I replaced my distributor on an 82 Trans AM, but n...

I WOULD ASK THAT SOMEONE TO REINSTALL THAT DISTRIBUTOR PROPERLY. NO PUN INTENDED. THAT MARK IS PROBABLY ON THE UPPER REAR/TRANS HOUSING. BUT FIRST THINGS FIRST. MAKE SURE THE DIST IS PROPLY INST. GOOD LUCK

check for spark wires for distributor may have got pinched between trans and engine

If you need further help, I’m available over the phone at https://www.6ya.com/expert/mike_9693b5ad75773352

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.

18436572 going clockwise starting with the post facing the number one cylinder if the distributor is placed correctly.

Maybe a bad distributor module. It' s under the distributor cap. You can get it tested off of the car.

A fairly straight forward answer provided by another... just pasted here... word of caution with his method... BE CAEFULL OF MOVING PARTS.. also disconnect the coil so you dont get bit :-)


You will need to know; firing order, #1 cylinder location, and have a assistant. Get a basic repair manual from library to look up these things. Remove #1 spark plug from engine. Place your thumb over the hole. Have assistant crank engine over until compression is felt on your thumb; this is close to TDC or top dead center. Grab onto belt and nudge engine over until timing pointer is aligned with O or TDC on engine dampner. This is near perfect TDC. Now take and insert distributor into engine so that the #1 spark plug wire terminal on the distributor cap aligns with the rotor inside distributor. If it does not pull up distributor and reinsert till it does. Tighten everything and it should fire right up. Now you can fine tune with a timing light.

991 Chevy S10 firing order
The firing order for a Chevy s10 depends on which engine you have.
1.9L engine the firing order is: 1-3-4-2 . Distributor rotates counterclockwise.
2.0L engine the firing order is: 1-3-4-2 . Distributor rotates clockwise.
2.5L engine the firing order is: 1-3-4-2 . Distributor rotates clockwise.
2.8L engine the firing order is: 1-2-3-4-5-6 . Distributor rotates clockwise.
4.3L engine the firing order is: 1-6-5-4-3-2 . Distributor rotates clockwise.

Possibly you didn't get the distibutor back in the right place. When you have the crankshaft at TDC on compression stroke, the rotor should be pointing to #1 on the distributor, which is just above the distributor hold down bolt.