Okay.

You need to run a wire from a place that is +12V when the ignition switch is turned to RUN.
That could be the heavy pink wire from the ignition switch, the IGN spade terminal in the fuse block, or some other similar source.

Run that wire from there to the engine side of the firewall, and connect it to one terminal of a ceramic ballast resistor. GM used 1.35Ω resistors.
NAPA ICR-11 and Standard Automotive Products or Borg/Warner RU-4 are both the correct value, and I'm sure others are available. The SMP resistor should be available at all auto parts stores, and the the NAPA one, of course, at NAPA stores (they're probably the same resistor in different boxes).


Now run a wire from the other terminal of the resistor to the (+) terminal of the coil.
You also need to keep the Yellow wire that goes from the (R) terminal of the starter solenoid to the (+) terminal of the coil connected to the same terminal.

Make sense?

- Eric

 

yes beautiful perfect instructions. sometime this week i will grab everything at Napa and give it a try and let you know how it goes, thanks a lot man!

 

Don't thank me 'till it runs.

 

ok so i have the resistor hooked up to 12 volts key on in the fuse block to the positive post on the coil and while cranking the engine i still get no spark to the plugs and with just key on i get only 4 volts to the coil and after about 2 seconds it drops to no voltage on the meter....my luck

 

Something very strange here.

Have you checked the voltage at the hot side of the resistor while cranking and after 2 seconds of cranking?

There should be +12V at that point when the ignition is in either the RUN or START positions, and there should be about 8V on the other side and at the coil with the engine running.
Cranking should be about 10-11V, since the yellow wire from the R terminal of the starter solenoid provides current straight from the battery while cranking.

You need to find out where the failure is occurring. Your voltage should not be cutting out.

- Eric

 

yeah this is crazy i have never seen a problem like this before its always something simple like a coil or the wires but i definitely need to check voltage while cranking on the resistor wire. at this point i think it has to be a resistor wire problem maybe shorted out totally or something...

 

hey guys haven't had much time to post any updates on the car but a few days ago i dropped a new distributor in and hell it fired right up. its running pretty good now just the cold idle is a bit lower than it used to be so ill have to mess with that. i appreciate the help guys

 

Good to hear that it's alive again. Did you replace the whole distributor? Maybe take apart the old one to see if anything jumps out as the source of the problem. Be curious to know what it was.

 

So you had a points distributor with good, clean points, initially connected to an MSD box, and 0v at the (+) coil terminal, and now the car starts with a new distributor.

The question you need to ask yourself is, What really changed to make the car start.

The problem you described to us had nothing to do with your distributor.
You changed your distributor, and now the car runs.
If you don't figure out what the real problem was, the car could strand you again at any time.

- Eric

 

What distributor did you install?

 

I looked closely at the old distributor and there was 2 small but noticeable slices in one of the primary wires and that had to be why i was losing the voltage. i just got a reman ac delco dizzy for like $60. and its running without the help of the msd right now and it fires up fine i might plug it back up later on

 

There are four wires associated with the primary ignition circuit in a points ignitions system:

1. The resistor wire from the ignition switch to the (+) coil terminal (braided, silver nichrome)
2. The non-resistor wire from the "R" terminal of the starter solenoid to the (+) coil terminal (Yellow)
3. The wire from the (-) coil terminal to the points (Black, finely stranded)
4. The small, fine ground strap from the points plate to the base.

Which of these wires is the one that was damaged?

Have you confirmed that that wire either had poor / intermittent continuity, or was shorting to ground?

- Eric

 

It was the wire from the points to the negative coil terminal (number 3 you stated)
and yes the wire defiantly had intermittent continuity. right when the new dizzy was hooked up it held a perfect 6 volts key on so then i cranked it and boom fired up...you really know a lot about these ignition systems Eric im quite amazed haha

 

Okay, so now we know what was actually wrong: you had a single bad wire that was preventing the car from starting.

Of note: that wire being bad should not affect the voltage reading on the coil (+) terminal (well... If it wasn't conducting at all, it would make the voltage at the (+) terminal 13v instead of 9v), so the fact that you read 0v at the (+) terminal while troubleshooting may point to a second problem. Keep your eyes open.

- Eric

 

yeah i'll for sure keep an eye on it but so far its running the way it should...

 

That wire (3) and #4 both must flex as the distributor plate is moved by the vacuum advance unit. Flexing will fatigue and break any metal eventually. Easy fix.

 

yeah makes sense

 

Hello again, i need help with these wires again.

why do i only get a reading on my volt meter when
The resistor wire from the ignition switch to the + coil terminal and
The non-resistor wire from the R terminal of the starter solenoid to the + coil terminal (Yellow wire) are together on the coil, and separated with key on they both read zero.
is that the way it should be?

 

If the 2 wires were separated, the wire from the R terminal to the coil + (yellow) will only read 12v when the ignition key is in the start position. The other wire (resistance wire) may read around 9v but most likely 0.

With the ignition key in the on/run position, the yellow wire will read 0 and the other wire should read around 9v. You may have a loose connection at the bulkhead connector located under the brake master cylinder.

 

Ok, well key on and wires separated The (resistor) wire from the ignition switch is reading 12.4 ish volts, and the wire from the R terminal the (yellow one) is reading zero...normal or no?

 

Normal, needs a load to drop to 9ish when the engine is running.

 

Ok good, now connected together off of the coil they read 12.3 volts, but on the coil they read 6 volts... and the negative wire running to the points is reading 0.18 all this with key on not running of course.

 

Is your car running poorly? The points are closed is why your reading .18 on the negative side of the coil. If the points were open you'd read just under what the + side reads.

 

Yes it runs like crap, only get about 30 seconds of it running (roughly) with my foot on the gas, then dies

 

Did you check your dwell/timing? I know your engine supposedly only has 54kish mile on it. Have you changed the timing chain set?

 

No i never checked the dwell or timing. nope its the stock timing chain set but the engine cranks smoothly and no backfires out the exhaust....most of the time tho it has a fine fuel mist coming out the top of the carb while running rough

 

That may be your culprit. I know you put a new points distributor in back in Jan/2014 from previous posts. The points wear and periodically need to be adjusted which to get the dwell back to where it should be. Then timing needs to be checked and adjusted if necessary.

 

Alright i'll take your word for it and get my hands on a timing light/dwell meter and report back.

yes this has been a long time pain since way back then, but ran perfect before then

 

Having somewhat a similar problem with a 1970 cutlass with 350. Has all original parts and was running , when messing with points it just stopped. Changed out points and coil, but still no spark at the points. Sanded the points a little to insure nothing was on the points. Get power to the points, since when using test light it indicates has power going to it. Distributor turn as needed. The fuse for ignition was popped, but have changed that, when key is on, test light is not indicating power to it , but dash warning lights and gauges all work when trying to spin or on auxiliary. Stumped

 

What did you gap your points to?

 

You need to be systematic.

Start here:

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...-ignition.html



There is no fuse for the ignition.

- Eric