No Spark----'52 8n

[J-M-D]

1952 8n with original 6v & side mount distributior.

I had a weak spark so I replace the coil, points and condenser. Plugs, wires, cap and rotor are not too old and appear to be in great condition.

SO, where did my spark go? I thought maybe the ignition switch was bad, but jumping the leads doesn't do any good. Is there something else upstream from the coil I should replace?

Thanks.

 

[old]

Check, clean and reset your points. Remember you need to set them at .025 because its a side mount. Points when new can be dirty because they coat them to keep them good in the box

 

[souNdguy]

Check your points to see if they didn't close up.. or that they don't have a layer of oxide on them from setting on the shelf.

What's yer ammeter onthe dash say with key on and points closed?

Whats a voltmeter to coil primary say? ( or test lamp.. etc? )

Upstream of points is GROUND.

Soundguy

 

[DON TX]

Hope you used solid copper core wires. Carbon core will cause weak spark. HTH
DON TX

 

[HCooke]

Do what the others say plus check for a short in the distributor. Sometimes the insulator that shields the wire from the coil to the points breaks down and there is a short there.

 

[Ramrod]

(quoted from post at 11:32:58 08/20/07) 1952 8n with original 6v & side mount distributior.

I had a weak spark so I replace the coil, points and condenser. Plugs, wires, cap and rotor are not too old and appear to be in great condition.

SO, where did my spark go? I thought maybe the ignition switch was bad, but jumping the leads doesn't do any good. Is there something else upstream from the coil I should replace?

Thanks.

No mention so far of the infamous ballast resistor. It could be on its last legs and limiting voltage to the coil. Check with a voltmeter for coil voltage with points open and ignition on. Should be less than 6v, but not much less.

Ramrod

 

[souNdguy]

Side mount distrib, oem 6v = no ballast resistor


Soundguy

 

[A. Bohemian]

Ignition on, no cranking, you should see 3 amps static discharge.

No discharge? Points are not conducting properly, the coil primary is open, or there is another open somewhere in the circuit. (Odds are it's the points.)

Normal discharge? Crank while watching the ammeter. You should see it dip or flutter as the the points open, interrupting the current flow, and then close.

No dip or flutter? Points are not opening properly, are shorted, or there is a short somewhere else in the system.

No dashboard ammeter? Why not? It's one of the most useful things in the world for diagnosing no-start or no-charge problems.

 

[Tom43]

Dear No Spark,
With the points open you should have 6 volts on both sides of the coil With the points closed you should have 6 volts on the battery side of the coil and 0 volts on the distributor side of the coil.

 

[J-M-D]

Wow, thanks for the input guys. I didn't have any time to mess with it yesterday, but will hopefully have some time this evening after work. With all the suggestions/information, I should be able to find the problem.

 

[Ramrod]

so confused...

 

[J-M-D]

Good news guys, she's purring like a kitten again!

I followed all the suggestions that everybody posted and cleaned all the contacts inside the distributor cap. When reinstalling the rotor I noticed that the center contact seemed bent downward and thought to myself there's no way it's making contact with the little button inside the cap. I bent it upward and straightened it out a bit then reinstalled.

Before I went any further I wanted to see if I had spark to a plug so I grounded it against the block and pushed the starter button. Much to my surprise the thing fired up in about 1/2 second on only three cylinders...yep, it scared the crud out of my and being so startled, I almost forgot how to turn the thing off. I stuck the plug back into its hole then buttoned up all the loose ends and it continues to start more easily and quickly than my modern vehicles.

Thanks again for all the help!!!