Well, it is still NO-GO.
I went back to square 1 and did everything again.
Maybe I am repeating the same mistake here time and time again?
I checked the old dizzy and its lead positions (because once upon a time this car was working).
The layout (looking at the top of the dizzy cap) was :
3____1
__K__
4___2
And so is the replacement.
No amount of rotation of the Dizzy in either direction produces either a change in a VM reading or a spark on the king lead or #1 plug lead (tried both).
So what if the new Dizzy is duff? Why not manually apply/remove 12v across the coil as a basic check I thought?
Tried that, there's +12v incoming on the LT side when the ignition is switched on and when I use a fly-lead grounded to the engine block to power up the LT side there are minor sparks on connect/disconnect on the LT ground -Ve terminal but no big fat HT spark off the king-lead held close to the block.
Changed the coil out for a brand new one. Same result, no spark on the HT side. This is a high-power 0.8 ohm coil so should be able to jump a 35 thou' plug gap, but nope not a flicker to be seen.
If I have taken the dizzy completely out of the equation why am I getting no Cracking HT spark when I drop the power on the LT side?
Started raining and too cold to continue so packed up for the day. Fed up with this nonsense.
Regards,
Baffled of Benfleet.
I am beginning to wonder if someone fitted an electric anti-theft device, like I did, which shorted ignition to earth until a microswitch was switched.
Have you tried earthing the coil direct to the batt or the engine or an earthing point?
I know we talked about whether it earthed via the body of the coil or through the earth connection on the cap end.
Personally I'd go back to the old dizzy simply to put power through it, get someone to crank the engine and look at the points to see when you get a spark there. (Hoping I am remembering correctly and it IS a points dizzy.) Not connecting it to anything else apart from the LT part of the coil.
So checking you get +ve 12 volts at the + ve connector to the coil, and that comes out the other connector, i.e. the - ve which goes to the dizzy.
If so, then check you have got +at the dizzy, i.e. that the connecting wire is not bust. If this is so then you should get (tiny) sparks at the points each time the points open, which you can test by opening them with a screwdriver.
Then check that the coil still has resistance within the range across the central big connector and whatever it uses for negative. If this is OK, then you can measure the resistance of the king lead to see if that is intact as well.
If so, connect the king lead to the coil and flick the points as you were doing, to open them and close them, while holding the king lead connector, dizzy end, near to an earth point on the engine. If this give you a fat spark at the end of the king lead then, so far-so good. If not it may mean that the coil is fubar.
Being optimistic, if you get a spark, then you need to check the rotor arm is OK. and the connections to it. Connect the king lead to the dizzy cap and check continuity again between the terminal inside the cap and the king lead.
So pop the rotor arm and cap on, connect any spark plug lead (having checked it for resistance/continuity) to a point on the cap and hold the other end close to an engine earth point, and spin the engine with ignition on. You should get a spark each time the rotor gets into position next to its terminal in the cap. If not, the spring in the cap under the king lead could be too weak, (I have had this happen) or there may be a crack in the rotor arm's brass strip, which you can check by measuring it for continuity from the contact point where the king lead's connector touches it, to the end of the brass rotor where the spark jump's the gap from. This crack can be invisible. Again I've had this. And it may not be obvious until the rotor arm is supposed to be doing its job.
Being "positive" if this all works as it should you can then go back to playing with timing.
Don't forget that once the engine is running (vacuum disconnected) the timing will be much more advanced than the static. And even more with the vacuum connected.
Just realised I haven't mentioned setting the gap at the points. This can be a real barsteward, and for me is the main advantage of having electronic ignition. Even with a dwell meter you have to tweak the gap by just a tiny amount and of course everything, like the spring on the points, is fighting against you. But a thou on the points is a degree on the timing, so it needs to be as right as you can get it. BUT, you can set it off the car, either with feeler gauges, it is SO much easier to do this with the dizzy mounted in a vice, AND you can check the dwell angle by using a meter or a bulb and measuring, through marks made on the rim of the dizzy body and a protractor, or some maths using pi. This way is surprisingly accurate but you won't read about it in books and stuff!
But if the gap isn't right doing all the rest is a bit "pointless".
Best of luck mate!
