12v to both neg and pos side of coil
 

Bear with me if I misspeak, this is the first vehicle I've worked on other than my motorcycles and yes of course I'm a girl.
I have a 1968 F250 pickup. Mechanically almost perfect. Electronically, the last owner was a retard. She was great for about a week then wouldn't start sporadically then died all together. Replaced the solenoid first then the starter. She ran and then died again. Replaced the solenoid again then the ignition safety switch (which wasn't bad) then the ignition(not sure if it was bad) Some of these decisions were not mine but the mechanically inclined friends of mine. Then through hours of looking found that there was no wire running from the ignition to the solenoid or the coil, only one from solenoid to coil so the solenoid was always getting power because ignition never shut it off. Ran the wire to the coil and she started but of course she went through that solenoid also. Replaced it and she started but used test light and was getting power to both pos and neg sides of the coil. Bought a volt meter and it was 12v to both. The thing that is supposed to ground out my neg side is the tach that is hooked to it right? The tach still works so I am not sure what needs to be done. Right now to the pos side I have the distributor, carb, and solenoid and to the neg side I have the distributor and the after market tach. Help
Thank you
https://fbcdn-photos-a.akamaihd.net/..._1805743_s.jpg

Here's a wiring schematic that may be of some assistance... http://fordification.com/tech/wiring/68-09.jpg

Thank you, I did pull this up and was using it. Everything is hooked up like it is supposed to be which is why I am at a loss.

is it a points distributor? if so, try this one:

http://image.mustangandfords.com/f/2...em_diagram.jpg

yes it is. the only thing diff between that and what I have is that there is no quick disconnect, one wire from coil straight to ignition and one wire from coil straight to relay. they are both on the positive side. Also there are two wires coming out of the distributor one red going to positive side of coil and the black going to negative. Any idea's

what motor do you have? is this an aftermarket distributor? every one i have ever messed with only had 1 wire going under cap and it hooked to the points. the condenser that is under the cap is the ground for the points it keeps your points from arcing while opened and protects your coil from over loading. make sure you have a condenser it should be under the ignition cap. your truck will crank without one but will damage other components of the ignition system if you need one they are like 5 bucks at any part store and if so you should probably go ahead and get some new points if i have misspoke here i am sure i will be corrected. but this is the way i understand points igntn works

i agree with 68ranger...all the points ignitions i'm familiar with only had one wire going under the cap. a Pertronix would have 2...

It is a 360 engine. It is a plug and play Pertronix Flame thrower Billet Distributor. https://fbcdn-photos-a.akamaihd.net/..._6327144_s.jpghttps://fbcdn-photos-a.akamaihd.net/..._2422356_s.jpg the red and black wires coming up to the coil are the wires coming out of the distributor. Thanks

While replacing the coil I realized I do not have a condenser, I will go get one. Thank you

You will get +12v on the negative side of the coil when the circuit is not completed. For testing points, just to verify operation, I run a small test light in between the positive side of the coil and the wire from the ignition. If the light pulses while cranking, the ignition system is working. If it is steady on or off, there is a problem.

Ok so the coil is fine, the test light did blink while I cranked it. The truck started and the automatic choke came on and she sounded great. She warmed up just fine and the automatic choke turned off. One of the guys who is helping me decided that she was idling too high and started messing with the idle and noticed the throttle return wasn't coming all the way back so he adjusted that as well. Now she still starts and warms up the same but when you put her in gear she dies. Right now she is idling at one and half and the oil psi is around 50 when she is in park. I remember before she started having problems that she drops massively when you go from park into gear and once in gear she is around 40 psi. Is there anything else that would be causing this or should I just turn up the idle and see if she doesn't die when I put it in gear?
Thank you guys for all your help.
Rachel

Your oil pressure will drop at an idle, that's normal and not the cause of your issues. If by idling at 1.5 you mean it's at 1500rpm, that is way too fast for a hot idle. It needs to be about 650-750rpm.
I would check the timing, make sure the vacuum hose to the distributor is disconnected and plugged first. I bet that it was previously adjusted with the hose connected and so is actually quite retarded from where it is supposed to be.

time it with a light and vacuum gauge, then set the idle...curb idle in Park 650 to 700 rpm, in Drive 550 rpm.