Hi there,
I have a 1971 RS that''s driving me crazy. It turns over, won''t crank, not getting any spark to the plugs. Replaced cap, rotor, coil and points condensor and it still isn''t working. Getting 12 volts @ coil and cap, 7-9 while cranking, but still nothing to wires.

Tried doing a jumper wire direct from battery to coil and a ground wire from the coil, still nothing.

Can anyone help??!

Thanks in advance!

Cranking and turning over are the same thing. I think you meant to say it WILL turn over / crank.

I don't recall when breaker points went out of style, but I think your 71 may have points. You need to remove the cap. Keep track of the wires - you might have to disconnect a couple to get the cap off.

Once you have the cap off, make sure there is a rotor installed and that it is in good shape. The outer tab may be burned a little bit, but not too much. The spring tab in the center should be in good shape and have some 'boing' left in it. Also the center terminal on the cap should be in good shape and should have a little button in the center of the cap that the rotor rides against. Make sure there isn't a "carbon track" between the electrodes which can dissipate your spark. If the cap and rotor don't look good, consider replacing them. (usually that would also indicate the need for plugs, wires and points as well, but lets start small and work our way up).

Have a helper crank it for you and observe the rotor turning as it should. Also, the points should be opening an closing...you may see a little spark across the point gap as the helper cranks.

The points should be gapped appropriately. Usually that is done using a dwell meter. I don't recall what a typical gap setting is, but I think it's about 0.030". If you get it close it should fire and run, but a dwell meter would be a good final adjustment before calling it good.

Hope that gets you started.

yellow wire from starter to coil + should be delivering 12v during starting ... Is that wire connected? resistor wire should also be attached here ...

Not sure what you meant by ground to coil ... A ground wire improperly attached to coil becomes a kill switch ... - coil attaches to dist

If all wires are connected, check the spark wire from coil to distributor cap ... If that wire is damaged, then the coil will saturate, but cannot deliver charge to distributor ...

This is all predicated on the fact that the rotor is turning ...check position of rotor since install or last between start attempts ... If rotor is not turning, then you have a bigger problem ...

Another check for the points is to use a electrical test light. Hold the pointed part on the side of the points with the spring. The light will be on when the points are open and off when they are closed. Hold it there and have someone crank the engine for you. Verify the points are opening and closing. The point gap should be around .016, if you adjust them with the dwell meter it should be 30*'s.

Cranking and turning over are the same thing. I think you meant to say it WILL turn over / crank.

I don't recall when breaker points went out of style, but I think your 71 may have points. Hope that gets you started.GM introduced HEI in 1974. Point gap is 0.019" - fold a sheet of bonded printing paper four times.

Thanks Everett. Before I posted I seemed to recall folding a dollar bill and using it to gap the points. I folded that sucker 4 or 5 times and still didn't see what I expected. I appreciate you clearing it up.

I can remember using a match book cover in a pinch. It was close enough to get us home.

Thanks Everett. Before I posted I seemed to recall folding a dollar bill and using it to gap the points. I folded that sucker 4 or 5 times and still didn't see what I expected. I appreciate you clearing it up.Not a problem - its always good to stir up a few dead brain cells..............