| ross49 | -- 04-18-2022 @ 1:32 PM |
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My 47 ford was starting ok but when I would go out for my weekly drive and shut the car down, sometimes it wouldn't start after only a few minutes. This happened once when I stopped for gas but was able to restart the car with a quick jump from a portable hand -held 12 volt jumper. Another time I was in my driveway, turned off the car, when inside, came out and the car wouldn't start. Wasn't vapor lock. Car started the next day. Hadn't done a tune up in a while so I replaced the points and the condenser (Macs), adj point cap, set the timing by the book which I have done several times in the past. The car started right up and took it out for a test drive. About a mile out the car is bucking and missing which got worse until it died. Towed home, removed the distributor, re-gapped the points checked timing an installed distributor. Started right up, out for a drive, same thing but even sooner. After that can't start the car. No spark from the high tension wire. Replaced the coil (Dennis carpenter) another set of points that were older but never used (Bob Drake), new high tension wire, cleaned all ground and electrical contacts, new Optima battery with 6.9-7 volts. About 5.6-5.8 volts at battery coil (before resistor), 2.8-3 volts after resistor at neg coil which is a little low. New coil primary and secondary resistance within specs. but still no spark from high tension wire. Testing breaker plate insulation as per V8 Times 2003 v40 # 2 Milt Webb, there was a problem since multimeter did not show max resistance (infinity). As per Mr. Webb this may indicate short at breaker plate and should be replaced or new insulation. Breaker plate is part of the original distributor. Does this sound right?? If I do need a new breaker plate where would I get one? Can I replace the insulation under the primary brass contact? I have gone as far as my skills can take me at this point. Appreciate any expertise on how to proceed and get my 47 back on the road. Thanks for your patience reading all this.
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| carcrazy | -- 04-18-2022 @ 2:47 PM |
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What you describe sounds like you may be dealing with faulty coils. I have experienced similar problems which were only cured when I finally found a new coil which would reliably provide a good spark in every condition. Some weak coils will provide an adequate spark when they are cold but will fail when they warm up, about 10 to 20 minutes of engine run time. Some brand new coils fail after only 10 minutes. If your electrical system is still operating with 6 volts, you can use a Bosch 6V coil intended for use on early VW Beetles to solve this problem.
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| carcrazy | -- 04-18-2022 @ 2:54 PM |
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Another thing that could be causing your 'no spark' situation is the ignition primary circuit resistor. Make sure the connections to it are clean and tight. Measure the resistance across the resistor when it is cold and when it is warm. If you have no spark when the engine is warm, the resistor may have infinite resistance at that point.
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| ross49 | -- 04-18-2022 @ 3:36 PM |
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Thanks for your input car crazy. The resistor is about the only thing I haven't replaced so I probably should try that. I read in V8 times that there should be 3.5 volts after the resistor step down and mine is lower than that. The only thing about the resistor is that if I put a jumper from the battery input post to the coil input, which would be close to 6 volts I still don't get a spark from the coil. The resistance on the new coil seems to be within specs. I spoke to tech people at Dennis Carpenter and they said very rare for their coils to fail but they sent me another one. Maybe I should try that one. The Bosch coli sounds like a good option. Thanks again.
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| fenbach | -- 04-18-2022 @ 4:29 PM |
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spark plug wires? hold a screwdriver against each plug and watch for the spark to skip a beat. or put a timing light on one wire at a time and watch the flash pattern, again looking for the flash to cut out intermittently. i had a similar experience and replaced just about everything but the mufflers trying to isolate the cause. i couldn't see obvious breaks in the wires, nor see them shorting out to ground, even in the dark. and never suspected the wires because they weren't more than 8 years old. i'll put in a "plug" for joe lemelin in MA. https://www.joesantiqueauto.com/spark-plug-wire-set-59a-12259
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| 51504bat | -- 04-18-2022 @ 5:52 PM |
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Plus 2 on the plug for Joe's Antique Auto in Uxbridge, MA. His new online order system works great as well. IMO ______________ No signature
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| 40cpe | -- 04-18-2022 @ 7:03 PM |
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I'm far from an expert on the early distributors. The bucking sounds like a bad condenser. You just installed a new one and there are many reports of new ones failing early. Re install the one you took out. Another thing I've heard of giving trouble on some of the early distributors is the rotor shorting out. Some suggest installing a layer of electrical tape under it. I hope you get it sorted out.
