No Spark...

[shoot_my_boat]

Hello,<br /><br />I have a 72ish ford 302 V-8 engine & can't get it to start up. So far I replaced the voltage regulator & starter silenoid. The plugs are 1 season old & the dist. looked good. The ohms read good in the coil but still no fire! I unhooked the wire from the the dist. that connects to the coil & put it next to a ground but still no spark.<br /><br />Anyone have any suggestions?<br />Oh, btw I think I screw something up because all the guages are reading peak. I guess when I was working on it I messed something up. Would a incorrect ground do this?<br /><br />Thanks!

 

[McKenzie]

Re: No Spark...

If all you gauges are at peak, it usually means the signal wires are shorted to ground. Do they peak if you pull the signal wires off the gauges? As to the no spark... Do you have 12v to the ballast resistor? If so, you should have about 8v-9v at the coil (12v if you converted to an electronic ignition). I would bypass all the wiring and see if it will fire. Pull all the wires off the ignition coil except the distributor leads. Jump a wire from the positive battery terminal to the ignition coil's positive terminal. Then try to start it. If it doesn't fire then, its because of your spark wires, coil, or something within the distributor. If it does start, theres a wiring issue or blown fuse. Have fun!!

 

[shoot_my_boat]

Re: No Spark...

Thanks for the answers!<br /><br />That was a great help. I'll check all that out tomorrow!

 

[shoot_my_boat]

Re: No Spark...

OK,<br /><br />I'm still not getting any spark & I replaced my ignition coil & wires today. I ran a wire from my pos battery cable to the pos lead on the coil & tried that with no luck. The only piece I didn't replace was my ignition coil resistor because I couldn't find a replacment. What is this piece? Would it make at least a spark without it?<br /><br />The good news is my guages are not reading peak anymore <br /><br />Thanks!

 

[Dunaruna]

Re: No Spark...

You said your distributor looks fine but have you checked your points & condenser? New points often will not contact if not cleaned correctly (brakleen or clean-r-carb) Replacing them is very cheap and a good way to eliminate them as a possible cause.

 

[shoot_my_boat]

Re: No Spark...

I just bought new points & a condenser. I'm gonna install them tomorrow.<br /><br />I also got a new volt meter since my last one broke. I checked the coil resistor & it read 1.7ohms. The shhop manual anything other than 1.3-1.5 & it needs to be replaced! Would this stop the spark?

 

[Dunaruna]

Re: No Spark...

1.3 - 1.5 at 24 degrees celcius ambient temp.<br />1.7 is a bit high but it isn't broken. As with the points, its a cheap part to replace - if in doubt etc.