I'm rewiring my '53 with a Ron Francis kit. I've converted it to negative ground, from 6 volts to 12 volts, added a one-wire alternator, new coil, new condensor and new starter relay. Here's the problem -- it will crank and I have 10-12 volts at the coil, but no spark out of the coil. The wire from the coil to the distributor is good, the connection between that wire and the points is good, the points are opening properly, I've not changed the timing. Just to be sure I took the resistor out of the system so I have full voltage to the coil, but still no spark. I'm really stumped. Any ideas?

 

By the sounds of things, your new coil is faulty. Thats the only thing between the power in and power out....

 

I too thought it had to be either either the new coil or condensor and have replaced both of them....

 

Why not call Ron Francis tech help? They have been of good service to me in the past.

 

Are the points closing all the way? can you get a spark out of the points when you open and close them with a small screwdriver? You mentioned that the wire between the coil and the points is good. I think I would go one step further and check it from the points contact (with the points open) to the terminal at the coil to make sure its not shorted to gorund or open.

Good luck
Bobby

 

I've had a couple of conversations with them. They have been great, but concluded that it is wired correctly and the problem isn't in the wiring or their panel.

 

Good ideas. I'll give it a try.

 

I had a similar problem and it ended up that I needed a jumper wire on my ignition switch. I was able to figure it out after calling Painless wiring as I was using their GM steering column wiring kit with a non-GM column. Apparently I had ordered the wrong one... Anyway, hope you get it figured out.

 

Did you check to see that you have voltage to the coil while the engine is cranking not just with the switch on? You should have ~13V, 10V means the battery is low or there is a drain. When rewiring did you add a good ground strap from the engine to chassis?

 

10V is when it is cranking -- which surprises me because the battery has a full charge.

I did replace the the ground and ran it directly to the engine instead of through the frame.

 

Just so you can triple check the wiring :-)

12v, from ignition switch, to + on coil
- on coil goes to one side of points
Other side of points go to ground

Disconnect the wire from the - on the coil and hook your meter to it and the other lead to a good ground, this will check thru the points, so make sure they are closed, a good ground means the points and the wires are good....... no ground and there is the problem...wiring or points or a missing ground on the points.

12v should be constant at the + of the coil and the - of the coil should have a pulsing ground as the engine turns over.

Missing any of this and no spark.

 

1. All new wiring installed??? Has all wires been rung out for correct/good connections with a ohm meter again.
2. Verify all new parts have the correct part number for your vehicle.
3. While troubleshooting never, never change more than one part at a time until you are assured the new part works then go to the next new part.
4. As said before, make sure the frame, engine,body,bed , ground studs,and battery grounds are checked with ohm meter to each other.
5. You can disconnect voltage from coil circuit and check with ohm meter.
6. We haven't talked about condition of dist in/out with a ohm meter.
7. Does dist have a good rotor.
8. Make sure nothing reads to ground if it is not supposed to.
Double check correct wiring print and trace all wiring. I hope this helps. Have a great day,chuck

 

Take the wire that goes to the distributor off and ground it briefly with key on. The coil should fire when you break the connection to ground. I'm with Bobby, the points are likely not ever closing, or have something on them that is preventing them from grounding the circuit (corrosion from sitting?).

 

One common occurance is a broken or shorted wire from the coil to the distributor. The 10V reading still bothers me tho. The battery ground should go to the chassis, making sure the contact point on the frame is clean of any paint, rust or grease. If it bothers you to sand a clean spot on the frame, weld the head of a bolt to the frame and paint everything up to the head and threaded part of the bolt. Use a star toothed washer on each side of the ground cable eye and a lock nut to fasten. the engine should be grounded with a braided flat strap from the engine to the frame or firewall.
Start at the battery. Take off the ground cable and check the battery voltage at the terminals. A fully charged battery should read close to 13V. Now replace the cable and disconnect the other end. Check the reading at the end of the cable and the + battery terminal. Should be the same, now reconnect the ground and disconnect the + cable. Check the reading between the + terminal and the disconnected cable end. If the readings are all the same reconnect the battery terminal and disconnect the + cable at the solenoid. Check the reading between the cable end and a clean bolt on the chassis. Check again between the cable end and a clean metal on the engine. If all the readings check out, run a jumper wire from the battery + terminal and the + terminal on the coil. Try starting the engine. If you still don't get a spark, leave the switch off and disconnect the ignition switch wires at the solenoid and with the jumper connected short the solenoid to crank the engine. If the coil fires you have a faulty ignition switch or ignition switch wire. If in checking voltages if you find a drop in voltage change out whatever is between the last good reading to the point you get the low reading. My money is on a faulty switch or high resistance battery cable. The coil needs > 10V.

 

Thanks for the advice. I'll go through it and let you know what I find out.