Here a pic of the leading and trailing plugs (leading on the right) on the 1st housing and a video of it running. (leading on the right)

 

Im having the same problem, even after I changed plugs and wires

 

No tacho = 1 coil not working.

 

Here's another video. On my last video a guy recommended the trailing ignitor. So I took it off my spare motor then I swapped the plug wires around. Now tacho moves (kinda).

 

Wow those plugs are pretty fouled..as for it not running the tach properly there are 2 things that normally cause this. One would be a weak or failed trailing ignitor. This would also prevent the fuel pump from running on a series 3. The second would be the tach needle getting stuck. As the lube for the tach needle gets older it tends to gt a bit gelatinous, and can cause the needle to "stick" until it warms up and the lube softens a bit. Had that happen in my 82. I would start by testing the ignitors and coils to make sure they are outputting the proper current. It should have died when you disconnected the coils, as the trailing controls the fuel pump and it cant run without leading spark. I dont know why it didnt die, but it should have. If all of that checks out, i would inspect the tach cable for wear/binding as well as the gear on the transmission that gives it the signal. Maybe jeff20b might be able to help you out more than i can since he is an insane electrical badass...

 

First thing, are those MSD Blaster 2 coils? If so, what model are they? Early Blaster 2' s can't be mounter horizontally since they aren't sealed properly. Horizontal mounting usually results in failure of the coil. (Ask me how I know! )
If you have a stock coil, swap the trailing MSD out and see if it makes a difference.

 

They're blaster 2 coils I believe. I they came on the car. I might still have the coils from my old motor. The tach started to kind of work. It'll work for a few minutes of driving then suddenly stop working. I also swapped the plug wires at the coils back around (the way they came on the car), and It would idle a ton better but not make as much power in the higher gears. Maybe the trailing coil stops working when it gets warm? Thats what drives the tach, right?

 

Tach gets a signal from the trailing coil. Swap the coils for the originals and tell me how it goes.

 

First of all... if you can unplug the coil and not get zapped while its running, your coil is not getting 12v or is failed or wired incorrectly. Check voltage to the coil. Id check the innards of your dizzy. Pickups and rotor cap etc, could be way worn out.

 

Yea there can't be much coming out of the coil or you would only unplug it once . My hair would smoke for a week if I did that with mine and there just stock coils ,.
Grounding system should also be checked out for rust or corrosion or just loose stuff .

 

I used a volt meter on the coils and got 3-4 volts out of the positive connection on both coils. installed the stock ones and got a little less, like 2-3 volts. Im going to replace the cap and rotor and see if that helps it.

 

Might not hurt to change the cap and rotor but that won't give you more voltage at the + coil posts .

check the battery first off make sure you have 12 volts there . Me thinks you have either broken or corroded wiring along the line . start at the coils and trace the wiring back till you find 12 volts instead of 3 or 4 . Not sure if these cars have any inline resistors or not but just follow the wiring where ever it leads and find the voltage change . there will be you problem . . Make sure you have the + wire on the + coil post some of the stamps are small and hard to read .

 

I know it wont change the voltage, just hope itll help the engine run better. Ill trace things on Monday, busy the next couple days :/

 

Sorry for the double post.

Now that I think about it, I had to wire my radio directly to the battery because the switched power for it didn't put out 12v. The down side is I have to manually turn it off, not a big deal. My ignition switch is crappy and ghetto and might have something to do with it. one of the previous owners obviously wasnt very smart with electrical. Im not the best person to deal with electrical either and im not going to dig around in some one else mess. Everything else electrical on the car works so its no biggie.

Anyway Im thinking about wiring the coils to the battery and a switch, with an inline fuse. I can hide the switch for added security

Would there be any downside or anything to worry about when doing that? Also, what size fuse should I run?

 

Good lord, I had the same problem with my '85 and putting in a radio. Had like 6 volts. Now I gotta check my coil voltage!! LOL! I used a 10 amp fuse