More confused than ever--New points and condenser and coil today..12 volts to new coil-no spark at spark plugs--tried jumper from pos. battery post to pos. post on coil and sparks fly..New coil said use with external resistor--don"t know of any external resistor on the car..--no spark at all at plugs---key on and manually open and close points and no spark at all..Any thoughts? I"m out of guesses...Thanks
- Thread starter Tom N MS
- Start date
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
wow this is a memory quiz for sure. I'm thinking there was a ceramic resistor mounted on either the firewall or the fenderwell - on the passenger side.
ShadetreeRet
Well-known Member
Check the wire from coil to distributor just to make sure there are no bare spots that could short,specifically, where it passes through the distributor body. If you have power TO the coil, there should be power coming OUT of the coil, unless you have a bad coil.I know,you said it was a new coil, BUT sometimes you get a lemon.
IIRC. a 65 should have resistor, but I am not sure just where it is located nor what it looks like. Some Fords had a ceramic resistor about an inch wide by an inch and a half, or so, long,and I believe they were mounted on the firewall in the engine compartment. As Kornfused said, that is kinda like a lesson in ancient history, but I hope this helps a little. I base my comments largely on personal experience, not on any specific vehicle, (although I have owned more Fords than any other make. Good luck, and keep us posted on the results.
IIRC. a 65 should have resistor, but I am not sure just where it is located nor what it looks like. Some Fords had a ceramic resistor about an inch wide by an inch and a half, or so, long,and I believe they were mounted on the firewall in the engine compartment. As Kornfused said, that is kinda like a lesson in ancient history, but I hope this helps a little. I base my comments largely on personal experience, not on any specific vehicle, (although I have owned more Fords than any other make. Good luck, and keep us posted on the results.
I told you in the other post. The resistor/ fusible link is in the coil wire running to the hot side. It's not much more than a little lump in the wire. It's cuts the voltage down to 9 volts. Ford did not use a 12 volt coil until the TFI coil which mounted on the inner fender around 1987. All previous models before the 12 volt TFI whether it had points or electronic ignition used a ballast resistor that was in the coil wire. Mopar had the one on the firewall.
ShadetreeRet
Well-known Member
OK Tom, since I posted, I have been researching. Seems the other men are correct in that the early Mustangs had a resistor WIRE in the circuit instead of an actual resistor. I looked some Mustang forums and found several comments concerning this.
From what I could gather, it is a PINK WIRE somewhere under the dash.
I will apologize for any confusion I might have caused. I do know that some Fords did use a ceramic resistor, it may have been for something else, I never did find out for sure. In the eight years that I worked behind the parts counter at one dealership, I remember only selling one.
From what I could gather, it is a PINK WIRE somewhere under the dash.
I will apologize for any confusion I might have caused. I do know that some Fords did use a ceramic resistor, it may have been for something else, I never did find out for sure. In the eight years that I worked behind the parts counter at one dealership, I remember only selling one.
The in-harness resistance wire ain't your problem, since you state you have voltage to the coil.
The wire either works or is broken, and with voltage to the coil it ain't broken .
Below is a link to a John Deere "Fundamentals of Service" manual on the workings of Kettering ignition systems. It should help you figure out what's REALLY going on.
(It's a JD manual avauilable on an IH Cub collector's site.)
FOS 20
The wire either works or is broken, and with voltage to the coil it ain't broken .
Below is a link to a John Deere "Fundamentals of Service" manual on the workings of Kettering ignition systems. It should help you figure out what's REALLY going on.
(It's a JD manual avauilable on an IH Cub collector's site.)
FOS 20
Lots of the ballast resistor have been cut out of the harnesses over the years. If your coil says external resistor required then you had better put one back in the harness or the coil will not last long. The original wire type is still available from Borg Warner, and that looks much better than adding a ceramic one. What kind of point did you get? I recently bought a Ford set that the arm was too wide and it would ground out. A guy brought me a 1965 1 ton Ford a while back. It wouldn't run right. They had put a rebuilt distributor from one of the parts stores in it. I looked at the points and there was no contact pad on the arm. Well not much of one and they were new points. I only get Borg Warner Select points or Blue Streak points. I have had the least amount of trouble with those two brands.
Many yrs ago I had added a security toggle switch I have got to follow the wire all the way and completely remove it so I will have 100% peace of mind that it is not adding to the problem...I really don"t think it is since when you turn on the key there is no voltage to the coil till the switch is flipped--then to read voltage I am reading across the two posts on the coil...Thanks for AnY thoughts and suggestions..
Points I bought yesterday at advance auto did not fit-at widest adjust point the rub block didn't even tough the dist. cam lobe--had a set of Blue Streak on hand but did have to use the new condenser and coil..(from Advance they have no clue store)..
Points I bought yesterday at advance auto did not fit-at widest adjust point the rub block didn't even tough the dist. cam lobe--had a set of Blue Streak on hand but did have to use the new condenser and coil..(from Advance they have no clue store)..
Thanks-will keep that in mind--main problem is that the car is 15+ miles away at my son"s house so no telling when I"ll get another minute to mess with it..I have a trailer but no ramps and not sure the old trailer would haul it anyway..Probably get it here somehow..Thanks again.
Almighty place for vintage mustang questions.
http://forums.vintage-mustang.com/
Yeah, I've got one.
Getting a new dual exhaust last week.
John Kollen
New User
When the starter motor is engaged, the system voltage drops to about 6 volts, this is due to the high amp draw on the 12 volt battery. The resister drops the normal running voltage to 6 volts. Ford did this so a 6 volt coil can supply the 20,000 volt spark needed to fire the spark plugs. Two wires are attached to the start switch, the one that goes to the start terminal has the non-resister wire, the second wire with the resister goes to the run terminal on the start switch.
Some time during the mid 1950"s Ford stopped using the ceramic resister and used a resister wire which is a little hard to identify in the wiring. All this was to keep a constant voltage at the coil during engine start. If the resister wire is broken or shorted the engine will start only when the key is in start mode, then will dye in the run mode. If the non-resistor wire is broken the engine will not start except if the key is back to run mode when and if the coil fires as you let off the start mode. So the moral of the story is both wires must be intact. Also, using a newer model 12 volt coil will burn you points in a very short time.
Some time during the mid 1950"s Ford stopped using the ceramic resister and used a resister wire which is a little hard to identify in the wiring. All this was to keep a constant voltage at the coil during engine start. If the resister wire is broken or shorted the engine will start only when the key is in start mode, then will dye in the run mode. If the non-resistor wire is broken the engine will not start except if the key is back to run mode when and if the coil fires as you let off the start mode. So the moral of the story is both wires must be intact. Also, using a newer model 12 volt coil will burn you points in a very short time.
When you jumped it and got sparks that would indicate something is shorted after the coil.
Do you have the minus connection from the coil to the points and the positive to the ignition switch wire?
Seems to me that if you got sparks from the jumper like it was shorted it would damage the ignition switch wireing????
Of course a little spark from the jumper would be OK if the points were closed.
Do you have the minus connection from the coil to the points and the positive to the ignition switch wire?
Seems to me that if you got sparks from the jumper like it was shorted it would damage the ignition switch wireing????
Of course a little spark from the jumper would be OK if the points were closed.
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