ARRRGH! Damn coil.

[Spitfire1975]

OK. What, besides a bad coil, would prevent said coil from creating a spark when it has a power supply?


Example.
Power supply is good.
Plug/connector is good.
Grounds are good.
Coil is good.
Crank the engine and no spark is generated.

There area two main wires. One power wire that pigtails to the radio capacitor and one wire that appears to control (?) the tachometer. What else does this tach wire do??

 

[IMenriched]

OK. What, besides a bad coil, would prevent said coil from creating a spark when it has a power supply?


Example.
Power supply is good.
Plug/connector is good.
Grounds are good.
Coil is good.
Crank the engine and no spark is generated.

There area two main wires. One power wire that pigtails to the radio capacitor and one wire that appears to control (?) the tachometer. What else does this tach wire do??

there should be a in-line resister on the feed to the cap from the coil. check it

if the pick-up coil inside the distributor can create the same situation as well

 

[Big Jim M]

The pick-up inside the distributor tells the coil when to make the spark. If it isn't talking the coil isn't sparking! It's a bitch to replace. The dist rotor must be marked on the engine, then the dist must be pulled. Then the drift pin on the bottom gear must be driven out. Then the pickup must be removed and replaced. Then it all must be put back together and the engine timed again.
Most guys simply purchase a rebuilt dist.. or even a new one.
DON'T FORGET TO MARK THE LOCATION OF THE ROTOR ON THE ENGINE BEFORE TAKING THE DIST OUT!!!
Big JIm

 

[Spitfire1975]

Thanks guys. I was wondering about those two items. I did not realize how the spark control worked.

How would I know if the resistor is bad?

Jim....The pickup is a pita. I changed the one in my BII several months ago. Any suggestions to make it easier removing the pressed on gear?

 

[Big Jim M]

As above! No changes from that post. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do!
As for the resistor...all it does is to catch some electricity and quiet it down for the a m radio reception. Good or bad working or not working it has NO EFFECT on the spark.
Big JIm

PS. I just reread your post. I NEVER saw a pressed on gear!! All I have ever seen have a drift pin holding them in place. I have been told the drift pin is a safety SHEAR member.. Although I've never seen one of them sheared. Make sure to use a punch of the exact diameter to punch it out.
B. J.

 

[Spitfire1975]

lol. yeah, there's no fun way about it. Last time I did this I used a rubber mallet to drive the gear off of the oil pump shaft, and then a socket and the mallet to drive it back on. I was just wonder if there was some better ("safer") way to get that bugger off of there and back on again.

The drift pin didn't give me any troubles. A nice selection of punch sizes is invaluable!

 

[Spitfire1975]

PS. I just reread your post. I NEVER saw a pressed on gear!! All I have ever seen have a drift pin holding them in place. I have been told the drift pin is a safety SHEAR member.. Although I've never seen one of them sheared. Make sure to use a punch of the exact diameter to punch it out.
B. J.

Hopefully this one won't be like the BII, because that little sob was stuck on there good.

 

[Big Jim M]

If the fit is really tight use a small puller on it.. Should be rather easy and wouldn't harm the gear any at all.
Big JIm

 

[Spitfire1975]

Will do. Thanks again.

 

[Spitfire1975]

Well.......That was easy. Took about a half hour to yank the distributor, replace the pickup, put it all back together and time it. I think I'm getting pretty good at this!

The resistor tested out at 22,000 ohms. I am assuming it's good.

Keeping my fingers crossed that the problem is finally solved. Initial test drive passed with flying colors.

Thanks again for your help Big Jim and Enriched. Hopefully I won't have to revisit this thread and start asking more questions.