-
Hi Guest!
If you appreciate British Car Forum and our 25 years of supporting British car enthusiasts with technical and anicdotal information, collected from our thousands of great members, please support us with a low-cost subscription. You can become a supporting member for less than the dues of most car clubs.
There are some perks with a member upgrade!**Upgrade Now**
(PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Hey - did you know if you click on the title of a thread it will take you to the first unread post since you last visited that thread?
but were afraid to ask: 
STOP!! Never post your email address in open forums. Bots can "harvest" your email! If you must share your email use a Private Message or use the 
smilie in place of the real @
Pretty Please - add it to our Events forum(s) and add to the calendar! >> 
Not starting revisited
- Thread starter Rick G
- Start date
Share this page
Does sound dumb........it is cranking, but not firing. I took out spark plugs and used the old screwdriver test. I am getting no spark when the starter is engaged. History: I put a new fuel pump in which worked fine, but I started to detect a miss at low speeds. 2 days later it would not start...it was firing, but would not catch. Now, it will not even fire. Where to I go from here. As you may have guessed, I am no mechanic.
Rick, start with the basics. Make sure the points are clean and gapped correctly .(.015") Check to make sure the rotor is in good shape. I understand there was an issue with he rotors on the big car, so you may just want to install a new one.
Make sure you have power at the coil with the ignition on, and power at the wire from the coil to the distributor as well. Check to make sure all of the connections are clean and tight.
If everything looks ok so far, turn the ignition off, and check the resistance of the coil with an ohmmeter. It should read 3 to 3 1/2 ohms. Check each plug wire and make sure you have continuity between the cap, and the spark plug end of the wire.
If that's OK, turn the engine over until the points are closed. Make sure that they are fully closed, using the ohmmeter. Disconnect the coil wire at the distributor cap. Turn the ignition back on, and while holding the coil wire about 1/4"from the head,or any good ground away from fuel lines, flick the points open with an insulated screwdriver. You should get a spark between the coil wire and the head, or wherever you are holding the wire.
Try this stuff, and if you aren't getting spark yet, get back with us, and we'll lead you through some more tests.
Good luck!
Jeff
Make sure you have power at the coil with the ignition on, and power at the wire from the coil to the distributor as well. Check to make sure all of the connections are clean and tight.
If everything looks ok so far, turn the ignition off, and check the resistance of the coil with an ohmmeter. It should read 3 to 3 1/2 ohms. Check each plug wire and make sure you have continuity between the cap, and the spark plug end of the wire.
If that's OK, turn the engine over until the points are closed. Make sure that they are fully closed, using the ohmmeter. Disconnect the coil wire at the distributor cap. Turn the ignition back on, and while holding the coil wire about 1/4"from the head,or any good ground away from fuel lines, flick the points open with an insulated screwdriver. You should get a spark between the coil wire and the head, or wherever you are holding the wire.
Try this stuff, and if you aren't getting spark yet, get back with us, and we'll lead you through some more tests.
Good luck!
Jeff
Jim, Barefoot and others....thanks so much for your help. I tested the wires..even bought an ohm meter....by the way, Jim, I got 2.4 ohms across the coil, somewhat short of the 3 to 3.5 I was looking for. Anyway, after a new rotor did not do the trick, and I found I was getting spark to the distributor, I revisited the points. I cleaned them up and gapped them to .25, put the cap back on....turned on the ignition, and it started right up. Just got back from a fifty mile test drive and it feels great. 65 degrees and sunny skys here in the NE just couldn't be better. Thanks again.