The Ford Barn

V12Bill · 07-28-2014, 08:37 PM

A few weeks ago, I had to be towed home from an outing in my 1939 Pickup. When I removed the coil, I noticed that it was cracked. I was told that the case cracked from leaving the ignition on. I got a new coil from Skip and installed that. It ran badly and couldn't muster the power to pull itself out of the garage. I rechecked all the connections and decided to change the condenser. The engine started and ran smoothly. I checked the spark and there is only a white spark about 1/16" in length. I know that the spark should be bluish and at least 1/4" long. I am sure that my tow home was caused by a bad condenser that wouldn't allow the engine to start and the coil over heated in my 45 minute attempt to get the engine started again. Is my new condenser not up to snuff? Am I setting myself up for a repeat failure? How does one check a condenser?

07-28-2014, 08:37 PM	#1
V12Bill Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Mt. Holly,NJ Posts: 1,822	Condensers A few weeks ago, I had to be towed home from an outing in my 1939 Pickup. When I removed the coil, I noticed that it was cracked. I was told that the case cracked from leaving the ignition on. I got a new coil from Skip and installed that. It ran badly and couldn't muster the power to pull itself out of the garage. I rechecked all the connections and decided to change the condenser. The engine started and ran smoothly. I checked the spark and there is only a white spark about 1/16" in length. I know that the spark should be bluish and at least 1/4" long. I am sure that my tow home was caused by a bad condenser that wouldn't allow the engine to start and the coil over heated in my 45 minute attempt to get the engine started again. Is my new condenser not up to snuff? Am I setting myself up for a repeat failure? How does one check a condenser?