Ignition system trouble..
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Joined: Apr 2006
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Ignition system trouble..
Guys I have a '75 ford Bronco that just croaked yesterday. I was pulling into the service station for some fuel and it died in mid stride on me. It acts like its not getting any fire. I know nothing about ignition systems. I mean really nothing. So I pulled off the distributor cap to see if the points had shifted and they appeared to be in the right place. Very small gap between them. THe coil was relatively hot to the touch and then after repeated attempts to start it, it fired up. But it ran rough and wouldn't idle like it was missing. Than it quit and didn't start again. THen the solenoid on the starter circuit burned up I guess from so much use and it would click then just up and quit doing any thing. The guy standing at the front of the vehicle said it was humming when I turned it over. What to do?
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 56,971
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From: Virginia
Charge the battery up, and clean the terminals on the battery. See if it will crank. If it will not crank, turn the headlights on and watch them while someone tries to crank it. If they stay fairly bright, and it will not crank, then it is either the solenoid or the starter that is burnt up.
If you finally get it to turn over, take a sparkplug wire off and stick a screwdriver up in the end of the sparkplug wire. Hold the screwdriver by the plastic handle and put the metal part of the screwdriver very close to the metal of the engine without touching. Then get someone to crank the engine. You should see a blue spark jump from the screwdriver to the engine.
If you finally get it to turn over, take a sparkplug wire off and stick a screwdriver up in the end of the sparkplug wire. Hold the screwdriver by the plastic handle and put the metal part of the screwdriver very close to the metal of the engine without touching. Then get someone to crank the engine. You should see a blue spark jump from the screwdriver to the engine.
