I have posted some pic's in my gallery of my cap and roter and was wondering if anyone has seen this before. This cap and roter are about a year old and was changed back then for the same reason. Back then I thought the roter was not sitting down far enough because I had just tuned it up so I replaced it and a couple weeks later it was still doing it so I replaced the cap too. The distributor is rebuilt, the coil is new, I have custom wires (can't rember the name) and plugs were new. sometimes when I put the timing light on it the light flashes sporadically and really fast (cross firing I think but the wires are all seperated). I thought about going back to the cheap wires to see if thet makes a difference. I wonder about the rebuilt distrubitor too. Any help would be great.

 

That's a result of low voltage and Aluminum terminals instead of brass in the cap. It also shows me you are still running points & condenser ignition. It also probably indicates a weak coil, or a coil that has been wired backwards, or run/ fired up when wired backwards.

Check your coil voltage, and get better cap & rotor. To really reduce the problem go to electronic ignition with higher and/ or variable ignition voltage.

FBp

 

Prezz, I agree with the fact that aluminum is not as effective as brass in the ignition circuitry. I also agree that electronic ignition will "reduce" some of the problems of the original point set up. That said, I have been running the original point and condenser ignition for the last 30 years that I have owned my '65 F250. If everything is in a good state of tune with quality parts, it will give you good service. i drive my truck every day to work and haul lots of farm related things and it only left me walking once and it wasn't ignition trouble (fuel pump went the trip). Steve

 

Prezz: You may want to try either our D.U.I.-Davis Unified Ignition or our custom curved Duraspark.

Both are fully electronic, good performers, and very reliable.

www.PerformanceDistributors.com

 

You might be on to somthing about the coil cause I noticed this problem after I changed the coil. I think I got wired right, but even I make mistakes from time to time. I will double check that. The first cap and roter when I found this problem were quality parts and brass contacts, then I bought the one you see in the pic at S<#uck's just for trouble shooting. When testing the coil what kind of output should I be looking for?

 

It should flash out a minimum 12KV with a fully charged battery or engine running with a working Alternator. The distribuitor lead attaches to - and the power or service wire from the Ignition attaches to + of coil, system works toward ground.

Also make sure you have good, sufficient, engine to frame & engine to body grounds as grounding is critical & common for electronic function to work well.

Some breakerless Ignition systems, such as FoMoCos Duraspark II flash to 65-70KV. They're variable voltage systems with more at hard throttle and less at idle or cruising speeds. Both ecomomy and performance are enhanced, as well as plug life, PM costs & frequency. I change my Dbl platnum tip Autolite plugs, cap, rotor & Ignition wires about every 5-6 years. I could go 100K Miles with a Duraspark II system I run, but I don't run many miles per year anymore. It would take me 12-15 years to go 100K.

FBp

 

For a simple and fairly inexpensive electronic ignition you can use a Pertronix Ignitor II, with a Big cap, long nose rotor and cap adapter. I would also use their coil. 8mm wires for a 460 will work nicely on your old FE. The cap, rotor and adapter are available from JEGS and many others and simply snap on to your current distributor. You can also hide the Pertronix under your original small cap if you prefer. Save the points for a rainy day and drive on!

 

All good advice, but I looked at those pics and I really don't think you have a problem there at all. Even a terrible coil puts out over 12kv so that gap between the cap and rotor is no obstacle. As long as there is no carbon tracking betweent the contacts and ground it's fine. A higher quality cap/rotor will have a smaller gap between contacts and cause less flash, which is what makes it look funky.

Here is the cave man coil test: Ignition on, hold the coil wire an inch from ground and crank. (Use insulated pliers or a dry rag so you don't become part of the circuit.) If the spark jumps that one inch gap your coil is fine.

Cave man rotor test: Same as above, but hold the coil wire (dist cap removed,) close to the metal contact on top of the rotor. If ANY spark jumps between the wire and the rotor, scrap the rotor because it has lost it's insulating properties. If no spark, the rotor is OK.

 

Hold It & Wait A Minute here. I totally disagree with the above nonesense!

After reading his entire post with it's very questionable methodologies, I can see whay the author would choose to disagree with the consensus of the rest of us. He contradicts his own theory with his meaningless & useless method of air jumping a spark by air gapping the coil wire.

