The Ford Barn - View Single Post - No spark - traced the problem to the distributor, but what now?

SDJason · 05-13-2012, 01:05 PM

IT'S ALIVE

After tearing everything apart again, I looked carefully at the geometry of the tab on the lower plate that the condenser screws into, and judiciously bent it to what I eyeballed to be a correct angle.

Re-assembled everything slowly, taking voltage readings along the way, and warily reinstalled the condenser. NO SHORT!! YAY!!!

Checked for spark (yes, it was there), then tried to start the car - success on the first try.

Thank you everyone for your help - this newbie learned some things just by going through the act of disassembling & reassembling the distributor and seeing the innards for the first time. I've also decided that my toolkit in the car should have a few more additions to it.

On a side note - during the course of troubleshooting this, I discovered that a former owner had wired things quite differently from standard - and I took the opportunity to putting things back to what they should be, should someone need to trace the wiring in the future.

THANK YOU...I think I'm going to take a Sunday drive now...

05-13-2012, 01:05 PM	#7
SDJason Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 443	Re: No spark - traced the problem to the distributor, but what now? IT'S ALIVE After tearing everything apart again, I looked carefully at the geometry of the tab on the lower plate that the condenser screws into, and judiciously bent it to what I eyeballed to be a correct angle. Re-assembled everything slowly, taking voltage readings along the way, and warily reinstalled the condenser. NO SHORT!! YAY!!! Checked for spark (yes, it was there), then tried to start the car - success on the first try. Thank you everyone for your help - this newbie learned some things just by going through the act of disassembling & reassembling the distributor and seeing the innards for the first time. I've also decided that my toolkit in the car should have a few more additions to it. On a side note - during the course of troubleshooting this, I discovered that a former owner had wired things quite differently from standard - and I took the opportunity to putting things back to what they should be, should someone need to trace the wiring in the future. THANK YOU...I think I'm going to take a Sunday drive now...