OK.. As you all know, my 49 Caddy is a 6 volt system. I have so far replaced: Dist cap Rotor Points condensor I am still getting no spark to the plugs. I am getting spark to the points however (with a screwdriver jumping it.) My question is, if I replace the coil, it is a special 6V coil that I need to find or can I use one off of a SBC? My father has several SBC sitting around the shop that I can take one off of but, they are all 12V systems. Is it a waste of time? A new one is 25 bucks and a 2 week shipping for the Caddy.
I would find a VW shop in your area and get them to order a 6 volt Bosch coil....(known as a Blue coil)....Quailty piece.....Not China junk......you wire it directly to 6 volts as it has a built in resistor
Don't know what you mean by spark to the points, check the HV output of the coil.... If one side of the coil primary is getting 6V, then the points ground the other side of the coil primary when they are closed. when the point open you should get a spark out of the coil HV (tower). You can similate the points close, open, with a screwdriver... maybe that's what you meant. You can check the coil in the car without the motor running that way, or on the bench. A 6V coil is a 6V coil, replace with a good SBC coil and check, if it doesn't work there is something wrong with your test set-up.
It seems with the advent of HEI, the quality of older points-type ignition components has, unfortunately, hit a brick wall. The only stuff you can get from the auto box stores is chinese ****......especially with regard to condensers and coils......my plymouth burned up several sets of points before I modified a Bosch condenser to fit the stock Plymouth distributor. I would give a hairy eye ball to anything coming out of china or elsewhere for that matter.
Well, right now I just want to get the thing to fire up and it isn't doing that at all. I grew up on Eletronic Ignition so to be honest, points and the way they work is all pretty new to me. Here is what I have so far... 1: With everything in place and the #1 plug out but plugged into the wire, I have zero spark. I even went as far as to hold the business end of the plug while the car was turning over. Nothing. 2: With the dist cap off and the engine turning over, I can see the points opening and closing but, I am not seeing any spark however, it could be that I just can't see it because it is bright outside. 3: With the ignition on, I take a screwdriver and open/close the points manually. I don't know what I touched but, I got a very undeniable spark so I know I am getting power to the dist from somewhere.
Did you set the point gap on the high point of the distributor cam lobe? If you set it at the low point, the points will never close. Points need to do the close & open bit so the collapsing field will transmit electricity to the coil thereby inducing voltage into the high voltage winding.
With a 6 volt test light just touch it to the negative side of the coil. While the engine is turning over there should be a constant voltage on the positive side and a pulsed voltage on the negative side. If the points are opening and closing properly the 6 volts on the negative side goes to ground or becomes zero volts.As the points open the voltage will go back to approx 6 volts as the path to ground is opened.Ensure that there is voltage at the positive side of the coil during cranking as well as key on.
Point gap on the high point...? I haven't a clue what you are talking about. I simply took the old points out and put the new points in. The points DO open all the way and close all the way. Other then that......
yes you need to use a 6 volt coil..to answer your original question. but if your other ignition parts are not playing well togeather even a new coil will not help. it all has to be good and set right to work. also check that condenser when they go bad they dont tell you. and sometimes thats all that is wrong.
The positive(+) side of the 6V coil goes to ground IF the car is positive(+) ground, like Fords and Mopars. The negative(-) side of the 6V coil goes to ground IF the car is negative(-) ground like GM and others.
I'm not really any better at this than you, but I do know that you can't simply drop in a new set of points and ***ume they are set the same and are in the same position as the old set. It sounds like your points are not closing at the right time. You should get a shop manual for your car, or at the very least, a shop manual for a car that came with points and it will tell you how to set them. You just need to know what the gap is for your car.
any auto parts store should have a 6v coil in stock. I got one from autozone for my 53 buick and they had it in stock. Changed to car to 12v so I have it sitting around. I had the same problem with mine not firing and all it was is the points were not adjusted properly. Do a search online you may find something if you dont have a book.
Tractor stuff, man. When you think 6-volt, think Tractor. You can go to about anyplace that sells tractor parts, even a NAPA and get your 6-volt coil. ~Jason
but if you don't want to check the point adjustment, or test the coil as suggested, AutoZone has the coils listed online and says... Availability: Store: Normally stocked at your local store. Online: Ships within 2 business days $14 oh, and I had the same problem with a 12v car... and it was because the points were fried or not adjusted properly, or both.
How about correctly setting the points? Here's a quick primer. http://home.earthlink.net/~goodspeeds/POINTS.HTM -Bigchief.
check and make sure the dizzy has a good ground. i just went through it with my forklift and had plenty of spark at points but zero at plugs and i replaced and tested the whole system. one thing that helped me was adding a 12 volt battery to the system. i have had many old tractors and simply replaced the coils from 6v to12v to upgrade the ignition system. the stock stuff is junk.
Read a long while back that when 12 volt systems were coming out, there would be a surplus of 6 volt coils. To use up the 6 volt coils a Ballest resistor was added to the system. So even though the coil was in a 12 volt system it was a 6 volt coil. That is why 6 Volt systems did not have a Ballast. The 6 volt coil was designed to limet point current to less than 4 amps or so. So yes a 12 volt coil with out a ballest resistor would work in a 6 volt system.
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