no spark?

ok so i was driving on christmas and my car just turned off as i was getting on the freeway onramp. and the piece connecting the throttle lever to the carburetor came off too and i had no gas pedal. so i hooked that back up and tried to start it again but no luck. its cranking but wont start, so i tried starter flui in the carb, didnt work. then i tried turning the key on and spinning the fan, while i had a multimeter on the coil, it went to 12v and then to 0 as its spose to so i beleive the points and condenser are ok yea? so then i pulled the middle wire from the dist coming from the coil and put it near a ground and when i cranked it, it sparked, so i pulled the first spark plug wire and tried to crank it and i got a spark the first time, then i tried again and again and no spark, so i tried plug 2 and no spark either, i just replaced the cap and rotor which appeared to be good and its still cranking but not starting and im still not getting a spark. any ideas? can i pull a spark plug out and crank it and see if it sparks or will i screw something up? and should i not try pumping the gas? because i pumped it a buncha times trying to start it already.

64 chevy nova 194 straight 6

thanks.

what year is this car/ motor? You say it's got a points ignition?

what year is this car/ motor? You say it's got a points ignition?

64 nova, 194 straght 6

i dont get how theres a charge goin in the cap but no spark coming out, just replaced cap and rotor ;\ i got it to spark ONCE!

I'd say either the plugs got wet, or you have some arcing going on inside the dist. cap.

I'd say either the plugs got wet, or you have some arcing going on inside the dist. cap.

im using a wire to check for spark, not a plug, and also the distributor and rotor are brand new. i dont see how there could be arcing going on.

So your pulling the wires off of the plug, and testing for spark. Where are you holding the plugwire to test it? Something grounded, i hope. Remember, even new parts can be bad.....

EDIT: You can pull the plugs out to test for spark, and I'd recommend doing so.

how far the points open has alot to do with how much energy the spark has.
and the condensor could be bad

So your pulling the wires off of the plug, and testing for spark. Where are you holding the plugwire to test it? Something grounded, i hope. Remember, even new parts can be bad.....

EDIT: You can pull the plugs out to test for spark, and I'd recommend doing so.

i was holding the wire where the battery grounds on the engine, with the middle wire from the dist i was getting a bunch of sparks, and with the plug wires none, sometimes a small one. also what color should a strong spark be?

If your coil wire is firing, but the plug wires aren't, you've either got a bad distributor cap or a bad rotor..

If your coil wire is firing, but the plug wires aren't, you've either got a bad distributor cap or a bad rotor..

what about if the coil is firing weak? could that possibly be points or coil? is there a way to test?

i jsut had another idea. i had someone tell me i had a tail light out the other day, and then i also had a blinker go out too, i checked the fuses under the driver side dash and theres like 8 of them and they were all good, i replaced the blinker but not the tail light. i beleive both blinkers work fine now but the tail light is still out, can that cause me to lose spark?

k so when i got home i pulled a spark plug and plugged it into the wire and cranked it, no spark at all. i think i got a weak charge coming out of the coil cause the coil lead when put by a ground doesnt make that big of a spark. i changed the taillight and light fuse and the tail lights work fine now. the front blinker still doesnt work though.

Hm, i'd say now is a good time to clean, readjust and/or replace the points, condensor and lubricating pad. Since you've stated you have 12 volts at the coil, but weak fire at the plug wire, this indicates a bad condenser, points or maybe even the coil itself. Do you have another coil handy to test with? BTW, blown running lights can't cause a no fire condition.

EDIT: Your points should be 0.019in apart while fully open..