1968 Need help, No Spark from Dist.

[somethingspecial]

Trying to bring my 68' J code coupe back on line. Needed a new starter (Rebuilt starter ate itself up) and car has been sitting dead for about two years. Everything turns over well, but for some reason will not start. Will not even fire on starting fluid. Primed carb, has good gas. Checked voltage to coil (new HD coil with Pertronix ignition, installed approx 3 years ago) and has 12V at + and - side of coil. No spark at #1 Cylinder. Put another coil in, and still no spark. Any ideas what might be the problem? Car has approximately 5k on rebuilt engine, so not many hours on this. Ran great when parked.

Anyone ever have Pertronix fail from sitting? I checked all spark plug wires for good connection, as well as the coil wire. Had a rat problem (nests on engine) so I checked for chewed wiring, but found none. All connections are tight. Again, have 12V at both sides of Coil, indicating current through the coil. ????????? Thanks

 

[CougarCJ]

Mike, does that car have a factory tachometer?

 

[somethingspecial]

No tach.

 

[dalorzo_f]

Swap in some points, retest. Will let you know if the Pertronix is the issue. They can go bad, but mine dropped in and has run perfectly for about 8 years...

 

[stangfan]

I'm no mechanic, but I agree on putting points back in. That will give you a good idea as to the state of the Pertronix. I did have one fail.

 

[somethingspecial]

OK, Put points and cond. in, nothing, checked cap and rotor, no problems detected, no cracks, very clean and dry. Checked coil wire, both ends seated correctly, even tried another (third) coil, still nothing. Still have 12V at both sides of coil. Just for confirmation with you Pertronix guys, Red wire to + side of coil where Ing. wire connects, Black wire to - side of coil, correct? Put Pertronix back in, checked gap, Nothing. If the ingition switch went bad, I would not have power to the coil, correct?

 

[stangfan]

Ok, I just had my ignition switch go bad. The test is to put a 12volt test light probe to the positive (battery) post on your coil. With the battery hooked up, and no key in the ignition, you should NOT get a light on your tester. If it lights up, you are getting power to the coil when you shouldn't.

I should add that my car would start and run, but the engine wouldn't shut off when I turned off the key. That was my clue to a problem.

 

[66hcs-conv]

Mike,
Pull the spark plug wire going into the dist cap, hold it close to ground (BE CAREFUL) and crank the engine. That will tell us if you have a good spark out of the coil, and before spark goes into dist.
Also, I assume you have had the dist cap off, and cranked the engine, to verify the dist. shaft is turning, and the points are opening and closing.
Dave

 

[66hcs-conv]

Mike,
Don't ground the wire, just hold it close to ground to see if there is a spark present.

 

[somethingspecial]

OK, Still no spark out of coil with wire held close to ground. Tried a fourth coil, out of my good running daily driven CS. Still the same. tried new Dist. cap, and coil wire, still nothing. Key off, nothing to coil, Key on, 12V. So it seems for some reason, I have power to Coil, but nothing out of top of coil to Cap. I know I don't have four dead coils. WTH.

 

[66hcs-conv]

Mike,
Remove the negative wire from the coil, that runs to dist. Check it with an ohmeter. It should not be grounded, except when the points close. The points supply a ground to the coil when they close, all other times there should not be a ground at the negative coil wire.

 

[somethingspecial]

Got It

I received a call from Midnight Special who suggested I change the Condensor. All this swapping and what not, I didn't change it. I pulled the Pertronix again, put the points back in, put a new condensor in it, hit the ignition and it fired on the first crank. Thank you for all your input on this matter.

Pertronix failure, then bad condensor giving false hope the Pertronix was still good. Talk about a comedy of errors. Been working on this for Four days. Thanks again for everybody's input. Just goes to show you sometimes we can over think a basic problem.

Oh, by the way, Car runs great. LOL

 

[66hcs-conv]

KOOL, glad ya got it running! :smile:

 

[franklinair]

Back in the olden days when I used to troubleshoot chronic system problems on aircraft, and FINALLY isolated the problem, my boss would say, "That's the FIRST thing you should have checked."
(Everything's simple when you know the answer.) Glad all is OK.

Neil

 

[somethingspecial]

Back in the olden days when I used to troubleshoot chronic system problems on aircraft, and FINALLY isolated the problem, my boss would say, "That's the FIRST thing you should have checked."
(Everything's simple when you know the answer.) Glad all is OK.

Neil

What is sad about it Neil is when I put the Like new used points in initially, I had a condensor NIB, which I thought about replacing the old one with, but opted not to. My bad desicion cost me valuble time, and hair. LOL

 

[GT/CS S Code]

Glad you finally got your problem sorted out ... I was about to suggest as a desperate last resort that you remove the distributor cap and refill the "spark reservoir" ...
:icon_lol:

 

[stangfan]

The main thing is that you've got it running.

 

[somethingspecial]

The main thing is that you've got it running.

Can't thank you enough.

 

[gazrox]

Mike,

I did the exact same thing last year with my 67 coupe, changed the points but not the condenser. Felt like a dick going back to Parts Source to get one after I told the guy emphatically that I didn't need a condenser when I bought the points. That smug b##tard was smiling and I'm sure I heard him laughing as I went out the door.

Gary

 

[Midnight Special]

...Yeah, I've had that happen a couple of times. Overhaul the entire "electrical" in a parking lot until there was nothing left to change, then Dayam! I carry spare condensers now...