Hey everybody
Got a 83 242 GLT, B21 engine, thats just isn't starting. Problem seems to be no spark. Heres the story:
Bought this beauty back in January, great deal, starts fine runs fine, all is good. Use it for commuting, maybe 10-20 miles a day, apparently it had been spending the better part of a year sitting.
So, started the car one morning to take the kid to school, and it cranks but won't start. I had driven it the previous night, had a full tank of gas from the previous morning, and always starts on the first turn. Weather wasn't remarkable, bit of a rainy day, but that has happened before.
So, I start messing with stuff. Got out the old voltometer and stuck the positive end in the spark wire boots, and grounded the negative, no reaction on boot 4, 3, or 2, but a small jump on boot one. After talking to an electrical engineer, though, I was told that the voltometer would have exploded, or called my mother names, or something other than give an accurate reading if it were actually sparking, because the voltage would be too high.
Sooooo, tried another test. Pulled the ignition wire from the center of the distributor cap, stuck a paper clip in it, and held it to ground. Got one little white (not blue) spark the first time, and nothing after that, even though I tested it several times. Then I noticed that the belt had been chewing on the ignition cable, so I replaced it.
Still not firing, so I yelled at my car and went in the house. Now, could the problem be the ignition coil? Something else? Or could I be misdiagnosing the error alltogether and am just not getting any gas?
Help!

Jake