Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

Aww shucks Jeff, and Frank, before removing the dist pull the wire off between coil and dist and measure coil voltage again. With nothing but the ign side wire connected it has to be in the 5-6v range on both terminals. If that OK, then move to dist and use the ohm meter portion between ground and the terminal screw. Obviously, when points open, no continuity. If there is then you can take it out and see what has grounded inside. Some dist's have a braided wire with a fabric covering that gets worn as the advance plate moves. Other dist's have a plastic bushing that may have broken. Also watch out for too long of screws that may be touching something and even though you changed the condenser, it could be shorted.

I ran into a similar problem installing a NOS dist in my Packard. I finally determined that no current was flowing thru the points when closed. The points had oxidized over the years. I cleaned them up a bit with a point file and they worked fine.

Try connecting a wire to the coil's + side (ground) and tapping (grounding) it on the engine. When you do this the coil should fire. You will need to hold the coil wire 1/4" from the engine for this, or stick a spark plug on it and ground the plug to the engine.

This test will tell you if it's the coil or distributor.

The points are nothing but a switch, they cause the coil to fire when they open.

I tried putting a wire from the positive end of the coil to the ground and got no spark. I measured the voltage coming out of the coil wire into the distributor and it is about 6 volts. I still have almost 6 volts at the ignition side of the coil but the positive side of the coil is still .11 I know the timing is not correct but am just trying to get some spark to the plugs to start it up so that I can adjust the timing correctly.

Maybe you should set the timing first, you can do it by the static method. Just remove the #1 plug, rotate the engine with the fan in the direction of normal rotation until you feel compression; stop rotating when you reach the timing mark (probably about 6? BTDC). Then rotate the distributor body until the points are just on the verge of opening. This timing should be plenty close enough to get the engine running.

The ignition system is about at simple and basic as it gets. If you car doesn't have overdrive there are just two wires on the coil. Remove the one that doesn't go to the distributor (wrap the end with tape or position it away from any ground), and replace it with a jumper wire from the hot (not the ground) post of the battery. See if the car starts.

If not, remove the center wire from the distributor cap and while holding it within 1/4 inch of the engine block, have someone crank the engine over several revolutions. Make sure the distributor has a good ground to the block, usually thru the retainer bolt but if not, just clip on a ground jumper wire. If no spark, your problem is most likely either coil or points. Run a point file thru the points and try again.

I tell you what this is a good forum and I'm keeping this information for future reference. Thanks everyone.

Even with the timing off, shouldn't I still get a spark to the plugs?

What distributor ground are you speaking of? I kind of thought the wire between the distributor and the coil was the ground.

Of course you should get a spark regardless of timing.

No, the wire between the distributor and coil is not a ground, but becomes part of a completed circuit to ground when the points close. But for the points to complete that circut, the distributor body must be electrically grounded to the engine block. Ordinarily there is no special ground wire for this, it's done just by physical contact with the block via the clamp and bolt. I'm suggesting to make sure that ground is good and if in doubt, make a ground with a jumper from the distributor body to the block.

I also suggested going directly from the battery to the coil to eliminate the ignition switch and associated wiring. Once you have spark and the car runs, you can backtrack and see where your problem was.

I see said the blind man. To be continued... I will try a jumper wire tomorrow to see if I get any spark. I just want a little spark...

I want to update this previous post. After much searching, I was able to located a distributor testing machine just like the one in the service manual. I put it on the machine and discovered there was a short causing a break in the electrical flow. I am not exactly sure what the problem was but in my tinkering I believe the points were grounded to the plate incorrectly. I now have spark to the plugs. But the car still does not start.

After I installed the distributor, I turned the motor over and got a backfire situation so I turned the distributor around 180.

Is it possible that when I had the starter rebuilt some wires may have been crossed to make it run backwards such as if it were a negative ground. Anyway, what direction is the distributor and crank supposed to turn?

I am stumped.