VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1933-1936 All of a sudden no spark

I was out driving the other day, about hour and a half the 36 ran and drove like new. Nice and smooth, I turned down my street and it sputtered a little bit. I thought to myself hummm what the heck was that?? I went to turn in the drive way all of a sudden it just died out and would not restart.
I opened the hood and checked to see if I could find anything out of the norm. I checked to see if I was getting gas that checked out ok then I decided to check if I had spark, and there was nothing. so I had a spare set of points and condenser and new plug wires put them in and still no spark.
I was thinking maybe the coil as it seems to be the original one.
Any Ideas ???

I would say half coil and half some broken wire,connection some place. If you have a spare coil I would hook it up to test. Run a "power" wire from the battery to the coil, lead to the distributor and cap to coil wire and see if it starts. Seeing it is not connected to the ign. switch it will be necessary to kill the engine with the clutch.

How have you been...havn't talked to you for a long time.

Check your electrolock as well.

Hello Gene & Skip, All is going ok over on this end. hope its better for the both of you.
I did what you suggested , but with the same results. I bypassed the electrolock & put a different used coil on that I got from Gene a few years back. The only thing I got accomplished was wearing down the battery. I checked the other wires and all looks good as it should. I can't for the life of me figure what the heck is going on. I don't understand, it was running great before this happened. I am not sure what to check for next

Did you check the rotor?Also check the center of the distributor cap where the rotor makes contact.

Ken,

You may get some interesting pyrotechnics if you connect power from the battery positive post to the lead between the distributor and coil as suggested. My understanding of how point ignitions work is that the points interrupt the coil ground and at the instant the ground is interrupted a high voltage is induced in the secondary coil winding that gets delivered to the appropriate spark plug. I don't think I'd touch a 6 volt + wire to that coil to distributor - wire.

By the way, how did that transmission I sent you a few years ago work out for you?

I would turn on the ignition switch and probe along with a test light to see what has and has not power.

I recently found that no 'juice' was getting to the coil of my '27. The culprit ended up being corroded electrical connections on the ignition switch. After cleaning up the connections, 6V showed up at the coil and it started right up.

From your description, I'd suspect a frayed wire in the ignition circuit that finally broke.

Let us know what you find.

Cheers, Dean

Check for 6 volts at the coil, if you have power there it is either the coil, the coil to distributor wire, the points/condenser, or something grounded in the distributor that should not be. AS has been suggested check with a test light or volt/Ohm meter and see what has power or what is grounded.

Happened to my '31 last year. Pin sheared on distributor shaft. Forgot to turn the grease cup to lubricate.

When my distributor pin sheared a few years ago, it sounded like a gun shot went off!! I suppose that it could happen quietly, but it sure didn't for me.

Thanks for all of your suggestions.
Question, how can you tell if the Distributor pin is sheared off? What and how do you check for that?

Bill,

The pin shearing was a coincidence. There was nothing wrong with your hearing. I just missed you is all (the whole dang car, that is). If you don't take down that stinkin Fleetline banner soon, I may become crazy enouth to take make another attempt. I have a better scope now.

You gonna be at Hershey this year?

Just kidding about the hearing a shot thing.


Charlie

Charlie…you gonna have those free apples at Hershey again this year!? Billu38

I plan on stopping in Winchester and getting a case or two. If so, you can have one (apple). They will already have been picked over 9 days by the time I get to Hershey on Tuesday so come by early.

Charlie

BTW: I am praying for rain for every day of Hershey. That way everything will be normal and no one will be disappointed. Just business as usual. Always bring rain gear. You'll need it more likely than not. Some things never change.

Thank You who all replied trying to help me out, even Charlie. The problem has been fixed. it was a simple little thing. I remember reading a post on here a few years back about a condensers. so I thought ill just go down to my local NAPPA and pick up new ignition parts, they did not have any of it in stock except the condenser, so I purchased it, and ordered the rest . I came home took out the old one put the new condenser in and it started up instantly. So the spare condenser wasn't any good either, and it was new spare parts, go figure. I am just glad all this happened in my driveway instead of on the road somewhere. Thanks again, Ken

Just a heads up to anyone else with a need for an emergency condenser. Almost any automotive condenser will work to get you home if you can wire it in.

Condensers can have a limited "shelf life" so new doesn't always mean good.The 1936 condenser fits 1934 through 1975 6 Cyl. and 1955-56 8Cyl.or when ever the went to HEI. The 1957 and up 8 Cyl can be used but the lead wire is longer.
I still keep a spare in all my cars. Had one go-out on the road several years ago.

Condenser internal insulation dries out and burns leaving a carbon track "short" and become ineffective.
Tony

As stated above, condensers have a limited shelf life and even new condensers will go bad. If you carry a spare condenser in your car, it is always a good idea to replace it with a new condenser from time to time because of the limited shelf life.

Any way to test them or do they fail under use?

Dave39MD,

As often happens my experience is the opposite of the "Experts". My '36 pickup, restored in the early 1970s, has the same condenser I put in back in then and has about 11,000 miles on it. I also have a couple of restored very early Bultaco off road race bikes with point ignitions and they also are on decades old condensors.

The Bultacos don't get ridden much any more but the condensors have not "dried out" as suggested. Both those bikes still fire up with 1 or 2 kicks.

If you're interested, there is a Delco point set that fits Delco distributors from the 1920s up to 1962. It's not listed in any parts books for the older applications but it's a drop in replacement and much improved over the primitive 2-piece point sets and is dirt cheap on ebay.

While it is true a condenser can last 50 years I would compare it to a person 25 years old has much less of a chance of passing away than a person that is 75 years old. When I am driving 500 miles from home I don't like to take chances.

I totally agree with Gene!

I had a box of new old stock condensers (probably around 20 or so in the box) that were about 60 years old and I tested them all with my condenser tester. Each one was leaking! Sure, they could still probaby be used but when they leak they are defective. I also had a batch of Delco-Remy D-207 condensers that I got from a local Chevrolet dealer back in the early 1980's. I tested each one and they were all leaking. Not good.

Why risk a breakdown on the road miles from home? Install a brand new condenser......and if you have a way to test the new condenser, test it before installation! I test every new condenser that I use when installing them on rebuilt distributors.

There is no way (that I know of) of knowing when a condenser will fail and not many have a condenser (capacitor) tester to get any sort of indication.
Tony