1948 Super a starting issue

[Rifle99]

Hello,

I have a 1948 Super A that stopped dead on me a couple of weeks ago. After replacing the switch, coil, and condenser I finally found the problem with the points, being that the spring band with the wire attached broke... I replaced the points and gapped them at .020 using No 1 cylinder at it's high point which worked for me years ago. It gets spark now but still won't start and sounds likes it's misfiring. I thought maybe the timing got messed up when I replaced the points as I have limited knowledge on that subject. I didn't mess with the plug wires so I don't think that could be the problem. What should I look for next? I tried a different condenser but that didn't do anything./ I thank you in advance for your suggestions.

 

[DaveBN]

Just to be clear, you checked for spark at each plug?
Points are very finicky, did you clean/burnish them before you installed
them. If not you should do that, very lightly, just to shine them up.
Also, any dirt or debris in the points will cause problems.
Did you put the new coil in correctly, that is, wired correctly?
Is this a 6 or 12 volt system?

Dave

 

[Janicholson]

Numbe 1 cylinder at its high point may not be on the distributor cam high point. So you need to rotate the engine while watching the dist. cam
to make sure it is pushing the points open max. thenset to .020" Jim

 

[Charlie M]

Do you have a mag or a distributor? Real easy to get the rotor off the correct position with a mag.

 

[old]

If you have a distributor pull the center wire off the distributor cap and hold it about a 1/4 inch from the block. Then turn it on and spin it over. You should see a good blue/white spark that jumps a 1/4 inch or better. If no spark or weak your points need cleaned or reset

 

[Rifle99]

Thanks for your interest and replies. The points are brand new. Chinese or India no doubt. Old set were from Case. It's a six volt system with distributor. It had a magneto at one time but that is gone. The case just has the condenser. Test light shows power to neg. side of coil and distributor side of coil flashes when turning the engine over. Get a poping sound from exhaust so I assume it's misfiring. I tried to find the marking on the fly wheel which is supposed to line up with another mark but it's really hard to seeing into the small opening plus I have a Danco mower deck in the way.When I took the bell housing cover off, old oil poured out which is probably another issue. I'll check the coil again to see if it gives off a blue spark. My eyes aren't what they used to be at my age so I may be missing something. Right now,I'm happy that I at least am getting spark. I should have changed the points first and probably bought parts that I didn't need. Any advice on how to correctly set the points would also be appreciated. Is a test light helpful doing that?

Thank you

 

[old]

If the test light goes on and off then the points are work but if the gap is not right that can cause a problem. Remove the cap rotor and dust cover and slowly turn the engien by hand till the point are as wide as they can go and check the gap

 

[Rifle99]

(reply to post at 16:30:41 08/11/20)

Thank you all. I finally got it running. I didn't have any luck trying to gap the points using #1 cylinder. I believe that the rotor may have to have to be aligned with that cylinder so it was backfiring. I used the method suggested by gapping the points at the high point when they were all the way open and it worked. I learned a lot and spent a lot on parts that I didn't need but it was worth the learning experience.