Sorry it's wordy... but perhaps some part of this experience will help
you John:
I ran into a freak thing like "no spark" at the plugs last year... on
my TR 4A...
I had spark at the points...
I checked the coil connection between the coil and the cap... all
good...
I checked the inside of the distributor cap... and made sure the center
brush/electrode (whatever you call it) was still there, in one piece,
and still sprung... (so it would properly ride the rotor arm... it all
looked good.
I checked the spark from the above... and it worked... so this showed
that I was getting spark right up to the rotor arm...
I checked the rotor arm... cleaned off some of the debris... but still
no spark at the plugs...
I checked to make sure all the wires were properly connected in the
cap... they were...
So it all came back to the rotor arm...
THESE THINGS FAIL? never in my life... I've always just replaced them
as a function of time/use, rather than failure... so I replaced it
anyways... and ... there I go... I had spark... and the car worked...
So this was fine for a couple months... then the same thing happened...
to make a long story short... the distributor's bushings were worn...
and the rotor arm was hitting the cap... slowly wearing it out... and
making the gap between the arm and the cap to worn to work...
So I put in an extra distributor that I had....
And the car worked fine... but then the car would die or misfire
occasionally....
and I couldn't figure it out. ...but one night... after work...
the car was failing... and I raised the bonnet... and in the darkness...
I could see the cap was arching to the motor...
At first... I assumed... a cracked cap....
but then... as I revved the motor... under the light of ONE
streetlight... far away...
the odd lighting brought something to my attention...
a VERY VERY VERY fine MIST of water was being sprayed on the cap... from
a rusty pin-hole in the heater return pipe... when the rpm's were
up... the pressure would give off this little spray.... enough to mist
the cap.... but not enough to SEE... unless you were under these special
lighting conditions!
The mist was getting the cap wet... causing it to eventually ground...
Anyways... funny experience it was...
That was the last of the annoying bugs... and the car has been a daily
runner ever since... (no annoying mysterious failures...even holds a
charge! :)
Maybe some part of this experience will help you.
Justin
jmwagner@greenheart.com
http://www.greenheart.com/jmwagner
Los Angeles
John L. Walker wrote:
>
> I'm not getting any spark :(
>
> I do have power to the primary circuit, however. Got a nice little spark
> when I opened up the points. I clamped the timing light on and it
> wouldn't flash. Also pulled a plug and it didn't spark either.
>
> Right now I have Bosch plugs, I'm thinking of changing to NGK V-Power (or
> Bosch Platinum...)-- any experiences/opinions/onions on these, or others?
>
> Any way I can bench test the wires without zapping them onto the block?
> I'm a little leery of 3/16" of blue flame around all my fumes. Also, I
> don't think I can pull the boot away from the end.
>
> -Malcolm
>
> Too many rocks and not enough sand.
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