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1961 - 1966 F-100 & Larger F-Series Trucks Discuss the Slick Sixties Ford Truck

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Old Oct 30, 2021 | 09:58 PM
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No Spark

Pulled truck into shop to work on turn signal/brake lite issues and now truck has no spark. Background…428 with Pertronix distributor and coil, C6. Had replaced the turn signal/steering column harness and had issues getting the new harness plug to connect to the old under dash plug. So I
pulled the pins from the new harness and plugged them directly into the old under dash plug. Turn signal and brake lites work but now no spark. I’ve got power to coil. What could I have “bumped” under the dash to have caused this?
 
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Old Oct 31, 2021 | 12:19 AM
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Electrical gremlins are hard to decipher. If you only replaced the column harness which has nothing to do with the ignition harness. Apparently something was disrupted.
 
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Old Oct 31, 2021 | 01:33 AM
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Since you've already checked power to coil, I would check that your distributor has good continuity to neg side of battery - maybe a ground that was barely keeping things together is the thing that got disrupted.
Did you bang your elbow or head into the ignition switch or it's wires? I'd remove and replace the connector a couple of times to clean the contacts. Have a look at the wires where they connect to things.
Maybe your getting 12V to the coil in the Run position but not in the Start position? - I assume you're checking for spark while cranking, but checking for voltage while simply in the run position - so you could check for voltage at the coil while cranking to see if that changes
 
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Old Oct 31, 2021 | 03:10 PM
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I’ve checked all the likely under dash sources that I could have disrupted. I have 12v to both sides of coil (10v when cranking) I’ve pulled the coil wire from the distributor and put a spark plug on it to test (grounded the spark plug against the head) and nothing. Replaced the coil and nothing…what am I missing?
 
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Old Oct 31, 2021 | 09:28 PM
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Hmm, bad coil perhaps. I keep a spare.
you might try arcing the tip of the coil wire without using a plug, eliminate one piece of the puzzle and the need to get a good ground with the spark plug.
 
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Old Nov 1, 2021 | 01:00 AM
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Did you verify you have good ground at your block and at the distributor?
 
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Old Nov 1, 2021 | 06:40 PM
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Is the wire next to the start wire on the solenoid connected?
 
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Old Nov 2, 2021 | 04:54 AM
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"+" side of the coil should be hot, "-" side of the coil should pulsate when cranking, if it stays hot, you have no pulse from your pertronix. I'm not fresh on pertronix wiring, so get a diagram online and check your connections.

to check for pulse, put your test light on the "-" post of the coil and crank it, light should flash.
 
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Old Nov 2, 2021 | 11:09 AM
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I don't know if this is the unit you have, but it has a help section and how to hook it to the battery to bypass wiring problems:

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/02...files/1281.pdf

Petronix systems are fairly simple, but picky. I had to set one up on a motorcycle with dual coils.

Try hooking direct to battery per the help in the instructions.

Good luck,
Tom
 
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Old Nov 2, 2021 | 05:34 PM
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Originally Posted by EricJ
"+" side of the coil should be hot, "-" side of the coil should pulsate when cranking, if it stays hot, you have no pulse from your pertronix. I'm not fresh on pertronix wiring, so get a diagram online and check your connections.

to check for pulse, put your test light on the "-" post of the coil and crank it, light should flash.
Diagnose step-by-step in a logical order BEFORE replacing parts. Eric J is correct - do this ^^^^, report back, and we can take you to the next step.
 
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