'52 8N Ignition

[Bill(NC)]

This my neighbors 8N. It is the original 6V system. It has been sitting for several months, but seemed to run OK before. Now it will not start. We saw that it had a weak spark, so we re-worked the ignition ckt. Now we have a nice blue spark.

The trouble is that it will not spark every time. We have looked at the spark right at the coil. It will look good for awhile, then start missing, then there may not be a spark at all. The next time it may look good again.

I am thinking of a wore distributor. How do you check for that? Can you think of anything else?

 

[JMOR]

(quoted from post at 18:48:55 04/11/11) This my neighbors 8N. It is the original 6V system. It has been sitting for several months, but seemed to run OK before. Now it will not start. We saw that it had a weak spark, so we re-worked the ignition ckt. Now we have a nice blue spark.

The trouble is that it will not spark every time. We have looked at the spark right at the coil. It will look good for awhile, then start missing, then there may not be a spark at all. The next time it may look good again.

I am thinking of a wore distributor. How do you check for that? Can you think of anything else?

Now it will not start. Now we have a nice blue spark.

It will look good for awhile, then start missing, then there may not be a spark at al.

You shure got me! It it will not start, but misses????? & has no spark at all???

Worn out distributor? If you can set a point gap & it will remain as set and you can't wiggle the top of distributor shaft with your hand enough to substantially change the point gap, then it ough to be in good enough shape to run. I suggest jumpering a hot wire directly from battery to coil...this get ign sw out of circuit. I also suggest verifying the connection from points to feed-thru stud in side of distributor (a thin copper strap) and additionally verify that the feed-thru stud is not shorting to distributor housing due to bad insulating washers/spacers.

 

[Bruce (VA)]

As JMOR said, make sure you have voltage across the points, as in past the insulator on the side of the distributor. That is a very common failure point on sidemounts, along w/ the attached copper strip. It's hard to find a short there because it is usually intermittent . So 'wiggle' the insulator & the copper strip a bit when you are doing your checking. If you find the short there, the Master Parts catalog lists everything you need on page 154. You can make the strip and you could also make the insulators as well. But, somethings are just easier & in the long run cheaper to buy. Get the strip, 12209, screw 350032-S, 12233 bushing & 12234 insulator & just replace it all. If you just replaced the rotor & lost spark, put the old one back in. Insure that the rotor fits firmly on the shaft & that the little clip is there. Make sure the distributor cap is not cracked & doesn't have carbon tracks. Check continuity on the secondary coil wire. Make sure it is firmly seated in both the cap & the coil. In fact, replace it temporarily w/ a plug wire. Next, remove the secondary coil wire from the center of the distributor cap, turn the key on & crank the engine while holding the end of the wire 1/4" from a rust & paint free spot on the engine. You should see & hear a nice blue/white spark. If not, you have a bad coil or condenser. Just put the old condenser back in to eliminate that as a possibility.
50 Tips

 

[Dell (WA)]

Bill.......REPLACE yer weaksister ignition switch. ($15, cheap) ........Dell, yer self-appointed sparkie-meister

 

[souNdguy]

also make sure the rotor button fits good and is not loose ( clip in place ), and that the button is not cracked, and that the dizzy cap is not cracked or have carbon tracks running in it.

soundguy