Correct Coil Resistance

[V8COOPMAN]

Way off.......good eye! DD

[keith oh]

Kinda "smells" like a defective condensor(capacitor)at least if it were on my 35 distributor.

[Lawrie]

I can see a problem in the bottom pic,the split pin on the left points looks like its touching the copper strip on points.
Lawrie

[Old Henry]

Originally Posted by keith oh

Kinda "smells" like a defective condensor(capacitor)at least if it were on my 35 distributor.

Thanks. I thought that too, so have discussed with Bubba's since I got the condensers from him. They test within specs and he said they're fine.

[keith oh]

Good eyes Laurie, it even looks like some discoloration, maybe from a short there.

[Old Henry]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Originally Posted by 47COE

Looking at your distributor photo again, it looks like that pin is way off to one side and hardly making contact. Perhaps the photo is of a different distributor?

The problem with that old original distributor was a worn shaft that allowed the rotor to hit the contacts in the cap. That's why I traded it in to Bubbas for the rebuilt one I'm now using. I just posted that picture with my question in that post to illustrate the type of distributor I was using, not to illustrate the actual current one.

[Bored&Stroked]

If this is your actual distributor, then check the following . . .

Here is the area that Lawrie mentioned - the cotter pin looks loose and could intermittently be grounding out the points - which would cause this sort of issue:

21A-Dist.jpg

[Old Henry]

Originally Posted by Bored&Stroked

If this is your actual distributor, then check the following . . .

Here is the area that Lawrie mentioned - the cotter pin looks loose and could intermittently be grounding out the points - which would cause this sort of issue:

Attachment 243764

That is 47COE's distributor that somehow got from the post he referenced back in September to this post. It's not my distributor although it looks more like the one I'm currently using than the picture I posted that I previously explained.

So, there is no picture in this thread of the distributor I'm currently using in its current condition.

[FlatheadTed]

Henry ,I have at leased on one occasion drilled a hole beside it and ran a wire by passing it ,or pull it out and rubber grommet the hole with a fresh wire ,its the internal spring were you can get problems also .Ted

[FlatheadTed]

Lawry's catch is definitely a potential problem ,Ted

[Old Henry]

Please, people.

What Lawrie saw was a picture of 47COE's distributor in his post back in September, not my distributor. I don't believe that the cotter pin position is causing him any problems as I expect he's been driving his truck for almost two months since then without a problem.

My cotter pin does not hang over the fiber lever as in that picture.

[Floyd]

Before you go crazy, try another coil. Beg or borrow one if you don't have a spare (spare coils and condensers should be part of your tool kit). The remote mounted coil like you have could not be easier to change. I have seen this problem before.
Just an opinion

[Old Henry]

Originally Posted by Floyd

Before you go crazy, try another coil. Beg or borrow one if you don't have a spare (spare coils and condensers should be part of your tool kit). The remote mounted coil like you have could not be easier to change. I have seen this problem before.
Just an opinion

Thanks Floyd. I did that. It didn't help. According to several who have replied to my resistance readings, my coil is OK. It was built by Skip Haney a year or so ago.

[Bored&Stroked]

Another idea hit me - how about the grounding of the engine to the frame? Do you have a dedicated ground strap from a head bolt to the firewall (or something similar in your year car)? If there was an intermittent or dirty ground, these types of problems can occur - especially with rust over the years.

[Old Henry]

Originally Posted by Bored&Stroked

Another idea hit me - how about the grounding of the engine to the frame? Do you have a dedicated ground strap from a head bolt to the firewall (or something similar in your year car)? If there was an intermittent or dirty ground, these types of problems can occur - especially with rust over the years.

Thank you for the suggestion. I actually had starting problems for a long time a year or so ago that I finally traced to that very thing - my ground strap from the engine was loose on the firewall. It's been plenty tight ever since. I checked it again recently with new starting problems that turned out to be a bad solenoid.

[JSeery]

You have the engine grounded to the firewall, might try a ground from the engine to the frame directly, the closer to the battery the better. The best would be the same connection the battery is grounded to. Might at least try a temporary ground connection to eliminate that possibly. If it is starting ok that is most likely not the issue, but it is intermittent, so who knows!

[jake197000]

it seems its not your coil but.over the years ive seen many bad coils that ohm out just fine.make sure your plug wires r plugged in the cap real good they can b tricky.hope u find it.

[meric42]

Just a thought, have you checked you ignition switch for resistance or worn contacts. I have heard of this dropping the low tension voltage to the coil and causing missing problems.

[George/Maine]

You could use a 6 volt coil from and Chevy ply buick any 6 volt coil to test that problem.
Any 6 volt coil doesn't need a resister. only ford used them. You could see if you can pull off the end of dist wire maybe held only a few strands, jump direct to coil from battery. check see if you have a loose shaft in dist, and good air gap of .015

[Old Henry]

I found something tonight that could certainly be my problem.

I took a drive moving my timing light pickup between each sparkplug wire (heretofore it was on the coil output wire). The timing light was firing way more than it should have on the first two wires. As I was moving the pickup from the 2nd to 3rd wire with the engine running I got shocked! I thought, "I shouldn't have got shocked. I didn't touch the spark plug." I finished my drive checking the rest of the plugs that all fired way more than they should have and erratically. So, I had the idea that just maybe it was the spark plug wires. They're fairly new but I put a lot of miles on everything very fast and things wear out.

When I got home and pulled into the garage I left the engine running with the hood up and turned off all of the lights. Sure enough, there were little just barely visible sparks jumping from each plug to the block and from each wire to the conduit where they exited. It all makes sense to me now. All symptoms now seem consistent with leaking spark plug wires.

I'll have a set flown to me tomorrow to put on and bet good money that will fix my problem.

Let's all keep our fingers crossed.