I was driving my '52 merc last weekend and it just died right after I turned a corner. We pulled it back home and it fired a couple times the next day, but now it won’t even fire. There is no spark in the plugs and the motor and distributer have all been rebuilt. Any suggestions?
Grab your test light, turn the ignition to On, and probe the + wire on the coil. If you’re not getting voltage there, you know that the problem lies on that side of the circuit. If you’re getting voltage at the coil, it’s got to be either a problem with the coil itself or the points. Can’t get much more basic than that ignition system.
A friends old Corvette died on the spot about 40 miles from home a few weeks ago. The ignition coil failed. A failed ignition condensor will stop it dead too.
If there is power to the coil with the key on, remove the distributor cap and check the point gap. Points ignition is high maintenance…The points will need to be set every 6000 miles or so and replaced every 12,000 miles, along with the plugs.
I replaced the coil and the car runs great again!