ignition starting problems

So far I went through three modules$$$$. Do you think my pick-up coil is causing this or may it be bad?

Man....what a bummer!
This may be a silly question(yeah, I know, what other kind would I have ), but, when you changed the module, did you put the "grease" on the back of it? There should be a small amount of white "grease" looking stuff that comes with the module, and it must be spread out over the backside of the module. It is part of the "heat-sink", which protects the module against overheating. If there is none there, it will definitely overheat the mod., and that could be part of the trouble. It would also help explain why the car will start when(the mod)cold, but not once it gets hot. I've had a mod. overheat and quit working after only a few minutes before. Make sure that stuff is there!
It is possible, too, that the coil you're using is not correct for the car. They are usually identified by the colors of the wires on the coil. Red,yellow, or white, plus the black one for ground. Maybe the coil is drawing too much for the module to handle, or visa-versa.
This is a head scratcher, for sure, but I bet someone gets it figured out, hopefully soon!

Hard to believe the pole-piece(pick-up) would be bad on two different dist. It seems like the thing will start when you change the mod. It's possible the wires going to & from the mod. have a bad spot somewhere, but not on both of your distributors.(Unless you've really tee-d off a voo-doo lady! )Adams' Apple38553.7933449074

Just looked at my 77 GM truck service manual, all HEI's are the same, and Apple is right about the special silicone grease,the manual says it MUST be applied, also it says "CAUTION" a grounded tach terminal could damage the module, next time you might disconnect the tach wire, like I said before you might have a grounded wire or a bad tach.

Hey Joel & Anips, thanking you much for all the help and info, but still having the same problem. I did disconnect the tach, also I did put the special silicone grease on the module, which I purchased this morning and still-no start. It seems that I'm going to have it towed from my house and let the shop work on it$$$$$$$, but never the less I already put so much money into it, and I kind of want to drive it this summer. Thanking you both much. 

When its fixed please let us know what the ^%#^k it was, good luck.

Seems like everything has been covered.What a problem! I've been trying to come up with something offbeat that might cause the module to keep frying.I thought for sure the grounded tach wire idea was going to do the trick.What does anyone think about an hyper-active voltage reg. causing very high voltage and killing the module after a short time running?The question in that case is how high a voltage can the module endure?

Sorry I have been off line for a while.

The pick up coil can cause a no start, but cannot damage the module.

The module has a threshold voltage tolerence of about 20 volts.  Over this can fry it.  So checking the alternator output is a very good idea.

I would also check the cap and rotor.  If the high voltage spark comes down through the inside of the distributor, it can zap and fry a module.  This is usually caused by high resistance in the ignition system such as a open spark plug wire or bad plug.

I know you have disconnected the tach wire, but have you replace the module after that point?

I would suggest taking the old modules to AutoZone or somewhere similar and having them test the module to determine if they are good or bad.  I'm guessing bad, but it would be interesting to confirm this.  Then we know something is taking them out.

kstyer38555.8859375

Joel, Anips, Ken, and everyone else who gave me great advise, thanking you much. I just received my VETTE today and man it really runs. First the timing chain has to be changed which was slack and a new entire dist assembly was installed, so you guys know that I'm going back and return the other one that I had purchased and give this store a large word of mouth. But all and all I'm happy now that I can enjoy my Vette after this month long problem. You guys are GREAT. Soon I'll be putting a photo up of my Vette.

STNGRAY1

Great News and more info we can use.Have fun driving.

[QUOTE=Adams' Apple] Might be time for a compression test!
Maybe the timming chain has jumped?
If it's got fuel, fire, & compression, all at the correct time, it's got to run! (Just anouther 'log on the fire' for ya!)
I'm sure we're all assuming that the dist. is installed correctly. Does it ever backfire, sputter, or pop?(other than when you dumped the gas down the carb!) [/QUOTE]


Good news! It really sucks when your car's bwoke. Glad you got it goin!!