I got a call from a friend in a nearby town asking me to come help him because his car woulld not start. When I got there, he said the car was running, but bucking on him, so he changed the points and condenser. (The old points were definitely burned up) Now the car won't fire. It was almost getting dark, so I used a feeler gauge to check the point gap, and it was right on .017 as it should be. All the wires were connected properly, but she just wont't fire. I'll try to run by there tomorrow to do some more work on it, but just wondered if any of you guys have any suggestions. The engine turns over very well, and the battery is very strong. We can rule out the coil and any grounding problems.
On Edit: We're getting spark at the points. My old brain remembers 0.017 for the points settting. Is that correct?

 

That's close enough to get fire in the hole. On a V8 I like to set them about 0.019"-0.020", 6 Cylinder, about 0.022"-0.025" for stock engines with stock ignition.

If you've got spark at the points then I'd check the cap and rotor. But before you do that you can check coil output by using a screw driver in the end of the coil wire that would normally go to the dist. Cap. Stick a screw driver in the end and hold it about 1/8" off a clean metal part. Should be a sharp blue color, but any stock engine should fire and run even if it's a yellow spark.

If you don't have a spark from the coil wire, I'd be real suspect of the condensor or distributor internal ground pigtail. They'll still spark at the points (sometimes worse with an open condensor). It was running (albeit poorly) before he changed points and condensor, so I'd look at how that went in first. Just double check to make sure none of the wires are touching ground, stuff like that. Also you may want to take some worn out emery cloth and just drag it through the points. I've seen points from overseas that have some kind of rust preventive, almost like a clear shelac on the tips.

You may be fighting two totally seperate problems. I had a car run so low on fuel one time that when the simple tune up was done it wouldn't start. Must have just made it in the stall. Kind of freaked me out at first, till I realized..."just stick to your game plan, Fuel, Fire, Compression".

 

Scot is right on, if coil is good i would look towards at rotor & cap, as long as you have fuel.

 

Thanks guys.....I'll run by there in the morning so I have some sunlight to see what's going on.

 

Ok, I just got back.

He bought a new coil, new points, new condenser. I gapped the points at exactly 0.019. Checked the rotor and cap.....looked just fine....no cracks and they are clean. I also replaced the coil wire. He is getting plenty of fuel. There is a big squirt going into the venturi. He was complaining about it bucking on him at highway speeds but ran fine around town. All we did was to replace the points, condenser, coil and coil wire. It will try to start, but runs very rough for a few seconds, then dies. Any more ideas? If I could get it running, I would check his timing.

 

Check the timing. My 66 289 slipped the timing belt and had the same symtoms. It would turn over well, sputter, but not catch. The 289's have a crappy nylon timing gear on the cam. The gear and chain wear out and the chain will jump when it gets old and you put high revs on it. The new gear should be metal if possible. get a new chain too. Getting the water pump off is the main problem.

 

OK, thanks GettaO5, but I don't see how the timing chain/belt slip just by changing the points. Remember, it was running just fine except at about 3K RPM on the highway. And, it ran just fine around town. So, I am not going to tear into the timing chain issue. However, I may loosen the dizzy and slightly turn it both ways to see if it will start, then deal with perfect timing once I get it running.

 

Also, I asked him if that was all he did, and he said he sprayed the cam top with carb cleaner to get the waxy feel to it off. Would some of that carb cleaner that ran down the shaft have anything to do with this problem?

 

Glen,

did you get a chance to clean the new points with some old worn out emery cloth? What kind of shape is the ground pigtail in?
Any chance the coil is hooked up backward (positive lead from the key switch on the negative post of the coil)??

If need be I can step you through checking the whole system with a multi meter.
Let us know how it goes.

 

Probably not, but it will take the oil off the shaft bushing. I'd go back in with a squirt gun and get some oil back into the shaft. there should be a little oiler hole in the base. If not try to get some marvel mystery oil or 5w30 to run down the shaft. Not much maybe a quarter of a teaspon.