intermittent miss at idle

[whiterabbitt]

so I was using my new colortune the other day(love that thing, should have bought one ages ago) and I noticed that every so often there is no spark, just once every 10 or 12 seconds. this is only at idle, and affects all cylinders. above idle there is no miss, i.e. 1500+ rpms. I was wondering if anybody had any input on this situation before I go messing with my points, as my thought is maybe its time to dress them and maybe I have failing condensers.

your input is appreciated

[btbarb]

so I was using my new colortune the other day(love that thing, should have bought one ages ago) and I noticed that every so often there is no spark, just once every 10 or 12 seconds. this is only at idle, and affects all cylinders. above idle there is no miss, i.e. 1500+ rpms. I was wondering if anybody had any input on this situation before I go messing with my points, as my thought is maybe its time to dress them and maybe I have failing condensers.

your input is appreciated

I've noticed the same thing on mine using a Colortune. For me, I got a noticeably smoother spark and throttle response at lower speeds by reducing my spark plug gap from "out of the box" to .024 or .025 thousandths inch. I recently replaced the points and condenser (Sudco, not OEM) and messed with the points and timing thinking I was off there, it wasn't, it was the spark plug gap. The miss I describe now is one that I can only hear sometimes, not feel, before I could feel it too at low speed. My idle before was good, but not great (say 1200-1300), but now, no struggle at 1000.

I still notice that type of miss on a plug with the colortune every once in a while one #1 and sometimes #2, but I think it's a rich drip issue, I think those floats are still maybe a tad too high.

[chuck hahn]

You can put a timing light on each wire and see the firing pattern..if its steady then a gap then staedy again or otherwise shows intermittent flashes, I would suspect the wires. Somewhere I think theres a tutuorial on how to replace the wires in stock coils. I do know they are 7MM wires.

[whiterabbitt]

thanks for the responses I will check these suggestions.
btw I have been gapping my plugs to .025 for a while now with the b8es plugs but gap to .028 with b7es plugs.
if your wondering I use the b8's in the summer and the b7's in winter as they help with warm up time in my experience.