6v to 12v problems?

Over the winter we converted the Buick from 6v to 12v system. I bought new bulbs and new fuses and a one wire style alt. I thought I had everything worked out and was ready to roll. I even went out for a couple of cruises over the last few weeks.

I let the car sit parked for a couple of days until this week when I needed to move the car....I tried to start it and it won't get any fire. I am getting gas and the engine is spinning over very well. So my line of thought was that it might be the points. We checked them and they look ok. Then I was thinking about the condenser. Would switching to a 12v system affect the condenser? The coil? Any other ideas for me here? Help I want to get this thing cruise ready man....!

 

did you replace the coil?
HC

 

no.

 

bingo!

 

Seriously?

I didn't think it mattered. And what about the points/cond.?

 

points should be fine...not sure about the condensor. Also you would wire the coil exactly opposite of the 6 volt wiring. The (-) should go to the points and the (+) is from the ignition switch.

 

When I switched mine over I burned up a couple of coils and several sets of points until I realized I needed a resistor in the line between the ignition and the coil.

Rodney

 

I got a Pertronix electronic ingnition to eleminate them points and condensor Im willing to let go of pretty cheap...

 

Ok so let me make sure I am getting this straight. I need a 12v coil AND I should wire it oposite of my old coil (or put a resistor inline)?

And what about the condenser - are they different from 6v to 12v?

 

yes you need a 12 volt coil, and depending on the coil you may need a ballast resistor.

If you have changed the polarity you my need to swith the cables on the coil. The connector that goes to the point shall have the same polarity as the grounding strap on the battery i:e if its positive then you should have the + on the coil on the point side.

NO you dont need to change the condensor, it will work well. But if you still want to do it get one from a car with the same amount of cylinders.

 

I guess I will hash it out and see if this all works out. Thanks a bunch guys. I appreciate it.

Viva....

 

You've got most of the info here - I was a little confused reading through it though, so let me put it in a way I can understand it & hopefully make sense:

If your car was running a ballast resistor before, you'll need to change the coil. Find out if the new coil requires a ballast resistor or not. If your car was not running a ballast resistor, you should be able to run one with your existing coil & be OK. As a very rough guide, coils that say "for electronic ignition" have internal ballaset resisotrs & those designed for points systems do not. But that's a rough guide - check with the mfgr.

If you changed from 6V positive ground to 12V negative ground, you would have to swap the wires on the coil. It will work, as you've found out, but not as efficiently. It shouldn't, however, keep your car from firing at all.

The condensor shouldn't care, but might be worthwhile to replace it anyway to (help) eliminate it from the equation.

 

I should re-iterate that this thing was running - and well.

I drove it a handful of times with the wrong alternator - I bought what I thought was a one wire alt from the local parts store. Turns out that it in fact was not a one wire alt and the battery wasn't being charged.

Fast forward to two weeks ago, I got the right alt in it and it ran really well. I figured that the new charging system was giving me a better spark because I was running better than I had remembered. I drove it to some cruises and dad even took it for a few spins last week as well. Parked it on Fri. night and tried to move it Mon. morning and it wouldn't start. Sounded like there was no spark at all and here we are.....

So now I don't know if I've burned up the coil, the points or the condenser. Sounds to me like I'll be breaking out the checkbook soon.....

 

You said the points look ok, so I would first get a 12v coil and new condensor and see if your spark returns.

It has to be something simple since it was working.
My bet is the coil.
Get a balast resitor too.
Any 12v coil and resitor will work and should'nt set you back but 30 bucks or so.

The other thing it might be is some kind of ground in the system.
Are you running a tach?
I assuming not since it was 6volt before.
Coil wire could be bad also

 

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I should re-iterate that this thing was running - and well.

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That's the odd part. It was running, you parked it, came back & it was a dead. Sounds like '80s Ford electronic ignition module failure - but you don't have one of those!

Have you checked the basics? Are you getting voltage to the points/coil circuit? Maybe a wire wiggled loose there or on the back of the ignition switch? Just grasping at straws. Otherwise, I'd guess at the coil. Put an ohm-meter across the + & - terminal, you should read some small amount of resistance, but you should read something - it should not be an open circuit.

Let us know what you find