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ignition issues

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59frite

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hey all, and happy dads day.

ok so i have been trying to get the frite to start for the last 3 days and am not getting any closer at all.

when the car was parked last fall it was running a little flat like the timing was off a bit, and i just put it away for the winter. now im trying to start it and there is no spark at all. the first few times i rolled it over it did try, but kept kicking out the started. now nothing at all. the distributor has been out aobut a dozen times, new points and condensor, check and double check and triple check the point gap. found the coil wire had way too much resistance so replaced the plug wires. (they need to be anyway) bottom was bulged on the coil so replaced that. the cap and rotor are fairly new and look that way. no tracking or buildup on the contacts. the plugs were replaced last fall and have 0 miles on them, and have a nice blue spark when tested in another vehicle.

so here is the part that has me really scratching my head, found out yesterday that when i check for spark by just rotating the dist back and forth, there is a spark at the plug. when i use the starter, there isnt a spark at the plug when it is grounded against a head bolt, but if i pull the plug off the bolt a little (1/8") while it is turning over, there is a nice blue spark jumping across the gap. and if i pull it away far enough, the spark will jump to the bolt it was grounded to. i have never seen that one.

i'll be the first to admit that electrics is not my strong suit, but this one is new to me. what am i missing? anyone have any ideas?

oh, and i did check the engine ground and its making connection.

thanks
chris
 
Points Grounded. That is usually the culprit and probably most frequent ignition problem. We've all done it.
 
The spark plugs are maybe shorting along the insulator.
That bit about "have a nice blue spark" should probably mean "had", because they probably got some ?gasoline? shorting them out from trying to start the Sprite. Spart to the engine ground (bolt) indicates that the ignition system is working, at least up to the end of the spark plug wires.

Good luck.
 
Amen on both point wires grounded. Spent hours a few weekends ago chasing the same no start issue and found that to be the problem.
 
I usually just leave the rotor button out sittin' on th' bench. Takes another fifteen minutes before I groan and reinstall it. :jester:
 
TexasSprite said:
Amen on both point wires grounded. Spent hours a few weekends ago chasing the same no start issue and found that to be the problem.
Click to expand...
And we know how frustating that is to find :eeek:
 
ok, so i guess i have to put on the dunce cap and go sit in the corner. hehehe. about 30 seconds after i posted this i decided to try a different spark plug in and got some spark. about 5 minutes later with an old set from the tool box, it was running.

in my defense, it did need a coil wire. at least according to the ohm meter.

and i thought i would never fall for that again. haha

at least it got a tune up along the way



:confuse:
 
Yay! Glad it was something simple. Don't feel bad; I went through exactly the same exercise with my Ural motorcycle a month ago... I had flooded it and all I had to do was buy two new spark plugs. Instead, I spent an entire weekend troubleshooting the electrical system. <sigh>
 
So what was wrong with the old plug wire? If it was a resistor type wire you might measure 5k to 9k Ohms end-to-end. That doesn't mean it's bad, it just means that you should run "regular" spark plugs (not resistor plugs). Was your plug wire "open" or something? Regardless, I'm glad you found the problem and found it quickly.
 
doug - there was no continuity at all in the coil wire. (open?)

i just have to keep remembering not to overlook the obvious
 
You need to use a multimeter to test plug wires. If your meter measured "infinite" Ohms, that would be "open". If your meter showed "zero" (or close to it) then the wires are solid core and there is no problem with them.
 
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