I am trying to get my 39 Pontiac series 28 4dr sedan ready to take to the swap meet in about two weeks and have run into a major roadblock for me. It might be a minor glitch for Y'all. I cannot get fire to the coil or spark plugs. I bought a new 6 volt coil, points and condenser. 6 volt battery is fully charged. I have the hot wire from the ignition switch to the + side of the coil and the - side wire goes to the distributor. Points gap is set to .016 With key on I have 6+ volts on the + and - side of the coil. I have 6+ volts all the way to the points contact on the distributor side but I don't get a spark across the points when cranking the motor. I checked the other side of the points to ground and get 0 volts whether the points are open or closed. I drove this car a year ago. So what do I need to check next?
Okay, you have 6 volts on the + & - side with the points open. With the points closed you should have 6 volts on the + side and 0 volts on the - side. From what you posted, it seems like the 6 volts on the + side goes away when the points close; is that right? If so, you have too much resistance in the wire going to the coil + side. If that's not the case can you give me voltmeter reading at coil + & - with the points open and the points closed? With that information I can point you in a direction to further troubleshoot your problem.
OK. I went out to the car to check voltage. I took the distributor cap off and had my wife sit in it and depress the foot starter. Lo and behold the points fired! So I put the cap back on and hooked up my spark plug tester and it fired! I sprayed a little starting fluid in it and it cranked for just a second. Then I hooked up the electric fuel pump and tried it again. I think the carb is bad because the engine flooded out and I didn't even hit the gas pedal. But, at least the spark issue resolved itself.
No tank in it. Running out of a fresh non ethanol 5 gallon can. I have never done anything to the carb and I think that is where my problem lies.
I hate when that happens. What fixes itself can unfix itself at any time, and not knowing what the cause was it may be hard to get it running again the next time it happens.
Just an update to tell you the car decided to start yesterday. I helped it a little by putting a 12 volt battery and coil in it. But, I need to replace or rebuild the carburetor. Gas spewed out of it when I engaged the electric fuel pump and no amount of friendly persuasion with a small hammer would stop the flow.
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