newly built engine not turning over with spark plugs in it..

I just bought a brand new AutoZone starter for Mrs. Cusser's Yukon, $200 with lifetime warranty, so I must have some level of trust in them. I did get an AutoZone one for her previous Suburban, don't have the history to know if that one is still working.

1998 Frontier has CarQuest new starter, many years out of warranty now. Did I trust them more than AutoZone or O'Reillys? I don't know, just remember that it was a cramped R&R (before 14mm gear wreches) and very tough just to ease the starter out of the compartment, so was hoping to never have to do that again....

Shit. The reman was 65 bux but apparently it had been installed once before so the guy discounted it 20 bucks .im nlt complaining.anyways I installed the new starter and it fires sometimes but now im noticing the coil sparking .like literally sparks popping off the radiator support.. any idea wtf thats about. I did spray paint it silver with a rustoleum metallic paint...would that cause it to arc?

This whole problem sounds like you have a bad ground. A ground strap from the engine, has to be on clean metal, no paint, to the chassis.

what he said

check that ground wire from the body firewall to the back of the head and your frame to block ground!

. All the wiring is freshly done . Everything is tight and its bare metal on my grounds. I cleaned the metallic paint off and covered the top of my coil with electric tape. It started right up. Runs like a champ! Im gonna get a new coil tho just for good measures.ive never used a timing light before so any advice for dialing the timing in..no smoke either ans its running straight header atm. Gonna work on the exhaust thia weekend.

good stuff i bought a cheapo at advance it has the advance dial on it set it to ur 6 degrees b4 top dead center clip the clip to the number one plug wire i think it says leave vacuum advance hooked up while u put it in time u should be good to go!

im pretty happy about it starting. Need to get an oil and temp gauge before inlet it run for any amount of time. Any advice on this break in period. Trucks on blocks as of now. Not gonna be on the road for atleast a month.

You want the engine to be under laod when you break it in, so don't run it too long while on jackstands or in neutral.

The sparking at the coil is typically from dirt (being conductive) or bad rubber boots, so you need a more-permanent fix. This stuff is more-readily seen at night/dark, or by misting the area with moisture from a mist bottle. This would be entirely unrelated to the old starter not spinning the engine every time.

As to the timing, paint the mark on the pulley white/yellow, and I like to also paint the 6 degree mark on the timing color white. Since mine has AC, I let the AC belt hang loose as I then get a much better view of the timing marks. Make sure your idle speed is OK (800-900 rpm or so), because too much rpm means too much vacuum.

ok cool. my father in law cleaned the metallic paint of the coil while i was at work and that handled that. idk what that was about but the issue is no longer ...well an issue haha. planning to run my exhaust this weekend, thanks for the input. im sure ill have more questions soon . haha. i may post a few pics too if i get a chance