ignition. Check for 12 volts at the (+) terminal of the coil.

 

thanks for some great ideas -- this is good positive feedback -- i think i will go to the Pull-A-Part and gather up about $10 worth of parts to try -- coil - module and check the coil feed voltage

 

went to the Pull-A-Part and got a coil and complete distributor plus 3-4 small electrical components near/attached to the coil --- bolted everything in and it started right up and has been driven a couple miles with no problems -- just changed the price on the windshield from $700 to $1200 -- hope someone offers me $1000 and it is their new baby

 

Sweet!