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| 1931 Flamingo | -- 04-19-2022 @ 6:22 AM |
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X2 on the condenser, nothing to lose. Let us know. Paul in CT
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| ross49 | -- 04-19-2022 @ 7:56 AM |
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Thanks for your reply. I tried my original condenser and that didn't help. I worry about parts now since you never know about the quality. The electrical tape under the rotor is something I will tr y. I wondered about the gap from the rotor to the distributor cap contacts but I don't know how I could check that on these late model distributors.
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| TomO | -- 04-19-2022 @ 8:55 AM |
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Do you have a 59A (distributor mounted on front timing gear cover) or an 8BA (distributor mounted on the right front of the engine) engine and distributor in your car? ( a photo of the engine would help). Do you have a tach / dwell meter? Tom This message was edited by TomO on 4-19-22 @ 8:56 AM
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| ross49 | -- 04-19-2022 @ 12:11 PM |
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Tom I have the 59A distributor mounted on the front of the engine. I do have a tach and dwell meter.
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| TomO | -- 04-19-2022 @ 4:19 PM |
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Thanks for the reply. Connect your tach / dwell meter to the coil lead that goes to the distributor and crank the engine. The dwell should be 34 -36 degrees. If it differs by a few degrees (28 low and 40 high) re-adjust your points. If it is more than the few degrees let me know what it is. I would like to know exactly where you had your meter leads attached when you did the resistance check and whether the coil lead was disconnected or still attached. What reading did you get? The fixed points are grounded through the contact plate and the movable points are isolated from ground and connected to the condenser and primary wire from the coil. Tom
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| ross49 | -- 04-19-2022 @ 5:32 PM |
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Thanks Tom. I will try the dwell check and let you know. For the breaker plate resistance check one probe was on the screw for the contact spring and the other probe was on the body of the breaker plate. The breaker plate was not in the distributor body, it was on the bench. The ohm meter was at max resistance setting. This test was as described by Milt Webb in V8 Times, 2003. Thanks again.
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| ross49 | -- 04-21-2022 @ 8:44 AM |
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Tom, reassembled the distributor and re-attached to engine. With dwell meter on lead to distributor and other on ground, cranking the engine produces no measurement. Dwell meter is an older analog type but works well as I recently used it on my 1969 F100 pick up. I would think the lack of dwell measurement would coincide with a short on the breaker plate. Would you agree? Attached is a picture of the multimeter probe attachments to the breaker plate with ohm meter at max resistance. My understanding is that it should read 1. with good insulation. As you can see it is reading 0.000 which I interpret to indicate a short in the plate. Like to hear your thoughts. Thanks.
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| lawrie | -- 04-21-2022 @ 3:09 PM |
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I had a problem like that once, it was the little brass flexible connectors that go from the coil terminal to the points spring mounting, one was out of shape and was contacting the screw mounting lug and shorting out. worth a look. Lawrie
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| TomO | -- 04-22-2022 @ 8:39 AM |
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Thanks for the photo. It helps a lot in understanding your problem. You definitely have a short and it looks like it may be the copper strap on the left side (in your photo) points is contacting the timing screw socket. If that is not your short, remove the screws holding the spring and copper strap from one set of points and check resistance again. If you still have a short check resistance with both sets of points disconnected. If you still have a short, it will be in the connector block. Examine it and the flexible straps to see if any of them are touching the contact plate. If you need a new contact plate, try contacting Third Gen Auto ( https://thirdgenauto.com/product/new-1942-48-ford-crab-type-distributor-breaker-point-plate/ ) Tom
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| ross49 | -- 04-22-2022 @ 1:21 PM |
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Thanks for your help Tom! I will try those things you suggested. I will let you know the outcome. Thanks again.
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