How do I know if my distributor is bad - Cars & Trucks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGN7bocJAjQ

We need to know what you mean by "proper power". There is a wire from the distributor to the coil which carries 12 volts and another from the coil to the distributor that carries upwards of 16 000 volts. The first is a thin one which allows the points to fire the coil, the other is the thicker high tension wire that comes from the coil to be distributed to the plugs.
If you have fire on the high tension wire but no fire on any of the plug wires, you have either a bad rotor or a cracked distributor cap or even the little carbon thingamajig inside the distributor cap might be broken or missing.
If your truck has a points ignition, you might have a bad condenser (capacitor) or the points are not set to the right specification (about 16 to 18 thou)
Check that the points are not burnt, which will also indicate a bad condenser.
You might reason that there is noting wrong with the points or condenser, but you can still get a nice spark which looks good, but is not sufficient to do the job.
The distributor cap might have a crack that you can't see with the eye, but a small crack will give you endless headaches.
Replacing the whole distributor is a very very very last fix.

If your engine cranks normally but will not start because it has no spark, or it stalls and won't restart because it has no spark, the problem may be due to any of the following:

A bad pickup inside the distributor (on engines that have a distributor), a stripped distributor drive gear (common problem with plastic distributor drive gears), broken, loose or corroded wires from the pickup to the ignition module orPCM.

A bad crankshaft position (CKP) sensor (on engines that do not have a distributor), or broken, loose or corroded wires from the sensor to the PCM.

A bad ignition module (on engines that have a distributor or use an ignition module separate from the PCM)

A bad ignition coil (on engines that have a distributor and a single coil)

A bad rotor or distributor cap (cracks or carbon tracks that are allowing the spark to short to ground)

Faulty ignition switch.

I dont know volvo well, but there could be an issue with the fuel injector, could be carbon build up, spark plugs could be bad, spark plug wires could be bad, distributor or distributor cap could be bad.

Hope that helps.

If you need further help, I’m available over the phone at https://www.6ya.com/expert/erik_3934b541f17c4e99

Several things, actually. There could be no battery power at the distributor due to a blown fuse or a bad main relay. You could have a bad distributor cap, bad rotor, bad ignition cable between the coil and the distributor cap, a bad Engine Control Unit, a bad distributor pick-up coil, or any of the wiring in-between. (see schematic)

have you checked the distributor cap and rotor because the spark has to come from these two things first and should be replaced when they get bad so please make sure when you check the distributor cap that you use a permanant black marker on the side of distributor cap and where it was placed at so you know the same place you took it off. If you take off the distributor cap and it shows the connections inside showing black on them that this is your problem and all distributors get bad because they become worned out by the rotor inside wear. If the distributor and cap are clean or do not have any black stuff on them that it could be the coil that went bad too so its a trouble shotting by looking at first the distributor cap and rotor. If you know how to use a multimeter and have one handy that you can check how much voltages is coming through the spark plug wires.

Yes it is possible to be a tooth off or more and still run but if one cylinder is misfiring then it may be a bad plug or plug wire pull that plug and see if it is worn out and try replacing the wire first. if the plug has a wide gap that can cause it to misfire. you may have a bad injector too but don't know for sure. This is one of them questions that need to be looked at physically to know for sure.

Chance are that it's not going to be your timing it could be time for a tune up. Replace the spark plugs, spark plug wires and distributor cap and rotor. If all has been addressed already, it cold be a bad fuel injector system which is common for them to go bad. If it is the fuel system, check the fuel pressure regulator. There common to go bad and leak fuel in to your intake causing what you have described. Good luck and keep me posted and as for the rattle under your Blazer. The heat shield to your catalytic converter has rusted off and you can just simply take it off, the muffler has one too so check them both.

Sound like you have a bad distributor pick up assembly, the distributor assembly pick up coil is what breaks down the voltage at ignition coil to give it spark, distributor will need to come out to replace pick up coil, mark your distributor rotor so when reinstalling you install at same position.

its your distributor or your coils check them and let me know