joeveto

Hey all,

I posted a little over a week ago regarding a bunch of work I did to my car and how it resulted in a Bose buzz and a dash flicker. Also, my instantaneous and average mileage was freaking out. :confused: :sad:

I figured it had to be a bad ground, as all of the above was fine up until I did the work on the car.

As info, I replaced the injectors, fuel pump, EGR valve and temp sensor, coolant sensors, valve cover gaskets, valve springs, seals, retainers, distributor cap, rotor, spark plugs, wires, ignition module, and the serpentine belt.

I pulled the distributor cap to inspect the wire connections for the tach, battery, and ground where they enter the cap. And that's where I found the problem.

:yesnod:

In a fit of complete stupidity (I've been having a lot of these, lately) I neglected the 4 bolts that hold the coil in place. Remember, not only do these bolts hold the coil in place, but they also hold a ground to the coil itself. After I assembled the cap the first time around, that ground was left to bounce around on the coil. This is what gave me the intermittant dash and mileage figures. Also, the lack of the ground certainly was the cause of the dreaded Bose buzz.

So I found the four bolts, put them back in the coil, put it all back together and...

TADAAAAA! My problems were solved.

:party:

There is enough about this sort of thing in the archives, without any real definitive answer. So if you're having this issue, pull your cap and inspect the ground wire to the coil. You could do worse than clean this connection and make sure it's tight.

:cheers:

65Z01

Those can be real brain teasers but you got the job done. :cheers:

That is another reason (in addition to hotter spark, etc.) that I upgraded my ignition with a HyperTech system. Just change the rotor, bolt on the cap and done...less to go wrong.

redfast

:skep: I have the same problem with mine. I'll look into the distributor, didn't even think of it b/c right before I bought my car the cap+rotor were replaced. :thumbs:

tjwong

Thats great you found the problem. As simple as that may have been. That missing ground link there could have left you stranded. I have seen many missing grounds there and that has been the cause of many friend HEI Modules and or coils. So it is a good thing that you found that problem :)

Merry Christmas!

vinnies87

:thumbs: :thumbs: :thumbs:

Mark-44

Thanks for the solution....

NoWorries

Don't feel too bad, I did the EXACT same thing. :lol: I didn't notice any adverse effects(so it was getting ground somewhere), but I was amazed to see that I left that little grounding strap out when I was going through old parts seeing what I could dispose of. :eek:

Phil stock 91

:thumbs: