Do I really need to pull the distributor?

Now I have the same problem on two of my three Fords. Both my '57 Powermaster (841) and my '63 4000 (4 cylinder, gas) refuse to not only start, but neither of them will even cough. Both of them were running just fine before I began what should have been a routine tune-up. Both are 12 volt, I have replaced all of the plugs, rotors, points, plug wires and caps; and still nothing. I figured that since both were running just fine before, I wouldn't need to remove the distributors in order to avoid having to ensure that the No.1 position was correctly timed to the engine - or am I mistaken? Aside from this, I am still being plagued with the problem of none of the plugs firing outside of the engine. On both engines I have reconnected the plugs to their respective wires, and they just won't show any spark. Even if the timing was off, surely the plugs would at least spark? One thing I did discover was the the new set of wires (and connectors) are junk. As far as I can tell the wire (7 mm copper wire) is fine, but the connectors are useless, as in the process of all of this troubleshooting, they have either already pulled away from the wires, or worse, have become stuck in the cap. I have already ordered a separate set of connectors, hopefully they will be better quality that what I have now. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
 
If they ran before and you didn't pulled or move the distributor they should both still be in time. Recheck the gap on the points and that all connections are tight.
 
Sounds like you did a simple oops thing when you tuned them up. Easy way to check thing is this. Pull the distributor cap off and rotor and dust cover. Double check that the points are set at 0.025. Next turn the ignition on and carefully open and close the points by hand a piece of plastic works best. You should both see and hear a spark when you do that. Not spark says you shorted something out when you installed the points or the point have a coating on them that needs to be cleaned off
 

new chinese points will not fire till you clean them. And then a week later you have to clean them again... then a week later.....

clean the contacts, may even have to run a points file through them...

but could be something else as a short in the points to ground in the distribitor or the wire going through the distrib is touching.
 
Old - Your tip about working the (closed) points is a good one and I'll give it a try right now. I do know that I'm getting a huge spark off of the lead going to the coil, so I know at least that power is getting to the coil. I also always drag a piece of brown paper through the closed points, so that shouldn't be an issue. Thanks for your help with this.
 
Sotxbill - So far, I haven't encountered overly
cheap points, but your advice on looking for a
short within the distributor is a good one, and
I'll check again. Thanks.
 
Robert nc - I agree with you 100%, as I've owned these tractors for years and have tuned them up many times without ever having to remove and re-time everything. I will take the time to at least ensure the No.1 cylinder is at TDC (and on the compression stroke) with the flywheel in the right position, but this is driving me nuts!
 
If your getting a spark from the center coil wire then the points are working. If you can say yes to that then the problem if the rotor or the cap. Maybe you did not put the rotor in seen that many times over the years
 
Soundguy - I have a healthy spark when I place the wire coming from the coil close to the block. I will next try the plugs (yet again) outside of the block to see if all four will spark. I have already tried this several times with the old and new wires and noting seems to matter. I have also ensured that not only is the rotor in place, but so is the clip as well.
 
Did you get the tune up kit from tractor supply co.? After I had several sets that were no good, I finally gave in.I went with the electric kit that they sell here on this site. Works greats! More power, quicker starts. I will never go back to points again ... it's pointless to play with them! lol.
 
If you have "healthy spark" coming from the coil wire, you
didn't move the distributor and have nothing coming from
the spark plug wires I would look at the rotor.
If you still have it, put your old rotor back in and try it.
 
I'm with Royse! Check that rotor. Put the old one back in and I bet she'll purr. If not, next thing is the distributor cap. Has to be either one of them if your getting spark from the coil.
Post back. This one has me thinkin".....
 
Run the coil wire to a spark plug. I should at least fire if that plug is good. Had a AC WD actually run with the coil wire going directly to one spark plug. This would isolate your problem to cap, rotor, wires or plugs.
 
(quoted from post at 17:44:54 10/11/14) Now I have the same problem on two of my three Fords. Both my '57 Powermaster (841) and my '63 4000 (4 cylinder, gas) refuse to not only start, but neither of them will even cough. Both of them were running just fine before I began what should have been a routine tune-up. Both are 12 volt, I have replaced all of the plugs, rotors, points, plug wires and caps; and still nothing. I figured that since both were running just fine before, I wouldn't need to remove the distributors in order to avoid having to ensure that the No.1 position was correctly timed to the engine - or am I mistaken? Aside from this, I am still being plagued with the problem of none of the plugs firing outside of the engine. On both engines I have reconnected the plugs to their respective wires, and they just won't show any spark. Even if the timing was off, surely the plugs would at least spark? One thing I did discover was the the new set of wires (and connectors) are junk. As far as I can tell the wire (7 mm copper wire) is fine, but the connectors are useless, as in the process of all of this troubleshooting, they have either already pulled away from the wires, or worse, have become stuck in the cap. I have already ordered a separate set of connectors, hopefully they will be better quality that what I have now. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
lways get a real hoot out of these, "it was running fine, but I 'fixed' it until I broke it!"
 

and rotor and inside of dist cap...


wild question.. are you getting gas to the cyls? did you turn on the gas...


if the coil is firing,, then your points are good... only the gap may be off a bit and affecting the timing,, If gap is too small it will fire early.. if gap is too large, it will fire late.. assuming the points still open and close to complete the charging of the coil.

but with the fire should run to the plugs unless cap is bad, rotor is bad, wires are bad.. thats all thats left. DID YOU PUT THE CAP ON BACKWARDS... the alignment notch should prevent that. DID the rotor button fall out,, usually that type of rotor has a tab and not a button like some models did. DID you turn the distribitor and change the timing?

If fire to plugs and not running then it could be you mess up the wires in how they plug into the dist cap. again assuming your getting gas..



However,, this is the best way to lean... don't get flustered,, just keep on digging and you will win.
 

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