338ftw

Member
Was using my 8n last night and it was running just fine. Shut it off and went inside. Came back out about 20 minutes later and no start. Checked the spark with a plug tester and I don't have any. I have
power to the coil and I see the amp meter move when it cranks so I know the points are closing. Any thoughts on where to start looking?
 
Not sure of the value on the resistor and how do I check the point voltage? I know I haven't touched it since I put points in it 7-8 years ago along with the new coil and resistor.
 
Points open should be battery voltage. Points closed, about half that depending on the resistors you are using. How many? Just the oem ballast resistor and a 12 v coil? Or a 6v coil and another resistor?
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At what location do I measure the voltage? It's a 12v coil with a factory resistor. Dell on the forums told me what value to get. But that was so many years ago I cant remember.
 
Measure the voltage at the stud on the top of the coil, key on. Bump the starter until you see the voltage change.

If its a 12 coil, all it needs is the oem ballast resistor. Is that all you have installed?
 

I will measure that tonight. I swapped in my old coil that had weak spark and it started but won't stay running. I do not have any other resistor than the factory unit. But it's a mess and needs a tune up. Plugs look nasty and the plus wires are cracked. Rotor was burned up pretty good also. Going to give it a complete tune up and new coil. Thanks for the help Bruce.
 
That should do it.

Check for any movement in the shaft. If it
moves at all, you need bushings. And use
Echlin or Bluestreak points. Lube the cam.
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I had to replace my front-mount distributor recently on my old, tired 8N engine because I had too much end play in the rotor shaft, but almost no runout. While I realize the most common problem with the 8N distributor shaft is runout due to bushing wear, for some reason my bushings were worn on their ends rather than on their bearing surfaces. I theorize that this may have been caused by too much camshaft end play, but I don't want to think about that because it would mean an expensive engine rebuild, so I am hoping that maybe a new distributor will work for awhile. On my old distributor, something was pushing its points mounting plate forward, popping the retaining ring out of its groove. FWIW.
 
" that this may have been caused by too much camshaft end play,"

Putting the engine back together w/o the cam shaft thrust washer, p/n 6276, will cause that.......IIRC.
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