Long story short - I'm stupid and incorrectly measured the resistance on the secondary coils of the two coil units I have.

My brother and I went out today and went through the entire ignition system on Earl. We were baffled for a little while until we narrowed it down to the points. When they are closed, there should be about a 6 or 7 Volt drop across the coil unit primary coil. We had nada. I asked Greg twice if the points were closed and he checked very carefully and bumped the engine with the starter to make sure we were midway between two of the distributor cam high points. There was no current flowing through the points even though we had 7V going into them.

We removed the points and condenser and replaced them with new units I had bought a couple months ago. Greg set the point gap and we cranked the engine to get fuel up to the carburetor. After a couple bursts of 10 seconds on the starter, the old 272 fired right up! We carefully checked for any leaks or other problems but it was as if it had just come back from the machine shop again. The oil was as clean as the stuff in a new bottle, the coolant tested perfectly, and we had used fuel stabilizer in the gas to help avoid deposits in the carburetor.

The dwell is only about a degree high and we'll fix that in the next few days. I had a timing light but, for some reason, it stopped working after I dropped it on the concrete floor last summer. I'm picking up a new one tomorrow.

We were both pretty happy as it appears that the engine has not suffered even minor damage during it's long, unattended wait for us to start it up again. If things had turned out differently, it would have been a major problem given what we had spent to have that engine totally refurbished.

Both Greg and I were taught back in the dark ages that you never leave the ignition key in the "On" or "Run" position for more than a few seconds. If the points happen to be closed, or worse yet, if they are just opening or closing, having the key in the "On" position allows power to flow through them and they can be badly damaged by the heat build up. Neither of us had actually forgotten that rule, but we had never seen a set of points that looked fine but were burned so badly that no current could flow through them when they were closed. Here are a couple of photos illustrating why we were surprised. The first one is before we took the assembly apart. It really doesn't look like they are damaged, does it? With the assembly removed from the distributor so the points are definitely closed, we measured more than 100 MOhms resistance across those two points. The second photo shows the face of both points after we took the assembly apart. Amazing.

 

Wow, thanks for another reminder on this George, this is something that I`ve totally forgotten over time too. One time I filed a seeming good set of points then I could not, for the life of me, get the motor started again until I put in a new set......though the first set looked fine.
Great to hear Earl finally fired up and is behaving himself, got to love that!

 

It's the seemingly simple things that I tend to overlook, thanks for the reminder of how basic a problem can be.

I'm glad to see you posting again, and also glad to hear good news about Earl.

 

Yeah but what's nice is after that little "I know I remember something about this" thought pops back into your head, Old Earl fired right back up!

I just love success stories and to see old trucks running again after a sit!

 

When is the last time you had earl running?

 

Glad to hear Earl is alive and kicking! The quality of points today is not what it used to be. I have the same issue with my tractor from just sitting over the winter. Many time I have to change out the points in the spring. I have had better luck with Blue Streak brand from NAPA. I don't know if they have the right one for Earl, but they are worth the few extra bucks they cost.

 

George
Hearing Earl running has got to be a good dose of high energy get well meds.
I've seen points that when pried apart look like the Alps Mountains - hard to maintain the correct gap with something like that.

Good to hears He's running.

(WHY IS THERE AN EXPIRATION DATE ON SOUR CREAM?)

 

Wow, been a long time since I've seen points at all! Those are cooked for sure! Good diagnostic work!

 

One of the reasons points went the way of the Dodo bird. Sure did make us a lot of money at the service station tho.
I once tuned up one of my own cars, replacing the points and condensor (I got them cheap, so I replaced them often). The engine would not start. I spent all day playing with the setting on the points etc but there was no spark. Finally in desperation I again replaced the points and condensor and it started right up! Upon checking later it turned out the first new out of the box condensor was internally shorted, shorting out the ignition. Who'd have thunk it?!?!

 

Because all good things must come to an end.

 

Will fire up my 56 this week. My first 56 fired right up a few weeks ago,and hope this one will too.
I am not a big-engine guru,but usually use common sense and usually have no problem.
Thanks for the pics...and earl hasn't run since 2004? Is that right?

 

<o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com<img src=" http:="" images.ford-trucks.com="" forums="" images="" smilies="" redface.gif="" border="0" alt="" title="Embarrassment" smilieid="3" class="inlineimg"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <wontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]>******** classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id=ieooui>*********> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> Another trip down memory lane; it was no fun crawling over the engine with a feeler gauge and a trouble light. Besides a 1956 Customline w/292, I had an early 8N with front distributor; checking and replacing points was a major hassle. First investment was a remote starter switch to get the points on the high part of the distributor cam. Then when Mallory came out with the Unilite, getting rid of points was one of the first things I did.
<o></o>
From points to electronic modules to DIS to running on water, who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? I appreciate the die-hard stock guys that are willing to confront the cantankerous ingenuity of the past.
<o></o>
Glad to hear Earl is all fired up and ready to do some “barn storming” in the back hills of <st1:state w:st="on"><st1>Ohio</st1></st1:state>.

 

Excellent news George!

And an excellent tutorial on the pitfalls of the past. I used to always keep a spare set of points, a condensor, a matchbook, and a churchkey in the glovebox. My old 390 ate points like they were candy.

Bobby

 

Wally, I knew there were probably differences in the quality of different points/condenser sets, but the last time I bought any was in 1981 for an old AMC Hornet I had breathed some life back into when I was in college. I did, in fact, find your preference for the Blue Streak brand somewhere on the forum (can't remember where now) and I bought that brand.


fatfenders: When is the last time you had Earl running?
Walford: ... and Earl hasn't run since 2004? Is that right?

<OThe last time Earl's engine was run was around February of 2004, best I can find from my notes. That was the start of some very difficult times with the illness I was fighting. Earl, much as I hate to admit it, was simply not a priority for the years in between.</O

<OI appreciate all the support and good wishes and, yes, Greg and I were like a couple of teenagers when the 272 fired up and there was no apparent damage. It idles just fine, the carb works like new, and we both were so glad we had not dropped a bundle on getting the engine totally reworked only to have it ruined from lack of maintenance. Thanks to all! </O

 

Ha, ha, there`s more than just afew us like that here which is a good thing George.