A coil that has been installed with ploarity reversed, even 1 time, does NOT put out over 12KV. Air gapped spark proves nothing about value of the current there in.

Also "Cave Man" methodology is right. I doubt air gapping coil spark through a primary wire is a test of anything but a lack of knowledge of the shade tree wanna be that's doing it. FWIW try that with an EFI set up and y'all be buying a replacement ECM for the system.

My advice is either do it sort of correctly or leave it alone. I'm trying to help, and not further spread experimentation and/ or ignorance in the stead of technology here. Bad theory is what prompts us to move on to better technology. Air jumping coil spark will prove (as in test out for diagnostic value) what? Electricity seeks a complete circuit?

I believe we all know that, but what this thread is about is optimization of the system to overcome an obvious deficit aka Low Voltage arcing that corrodes the electrodes of certain parts of a distribuitor. Y'all can do whatever you want any way you want, but don't try to foist it off on other people as being genuinely useful or correct in a realm of technology and/ or repair methodology.

I am sorry, but this ridiculous challenge and contesting of fact and accepted practice is non productive and not helpful, In My Honest Opinion. It works against what this forum is about, the way I see it. It's like telling somebody when they have a flat tire to jack their vehicle up, then roll the tire over 180 degrees, because it's only flat on the bottom. . . . .

FBp

 

Look again at the truck we are discussing. From your post you clearly didn't understand what I was talking about. Also notice that I started out by commending the other posts, not contradicting them. What I described is a simple set of tests that take seconds and determine whether a problem exists on old style trucks. I was not talking about modern trucks. I am sure that you are a smart guy, but you would be well advised to be certain you understand what you are criticizing before you start a rant son.

 

I went with the duraspark ll setup on both 65's, 1 of which has a 390ci, man is that gas hog temperamental on cold mornings. It has been find for past 35 plus years I have owned it, just getting too old and losing patience. Now starts up with little effort. Imagine issue narrows down to matter of choice, boxer or briefs. If should decide to upgrade, suggest check out various types on respective manufacturers web site lot if info. If recall everything came to between $130-$150 for package new at local Napa auto parts store only scavenged connectors.

Hate to get off the topic, suspect will be censored, but wow do I like your dump truck. Would be interested if you know whether setup consist of parts from other dump truck(s), or is there a package one can purchase. Just a side note, take care of those front fender F100 emblems with plastic inserts, recently found out they don't make them anymore, offer 66 emblem as a replacement. Anyhow, thought would add my $.02

dave

 

Thankx for all the advice. The coil is wired correct but I don't have enough hands to put a meter on it and turn it over. The new cap and roter are allready showing the same problem. If this is a low voltage problem then I think it is safe to say that I bought a bad coil last year since I noticed the problem after changing it. I think I will wait on the EI till I get the motor rebuilt. I am looking at the Accel 8140 super stock coil. It says it puts out 42kv and maby that will solve some of the other quirky problems I'm having when the motor is cold, plus I will need a good coil if I switch to EI.

 

I had some similiar problems 2 years ago. Fought it for a full year. New caps, new rotors, new coils, new dist., aftermarket dist, pertronix, tried it all. Finally found the problem. The original resistor wire from ignition switch to coil was fried. Ran a new wire, put in a crock resistor like a dodge. Better, but now it ate coils anytime you drove it 55+ mph. When I FINALLY figured it out it was the voltage regulator & alternator! At idle the voltage at the coil was fine. But you rev it to 2500-3000 rpm & it would go to 16-18 volts! Had alternator check 3 times & they all said it was good. I replaced the alt. & regulator & haven't had trouble since! She'll rev all day to 5500 & no ignition probs! I would check the voltage at the battery side of coil at different rpms first! Just talking from my own experience!

 

dog, I think your style diagnoses was probably the "Cave Man" methodology that Pete was refering to.

We are here to help our fellow readers, and ol Pete is generally on the mark. If we can help with you not having to guess and spend money on items that are working properly we are happy.

John

 

FWIW
I also switched to the Dura Spark system and I am very happy. The truck is still just a bit cold blooded on cold mornings but not even close to as bad as it used to be.

any way you decide to go good luck.