Hey all,
Last weekend I picked up a 68 f250 2wd w/ 4.9 300. Saved it from the crusher.

Turns over, no start.
1. New set of points + condenser. Still no start
2. New coil. No start
3. New plugs and wires. No start
4. New cap and Rotor. No start
5. New solenoid. No start
6. No spark at points with ignition on and using screwdriver to open /close points.

Made a new coil - dist. wire.

Coil tests good with ohm meter.
(+) wire to coil shows 8/9v with ignition on and 13/14 cranking.

The problem has to be in the distributor somewhere no? But I'm not sure what else, the bare ground is intact inside, condenser/ coil wire / grind wire all connected to the points screw terminal.

I'm stumped!

 

Make sure condenser is good, try a good ole' Motorcraft from your junkbox. NOS points can have a layer of skunge on them, clean carefully with a point file. Check for continuity from movable arm to ground. In humid locations they can lose continuity quick. One reason points went bye-bye!

 

Only thing I could find in my garage was a voltage regulator! I cleaned the new points with 2000grit paper and brake clean.

 

Yeah, is it one of those no name el-cheapo made in you-know-where condensers? Those are no good. Points ignition needs top quality parts. Autolite and Motorcraft NOS from fleabay are your best bet. Check for low resistance from battery negative post to breaker plate. Pinched wire from coil, grounding to distributor, sometimes people leave out the uninsulated bare stranded copper wire inside the distributor too.

 

C9AZ-12300-A (replaced B9AZ-12300-A) .. Condenser (Motorcraft DC-13A) / Available from Ford

221/240/260/272/289/292/300/302/312/330/351W/352/360/361/390/391/400/401/410/428/429/460/477/534 etc.

Make sure if buying that it's genuine Ford (preferably made in the USA or Canada [box marked as such]), you don't want made in China crap.

 

What ND is saying is absolute gospel truth. Some time back my wife called and said her '69 F250 Camper Special started bucking and cavorting on the highway. She managed to pull off and lurch it into a parking lot on the frontage road. I drove down there. No spark. Checked everything you've checked. Pulled the distributor cap and there was the problem. The cheap POS chinese-made condenser had broken away from the GLUE that held the mounting tab onto the body of the condenser. Think about how *****ty that manufacture technique is: GLUE insulating the grounding tab from the item being grounded? DAMN! Then when the glue failed and the body broke away during operation the engine ran only in fits and starts as the bucking caused the flopping condenser to ground momentarily inside the distributor.

Right then I was so mad I found myself wishing MacArthur HAD used nukes on the Chinese during the Korean War. Anyway, Simple get-it-home fix was wrap a piece of stainless steel wire I had around the tab and body to get it grounded and stay in place. Ran just fine. But ever since, I've used ND's suggested FOMOCO condensers.

China can just kiss my @***. Every one of them. They can all 4 billion of them just line up and kiss it.

 

C'mon man, don't sugar coat it! Tell us how you really feel.

 

 

Back to the OP’s issue: Is the ground from the breaker plate to the distributor body good? If it isn’t the points don’t have any way to ground, and opening and closing them doesn’t do anything.

 

Thanks.
Yes it is. Clean and connected.

 

Remove the condenser from the equation completely for now and check for spark. Its common for the condenser to short internally and ground out.

 

Was at the truck just now ( it's at the shop) and went over wiring for continuity. Pretty much zero voltage drop and no resistance. Battery - solenoid - grounds etc.

Put test light clip on (-) side coil and put probe on a ground point, ignition on, points open and no light appears.

Test light clip on ground and probe touching anywhere in/on distributor (ign on) = light on.

Remove (-) lead from the coil at the points terminal and turn ignition on, touch end to metal and sparks. Obviously, new we had power there anyways but still.

Condenser? Have a short somewhere in the distributor?

 

Modern manufacture imported ignition condensers are absolute garbage and have been for several years. The el-cheapo points aren't any better, but they usually won't keep it from running right out of the box. When using points and condenser NOS is usually the way to go, although the condensers are starting to show their age. It is a critical ignition component.

 

I'm going to look for a decent condenser tomorrow!

 

With the clip grounded, you have voltage anywhere on the distributor? That seems odd. I just went through this with the 67 Im working on. You need the body of the distributor to be grounded (there is a ground wire, it should be close to .00 ohms, I had .03) and with the key on, and the points open, there should be voltage on the tip of the points. I think I had the wires spun and mine was grounded. It works better with a multimeter. You can check continuity.

Im sure this is right, at least thats what I had, and it worked. I chased the same issue. Went through 3 condensors and 3 sets of points, although 2 sets were used. I finally used a new coil condensor and points and it worked, after I spun the wiring.