I own a 1981 D150 360 that I have slowly been trying to work the kinks out of. I have replaced the resistor, cap and rotor, solenoid, relay and wires. Last night I finally got spark after a month of trying. The only problem was it wasnt gettin gas. It started with starting fluid. So i figured i would go out this morning and get gas up to the carb only problem is no spark? WTH? Any help would be great.

 

Btw all the ignition components are NEW

 

Start at the coil. Check to see if there's power to the coil. If there is then check to see if there's fire from the coil. Work your way down from there. Also check to see if the rotor is turning. It could've ate the distributor gear.

 

If I use a volt meter to test the coil how much should it read?

 

How long has it been since the truck has run? What was it that finally caused you to get spark last night? How old is the battery and what shape is it in? If all of the ignition components are new (not that new means they are necessarily good) I would look at the existing wiring for grounds and shorts.

 

Voltage at the coil should be about 6-8 volts in the run position and about 12 volts in the start position.

 

Its been a couple of months since it ran last. I finally just bought new plug wires put em on and used a little starting fluid and it fired over. Granted the fuel tank is vapor locked and thats why i decided to tackle that today but theres no spark as of now. Where should I look for a crappy ground? I know these old Rams are wiring messes and that the have problems with grounds.

 

Vapor lock is caused by overheated fuel. That is not the problem you are describing. Disconnect the fuel line at the carb and see if the pump will produce fuel to the carb. If there is no fuel at the carb disconnect the pump inlet and blow air thru the line. You should here bubbles in the fuel tank and no air leaks along the fuel supply line. You can also supply an alternate fuel supply to the pump inlet and check for any output from the pump.

A ground can be in any wire and any ground wire that is supposed to have a ground can lose it. What I am saying is if the proper voltage at a connection is not there check the wires for a ground and check all ground wires for a good connection.

 

ill let you know how it goes