Its been too many years since I was this much into engine work and can't remember what I am doing wrong. I have a 352 FE from a 66 truck. I have the positive wire going to the positive side of the coil with the negative feeding out to the distibutor. I have a new coil, distibutor, cap, rotor, wires, plugs, etc. Anyway, I am not getting any spark at the points therefore I think it safe to say not at the plugs either. I can't figure out whats going wrong. I don't have a 12v tester but am using a continuity tester and I am showing continuity from the positive side of the coil to the positive side of the battery. This means juice is flowing right? Some days I just have absolutely no common sense anymore. What am I doing wrong?
yes, shaft is turning. If I try to open the points manually, I still get no spark. I know its a simple diagnosis just can't seem to get the old brain working. I've been waiting for several days to post thinking I could figure it out. I might just have to go get a 12 volt test light to see what the hecks going on. I'm just being stubborn about buying the light right now. I'll spend 200 on a rebuilt carb but have trouble spending 5 on a cheap trouble light. Go figure.
do you have new wires i mean the positive wires not the plug wires just thinking you may have a broken wire or connector in the old wiring its kinda funny i just tore apart a 66 352 from a truck last night
you replaced cap and rotor, HOW ABOUT REPLACING THE POINTS AND CONDENSER? Set points at 19/1000th or dwell at 28-32. A set of points on my old 66 352 only lasted about 12,000 miles.
You got a short or a long between the coil and the distributer, that or you have no juice going through the coil. Go to radio shack and by one of those cheap digital multi meters so you can check voltage. A common thing on almost all points distributers is that the spring for the points come in contact with the distributer case shorting them out, you may look and see if that is you problem.
Just had a no spark problem on my truck I'm doing. The engine ground to the frame was the problem. Too much paint I guess. I've also had the bare copper wire that runs from the advance plate to dist. points ground break.
If you don,t have a volt meter use a blub remove pos from coil and grd blub.I would guess you don,t have a resister thats matchs coil.Check for broken ends on wire give a tug. Remove spark plug wire from cap, adj points new condenser than crack with key and spark should jump to grd about 1/2" .Then go to plugs test.
First, spend a couple bux and buy or make a test light, they are cheap and invaluable. Get a tail light pigtail socket which works fine as a test light. Without the proper tools you can not do the job. Continuity only indicates that there is a path there, it does not mean there is power. Check your engine to frame ground or ignition switch operation too.
Not enough detail to go much further, but keep in mind if you are using a Ford starter solenoid, ignition voltage is supplied during cranking from the "D" terminal on the solenoid. Unless it's been changed, the ignition switch doesn't supply 12v during cranking (the reason for the "D" terminal). First thing though.... as mentioned, get a test light.
Sometimes I just flat out hotwire an engine to get it running, byp***ing the ignition. I use a remote hotbox under the hood, makes it easier to try things out. Gotta be something obscenely simple and with zero cost... frustrating. Bob
I picked up a test light today. Didn't have much time to get too into things but did find that when I put the tester between the positive side of the coil and grounded the other end, the light was not the brightest. Is there some power lost when it p***es through the ignition switch. I hope to get further into it tomorrow and check for spark at plugs then go from there. Thanks for all the feedback. Like to get this beast going to see what else is wrong if any or if I can drive the darn thing.
Yes there should be a ballast resistor between the ign. sw and the coil in the run position to lower the voltage as seen here to prolong the life of the points. I'm not familliar with the stock 66 wiring on a Ford truck but there is something in that wire to reduce the voltage. On my 66 Chevelle it was a section of resistor wire buried in the harness that was not visible unless you knew it was there and tore the harness apart to find it. It sounds like the voltage at the coil is fine on yours. If the light gets brighter when you turn the key to the start position, that's normal too. The resistor is by p***ed while starting to get a hotter spark until it starts and then goes back to the reduced voltage system.
If you take the wires off the coil and put your light in the circuit.If you try and start it the light should flash.Make sure you have a new condenser.Make sure you have a good and correct coil and resister.Get a coil and resister for a 56 Ford.You can hot wire it, run direct to coil from battery Pos + termenial.
Well, I'm getting spark. I must just be overlooking something here. One thing that happened early on is that I was checking the timing because when I bought the truck, it had no cap, rotor, plug wires or carb. The valve covers were off but there. So I rotated it through several rotations and it seemed to me, that the timing of the distributor was off by 180 degrees. I checked and rechecked the number 1 piston for TDC and closed valves. Everytime I got to that point, the rotor seemed to be exactly opposite of where it should be. Well, I heisitated to pull the dizzy because it didn't look like it'd been touched in many years so I didn't see how it could suddenly be off by that much. I went ahead and pulled it. Man was that b**ch stuck in the block. I thought I was going to have to break it to get it out. After much coaxing it finally let me win. I checked the distributor and the bearings were shot. Very hard to turn. I thought that might have been part of the problem. I installed the new dizzy and checked it out and all seems to be lined up where its supposed to be. Am I missing something. Did I install it backwards. Won't they at least cough and sputter and/or backfire? Some months I seem to have a real mental block. This would be one of them.
so this engine has sat for who knows how long with no carb ,cap, wires, rotor, your lucky your getting anything out of it i have pulled distributors out of 352's and out of 360 f.e.'s and all of them have been aroyal ***** but yeah even 360 out it should make some noise trying to run are you sure the timing chain and gears are good? does the engine crank fast or slow? when the keys turned
You're sort of providing the background information in small drips and nuggets. When you say "new dizzy", is it a reman unit, one that you had, or an aftermarket? Was the gear already pinned on the shaft? Any possibility that the pin has sheared and the gear spins at times without turning the distributor? What kind of spark? A hot blue one, or a weak yellow/orange one? Is it possible that the timing gear/chain has slipped due to the nylon teeth cracking and falling off? If you bought it with so much stuff unhooked or apart already, maybe someone was messing with it because it would not run due to ******ed timing of the crank and cam. Sounds as if there is more to the story. One of your best friends will be a volt-ohm meter so you can have an accurate number for voltages in the system, a test light has limited diagnostic uses in some cases. Have you done a compression check? Does the starter spin it quickly enough to build good squeeze in the cylinder? As the background details trickle out, more questions are generated....
Pull number one plug and put your thumb on the hole Have some one turn engine at crank bolt with a ratchet. Make sure battery is not hooked up. When you get compression ( blows thumb out) then stop the crank You should to tdc compression. Rotor should be point at number 1. If it dont blow thumb out it is not going to run due to no compression. Was the pin sheared off on the original distributor gear? If so then check for valve stem seals stuck in oil pump. Check for the much overlooked point breaker place being sloppy or broken or missing ground wire in said distributor.
Ford 352 basic info firing order 1546378 Dist turns counterclock wise Looking from drivers side, Clips on dist lineup front to back dist in.May need some turning. Some caps are marked #1 Looking at dist #1 is before back clip. P*** side Front 1234 Drivers side 5678 #1 on mark both valves will be closed for long time. Make sure you have oil pressure and valves are NOT stuck.
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