[W126 Coupe] SEC Starting Failure After a Massive Downpour

[Mister McGoo]

Hi Fig

Sounds as though you're wandering off course.  The car was running fine when 
you parked it, right?  So you have not lost some parts from your 
distributor.

If you have put fuel directly into the air intake and the engine doesn't 
fire at all, that's a pretty good indicator that you don't have a spark.  
But if you still want to confirm it, yes, you can take a plug out, leave it 
connected to the lead, lay the plug against a ground and watch the plug gap 
while turning the engine over.  Instead of a the spark plug, you can simply 
pull the wire from one plug and jam a screw driver into the ig wire and do 
the same.  You will see the spark or hear the snap.

Better still, you can tell a friend to hold the wire and tell him (or her) 
watch carefully to see if there is any spark.  Make sure they are hanging 
firmly to the car somewhere.  When you see your friend lurch violently or 
hear the scream when you turn the engine over, you know you have a good 
spark.  (Friends with pacemakers shouldn't do this unless they are not very 
good friends anyway.)


-Bell