Can you have a coil AND points?

Damn... this is downright heart-warming... 11 pages of helpful interaction for someone looking for basic tune-up advice and education for a neat old car.

You guys rule.

 

If the points close and are not flat together but instead touch more on one side making a kinda "wedge" shape should I run the points file thru there till it is flat-ish or, (more likely) do I have something screwed up? So close,...yet, so far away. Thanks again all, Steve

 

Yeah they do!

 

a picture of your points would help

 

Do Not file the new points , you can "tweak" them carefully into alignment w/ pliers [do not touch the contact surfaces while doing so!
dave

 

That what I was thinking, I looked at the old set and like 3/8 of an inch from the end it is bent back a few degrees. Thanks for telling me not to touch the contact surface, I kinda figured that was a big nono and would probably promote the welding together effect that kills them of quicker. Gona go bend them some and try it....No wonder Pertronix is doing so well, I can just imagine doing this by flashlight on the side of the highway!

 

Read Rusty O'Toole's post above, post # 209. You won't find much better instructions on setting points.

 

It is hard to see in the picture but I can fit a .004 feeler gauge in 80% of it while the other 20% or so touches at the top of the pic.

 

Hang in there,Packard straight eights don't need worked on every day. Once you give it a PROPER tune up it should run for a long time if there are no problems with the engine itself.
My 48 Packard has been in the family since NEW, so I know of what I speak.

"ASK THE MAN WHO OWNS ONE"

 

Thanks! Yeah I was hooked on "inline" motors with the old Jeep 6's, just will not die, they will leak EVERY fluid but top em off and they go forever. Also, the two days I drove the Packard, the motor ran just as smooth and even quieter (except for one of the solid lifters that needs lashed) than the one in my wife's Escalade! So even down the road when it does finnally need a rebuild, the straight eight will be STAYING!

 

S.O.A.B!!! Well I THINK that I did it right but due to the **** way it has been wired I have knocked loose the wire that goes to the electronic fuel pump (this is the first time that I have NOT heard it come on when the key is turned) while putting the cap back on, I can tell by the "I am to lame to even be able to solder two wires together yet I am messing with wiring for some unknown reason anyway" (what the hell is the matter with DIYers!?)BLUE CRIMP connector(total junk!)that is now hanging there, it did used to go to something. (the fuel pump no doubt) I remember taping it along with all the other bald wire. If I can ever get this turd rollin' again I plan to replace several wires on her and rout them like someone with some sense, but like ANY OTHER repairs/upgrades it will have to wait till it is a runner as I like to start the car, then fix an item, then see if it still starts, then move on to the next item. I felt a giant cussing fit coming on, so I am now on the couch for the night. Let it sit there and watch all the GM's move back and fourth under their own power!
Just a thought but when it comes to fuel pumps, are they just "on" or "off" and if they are on they are working, or are they voltage dependent. Could the loose wire that just came the rest of the way undone have been the problem to start with? I mean I have been told by three people that my points were the worst that they had ever seen but it was running on those points when I parked it. Duno? Steve

 

Activating, Grenade Inspector mode, woot woot!

 

Hey so I am looking under the hood and trying to find the other half of that wire! I mean, this is silly, it was hooked to the thick yellow cloth wire at the bottom of this pic, and gravity works pretty well in my driveway, so the other half of that wire should be just south of where it used to be....nope... I have looked everywhere for the other half! I am trying to figure out what the big yellow wire comes from, I think that it is the main ignition wire best I can tell, where would that come from on my car? I am looking in the books that I have but it is slow going and I figured that yall would know right off. Thanks, Steve, So close, yet, so far away.

 

NAPA has the points.........

 

Did you say you have an electric fuel pump? And its probably one of those
6volt inline jobs. Its probably wired off the ignition switch to pump when
the switch is on. I would test the pump with a jumper direct to the battery
to see if its still good.
If you jumped the car with a 12 volt battery you may have stuck the points
inside the 6volt pump.
Don't pull all your hair out yet, the fun is just beginning

 

IT IS THE MAIN IGNITION WIRE!!! I have no juice to ANY ignition parts now and the fuel pump is tied in to it also so I bet that was the problem with my suspect spark to start with, was that suspect Blue connector! So where does the ignition wire start from? I am consulting the books but have not found it yet. Got it on the run now!!

 

OK got the wire solved, now I am back to my original problem at least. Don't know what else to check.

 

Having scanned over most of this thread I'm still chuckling to myself...... Now if you know how to adjust the valves on at least one type of engine, set the timing and adjust a carburetor properly, you will have become a master! (Admiring your car and enthusiasm)

 

Just re-read your last post. A bad coil can give you fits also. I'll bet there's an old HAMBer within a few miles that could give you a hand.

 

Thanks! I have a new coil for it, do you think that I should throw it on there too just for the hell of it? I am about out of stuff to try!

 

I am starting to think that this might be a starter issue all along. You see it cranks the engine for like 1-1 1/2 seconds and then it sounds like just the electric motor on the starter spins, I let off of the starter right then, allow the starter motor sound to "wind down" and stop, repeat, same thing. Well I HAD thought that when the starter changed sounds like that it was due to the motor attempting to fire but just not for long enough for me to notice. Well I was out there just now and it seems like the amount of time the starter actually turns the motor before it goes to the starter motor only sound is getting less and less, and that's when it hit me!!! The starter doing that CAN NOT be due to the motor attempting to fire 'cause I had knocked the main ignition wire loose from the coil while putting the cap on and temporarily did not know where that wire went, well I tried it then, WITH NO ignition wire going to ANY of my coil ect (made sure of that fact with a test light) and the starter did the SAME weird noise/ giving up on turning the motor over thing. Soo, now that I have a brand new ignition system soup to nuts....How do I check my starter! lol...My bad...lol

 

....Activating "read the damn manual" mode...

 

Sometimes, if the Bendix drive on the starter is bad (usually a weak spring) it will start to crank and then free spin, such as you described. Stu

 

Can I just throw a new bendix in there, or is it at full rebuild only thing, or? I am pretty handy, and more importantly, not scared to try somthing new!

 

Actually, a fairly simple part to replace. Once you have the replacement Bendix Drive in your hand, you will see that it's a pretty straight forward swap. Stu

 

Cool! Thanks! Off on a parts hunt (story of my life these days), but hey, if it were easy OR cheap to have a nice old car, then everyone would be doin' it!

 

So the starter was A problem, (must have killed it the rest of the way off while chasing the original problem) but not THE problem. I got my starter back yesterday and it looks like new! I put it on there and saw a MAJOR difference, aside from staying engaged till I stop cranking it also cranks the hell out of it! Before I could watch one fan blade and it would turn about 1 rev per second when I cranked it, now it spins it over so fast that I can't even focus on one blade. It sounds like it wants to fire. I pulled a plug and I have spark, (means I MIGHT have done the points right! yay!) I hear (the pump) and see fuel, I have air, I pulled the #1 piston up to the top, popped the cap off and the rotor is pointing that way. I am about to go out there while I have it like that and see what the timing marks say, it was too dark and rainy (and I was too drunk) last night to see 'em. Anything else I should check? So close, yet so far away....