63swb Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 ok, I got the my engine turning over by putting i a new starter motor. Now i am having trouble getting it to spark. I have one wire on the positive side of the coil which has 12V on it when the ignition is on. on the negative side i have a wire coming from the distributor and one other one that has always been there? When the points are open and the ignition on there is 12V between both the negative and positive terminals of the coil and the earth. the problem is there is no current going to the dizzy. I tested this by holding the high tension lead by the engine block and turning the engine over. no spark. I know that the coil is good because i put it in another car and it ran fine. i replaced the condenser with another on i had and it made no difference, also the condenser has a good earth. the points look in good condition. I am very confused and any help would be awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyteler Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 Did the other car you grabbed the coil from require a ballast resistor to run (ie. points vs. electronic)? that's possibly the problem, if you grabbed it from a car the same setup as yours then double check the wiring on said car. Also, hunted, don't piss about, it's only $50, just buy the fucken things. Twin carb setups of most descriptions are usually $100 plus, stop being a cheapskate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
63swb Posted October 31, 2007 Author Share Posted October 31, 2007 I only put my coil from the escort into another car to test it. when it ran i assumed that my coil was operational and put it back in the escort. I have found now that when the engine is cranking the voltage on the positive side of the coil drops to about 6V, is this normal? Ha yeah i agree bout hunted he should get them!!! try lookin at prices for twin 40's for an esky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eke_zetec_RWD Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 is the coil a 6 volt or 12 volt coil? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
63swb Posted October 31, 2007 Author Share Posted October 31, 2007 12V coil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sholdowa Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 Then you've got the wrong coil, and need to connect that yellow/black wire from the starter solenoid to the +ve side of the coil to guarantee a decent spark when turning it over because that is the usual voltage drop on cranking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
63swb Posted November 1, 2007 Author Share Posted November 1, 2007 ok i tried connecting a wire from the starter solenoid to the + side of the terminal, still no joy i must have something wrong somewhere but i cant figure out where? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unclejake Posted November 1, 2007 Share Posted November 1, 2007 I have one wire on the positive side of the coil which has 12V on it when the ignition is on. on the negative side i have a wire coming from the distributor and one other one that has always been there? The spare wire will most likely be for a rev counter. Can you try this and let us know what happens? 1) Rotate the engine so that the points are closed with the dizzy cap off. 2) switch on the ignition 3) After a second or so flick the points with a screwdriver to see if they spark. One of the following will happen: a) A good big points spark means you have 12v feeding to the coil when the coil is expecting 6 volts and that will fry your points in 6 or 7 minutes - so change coil or add a ballast resister. Edit - and the points will be rooted and will need at the least a filing with some emerypaper on a feeler gauge A small blueish points spark is good. If you see that check the dizzy cap, leads and plugs. c) No spark at points would indicate faulty points, pigtail wire or wire from coil to dizzy - either that or you fucked up all the wirinmg somewhere and you are going to need to think about it while staring at it more. Good luck mate. Also - I see that you are newish here. Welcome etc but only listen to me on here. Never anyone like Slammer as he is a cunt and if you see a guy called Thegreatestben post anything just switch your computer off and run. Real fast. That is all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
63swb Posted November 1, 2007 Author Share Posted November 1, 2007 haha ok ill try remember that, yeah this site is great!! Anyway i opened the points with the ignition on and got a very small spark. I have also mounted the coil horizontally will this affect anything? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unclejake Posted November 1, 2007 Share Posted November 1, 2007 haha ok ill try remember that, yeah this site is great!! Anyway i opened the points with the ignition on and got a very small spark. I have also mounted the coil horizontally will this affect anything? That sounds good. Have you checked for spark by removing a spark plug and laying the connected sparkplug on a well earthed bit of the engine (and turning over the motor)? The coil is oil filled/cooled/warmed and is possibly best vertical in the longrun but it isn't going to be biving you any issues right now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
63swb Posted November 1, 2007 Author Share Posted November 1, 2007 yip i have tried that and also holding the HT lead from the coil near the block, i have tried using a couple off different leads but still made no difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unclejake Posted November 1, 2007 Share Posted November 1, 2007 Hmmm. That suggests a fault in the distributor but I can't be certain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sholdowa Posted November 1, 2007 Share Posted November 1, 2007 yip i have tried that and also holding the HT lead from the coil near the block, i have tried using a couple off different leads but still made no difference. I was going to suggest the earth strap to the engine, but if that was buggered, then you wouldn't get it to turn over so it must be ok. Given that there's no spark at all, is one of the plug leads long enough to temporarily replace the ht lead from the coil to the distributor just to see if that's the problem? Is the cap ok ( try cranking it in the pitch dark - it sometimes shows up tracking ), and the rotor arm clean and making contact? Otherwise, could both the condensors be buggered? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
63swb Posted November 1, 2007 Author Share Posted November 1, 2007 well, i could go and get another condenser, they cant be worth much? and i have another dizzy that i can put on and try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
63swb Posted November 1, 2007 Author Share Posted November 1, 2007 one other thing i can think of is the gap between the points when they are open. it seems rather large, so maybe they are not staying closed long enough? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sholdowa Posted November 1, 2007 Share Posted November 1, 2007 Nah, just the cap/rotor arm to start with. I must admit to never having seen a catastrophic failure of a distributor - worst one was on a jag where the twat had dropped a screw into it and it trashed the counterweights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrubb Posted November 1, 2007 Share Posted November 1, 2007 I had a problem where the engine would turn over and everything was working properly but there was no spark The problem was one someone had jammed one of the wires from inside the distributer underneath the dirtributor cap and it exposed the wire and was grounding itself on the outside of the distributor. Maybe its worth checking wires inside the distributor? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unclejake Posted November 1, 2007 Share Posted November 1, 2007 Nah, just the cap/rotor arm to start with. I must admit to never having seen a catastrophic failure of a distributor - worst one was on a jag where the twat had dropped a screw into it and it trashed the counterweights. I had a 1600cc Ford dizzy that wouldn't work. Buggered if I know why as they are so simple but no matter what I did to it it never sparked. Very very strange as they are so simple. I threw it away of course as it was clearly cursed. The points gap should be around about the tickness of a fingernail if you haven't got anything better to measure it with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unclejake Posted November 1, 2007 Share Posted November 1, 2007 i have another dizzy that i can put on and try. You don't actually need to fit it to the motor to check if it work BTW. Just spin it with your fingers.... Edit: Spin it ANTIclockwise (assumes this is an escort motor - I don't think you ever said) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
63swb Posted November 1, 2007 Author Share Posted November 1, 2007 ok, theres some stuff to think about. i have feeler gauges to get it right if anyone knows the specs? it definitly does seem to big. and if all else fails i will try replacing the distributor but as you said they are so simple i cant see how it would be stuffed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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