VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 Spark to the distubator, none to the plugs.

Here's a new one on me. My car stopped running Saturday. Checking all the things, I found that I have spark to the distributor, but no spark to the plugs.

I never had that problem before. Yes, the rotor is there and turning!

Everything else checks out. I don't know what to look for unless it is a bad or weak coil.

Any suggestions?

Is the button on the rotor still there? I have found them to have fallen off. Is spring tension on the rotor sufficient to hold the button against the center contact? Also check the center contact on the distributor cap. Had them break off too. Another possibility is moisture in the cap, carbon tracking, coil wire popped out (not fully pushed in).

i have scrapped the scale from the dist. cap contact posts before. works wonders. tough oxides.j

"the chevy 6 clatter means nothings the matter"

Thanks Chipper. Checked all those.

Have you verified that the rotor is correct.

Not sure if I ever saw 6 cylinder rotor burn through and the spark will go to ground on the shaft. The V8s with a black rotor was very common.

Had this very problem with my '31, lots of juice at coil, very little at plug. My old time mechanic checked cap, rotor, points gap and spark at points, then said no problem, put in a new condensor, bingo. Who says aging is not good!!

I put a new Condenser in. Still same problem.

Just for grins try changing the coil.

Check resistance on spark plug wires? Coil wire? We have had some engines quit running when ignition switch was the problem. It was an intermittent problem that when tested looked okay. When driving down the road it would quit on and irregular basis.

Have also had coils overheat and cutout. Once cooled a little worked again. Occasionally poured cool water on the coil to get it working again.

If you have the original electro lock there is a joint in the bottom (copper wire mesh ) might need to be looked at also there are several insulators where the electrolock bolts into the distributor. Check to make sure something haven't gon to ground .

Joint in the bottom? Do you mean the spring and brush wire that is in the insulating barrel at the end of the electrolock that mates with the head of the terminal stud?

After spending 4 days checking and checking, testing, swapping parts, new points & Condenser and a lot of grumbling, I fixed it. A new rotor with a strong spring action of the rotor. Started up right away.

Thanks to all for the assistance. May the higher power of a 6 cylinder engine be kind to you !

Peter

Great! Glad that you got the problem solved!

Glad you finally stuck with it, found and fixed the problem. A problem with the rotor was my first thought. It is relatively common to have the button corroded or the spring weak or both. I think that heat from a high resistance connection is what causes the weak spring. If the rotor button is not smooth it will relatively quickly abrade the center contact on the cap.