Why Wont This Ignition Spark?

I've tried about every conceivable way to arrange these wires, however I cannot get ANY spark, at ALL, except for directly from the coil. This has been the problem with TWO different distributors.

What we have here:
-Aftermarket distributor (the piece of junk OEM Delco didnt work either)
-Petronix electronic ignition, wired exactly as the manual said to, also tried in other configurations (the garbage points setup also didnt work)
-New Plugs
-New Wires
-12V lead from the battery to the + side of the coil

Any thoughts? Please spare me lectures on timing, thats not an issue we're facing yet. The issue is that there is ZERO, absolutly no spark making it to the plugs under any conditions, period, regardless of coil setup or wiring.

https://imgur.com/a/8QrmD

Unfortunately the pictures function of this site doesnt seem to be working today, so here's a link to said picture.

May be the wrong, or bad rotor. Had that happen on an MF 65 years ago, good spark TOO the distributor, but NOTHING out..

umm Lanse?.....I flunked mind reading, just ask my ex-wife of 38-yrs. But iff'n I hadda to maka WAG (wild A$$ guess) ya SHORTED yer wires summ wharr........mindless Dell

Based of photo & your words, I would say the place in path that it is being lost has to be between coil's input to rotor and the cap towers going to plugs, i.e., cap & rotor. How are you determining no spark at plugs? Hope not just based on won't start. Stick a welding rod in one of 4 cap towers, in place of plug wire and bend it to make other end about 1/8" from head and look for spark while cranking.

ok.. questions...


when you crank it over, does the coil produce spark on the coil hv lead to the engine.. I believe your saying yes, it does...


then the dist cap must have a button that touches the rotor..

the cap must be the [b:e00a44dde5]correct cap[/b:e00a44dde5] so the rotor and spark tower are aligned, when the points open...if wrong cap, the fire will not get across the rotor to the selected plug tower...

cap must now be wet or have carbon trails.. cap must fit down on rotor correctly with minimal gap.. too tight and rotor is damaged, too loose and loss of spark..

rotor not damaged, crack or leaking hv to distribitor shaft to ground...

And coil not grounded well for hv spark parth or too weak of spark to make it to plug...

plug wires are bad and or carbon and coil is wrong type.

Some of those Pertronix units can be screwed to breaker plate in two different positions & if wrong set of holes are used, then it fires when rotor is between two cap towers & the spark can't jump such a large gap.

Could you by chance been given the wrong module for the application? The magnets on the collar being in the wrong location
would cause it to spark when the rotor wasn't near the plug post in the cap.

Had this happen to me on a 730 Case.

Beagle

You are not getting spark to the plugs.

So are you getting spark from the coil? Directly from the coil you should get a spark about 3/4".

If no spark from the coil tower, connect a test light or volt meter from the + terminal of the coil to the bare metal case of the distributor. Turn on the ignition (or connect the jumper to the battery wire), crank the engine through. The light should remain bright, or the volt meter read above 9 volts. If the voltage pulses, the distributor case is not grounded. Also the ignitor module must be grounded to the distributor case with the mount screws.

If there is good spark at the coil, but not making it to the plugs, carefully check the rotor to the cap relation. Be sure the rotor is the correct height and length, the carbon button is in contact with the rotor electrode. A spot of grease on the carbon piece will determine if the rotor is contacting the cap.

You can loosen the distributor, turn on the ignition, rotate the distributor housing opposite the direction the rotor turns until the coil sparks. You have to do this somewhat quickly with electronic ignition, but keep turning and watching the relation of the rotor and the terminals under the cap. The goal is to determine if the rotor is pointing at the cap terminal when the coil sparks.

In the photo, there appears to be a piece of wire around the coil tower. What is that? Not supposed to be there.

Let us know...

if you reversed the polarity, even for a moment, you could have fried the module.

Not sure why you would change plugs and wires BEFORE getting spark to them, but here are some possibilities.
Rotor could be shorting to the distributor shaft.
Ignition could be firing between the plug wire towers.
Coil wire could be open. Check resistance. Should be around 4,000 to 8,000 ohms if I remember correctly.

This all assumes that you have spark at the coil tower. That would prove that the coil, points (if used), and module are actually working.

magnet has to line up perfect with the line under the module . Gap should be 20 thou between magnet and module .