Hey all,

I've got my 72 f100 302 out of winter storage finally, and I am continuing my quest to get it purrring. Can you help me with any ideas on how to test the coil? It turns over, but it doesn't seem to get any juice to the plugs... the S.P. cables are all brand new.
Thanks in advance!.... glad to be elbow deep in engine dirt again.....

mike

 

You can meter the coil between the coil tower and the negative terminal should have continuity and maybe around 6000 to 9000 ohms or so and between the coil positive terminal and the coil negative terminal should also have continuity and around 10 ohms or less.
I am not really sure of the exact resistnace values depends on type of coil and how old it is. Nut you should have continuity both ways with the tower to negative being significantly higher in readings.
Have you checked your points to see if they are stuck closed or pitted/corroded ??? Or does the truck have electronic ignition like the Duraspark?

 

Make sure you have 12V on the positive terminal on the coil.
Also, check and see if you have spark coming out of the coil,
going to the distributor cap. If you have spark coming out of
the coil, and not the plugs, try changing the distributor cap &
rotor.....

 

It has the point, condenser..they are new, as is the distributor, the cap and all cables... just that old coil looking back at me... I will have to get a new voltmeter... thanks guys..

 

I keep a <$10 spark tester in my tool box for my truck. I hook it to spark plug #1 and set it to 20KV and see if I get a good spark to determine if the coil is bad or not.

 

That's a great idea. I hadn't seen one before.... I was hooking up a timing light, and cranking, looking for the light... that sounds a lot easier.. Thanks!