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It's a mystery to me, but I know you'll be thinking How dense is this guy?

The day before yesterday I removed and replaced the overdrive solenoid. In the process I discovered a loose wire topside under the dash on the overdrive plunger switch. So I think that was the cause of my problems with the overdrive. However I'd already made a new gasket, put some silicone on the edges and reinstalled the overdrive. I test drove it. It worked great.

Yesterday, while it was hot and muggy, I used the overdrive into town, coasting down the hill into town much of the way. The ignition cut out, but as I was freewheeling through the tunnel, I was able to start it again. Then, when I arrived at the Hilton to pick up my daughter's friend, The Duchess just quit, no ignition while idling. After a couple of tries it started again, and we drove to the airport to pick up my daughter. No problems restarting there after parking and cooling down a bit.

Last night, after putting the car on jacks to check the overdrive, the car wouldn't start. No ignition. That little wiggle of the ammeter when you have spark was nonexistent. I checked the wires under the dash and they felt tight.

This morning I disconnected the ignition wire from the coil, turned the key, touched the wire to ground. Sparks and half. Turned off the key.

I reconnected the ignition wire to the coil and disconnected the coil- to- distributor wire. I put on some leather gloves, got some insulated pliers, turned on the key and touched the wire from the coil to ground (the shift levers on the steering column).... nothing. No spark.

I called my friend Vaughn. Most likely the coil. Before removing it, I pulled out the distributor to coil wire, attached one end to the ignition wire, and touched the other end to ground. Nothing. Yes I touched the ignition wire on its own to ground again and it was hot. I connected a test wire to it and touched the other end of the test wire to ground, and it sparked.

So then I thought it might be the wire only. Shouldn't a spark plug wire conduct electricity? Shouldn't it spark like the test wire did under the same setup? Maybe not, because I had an old coil to distributor wire, tried that, and no spark there either. So I thought that one was bad.

I bought a new coil-to-distributor wire. I bought a new 6V coil. I connected everything and no spark to the plugs. No spark from the coil to ground.

So I am at my wit's end. So I hope you have some wit left to help me.

I will take some photos and attached them in a few minutes.

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If the plug wire is carbon, then it may not conduct well. If it is solid wire then it should -- unless one of the end contacts is making a poor connection to the wire.

Believe there are 2 wires on the coil to distributor terminal at the coil? Did you disconnect both and ground the bare terminal to ground and still had no spark when ground was broken?

Have you checked the points to ensure they somehow haven't slipped closed. I recall on a couple of occasions having point sets close and the car would run fine when at a cruising speed but would die on idle and difficult to start.

The plug wire is carbon, because the "wire" is black. So that's why I'm not getting spark. I thought that coming out of the coil that distributor wire would blow the grille doors open when I grounded it.

There are two regular wires on the distributor, on the side. One to the Positive terminal of the coil (the ignition wire is attached to the negative terminal of the coil), and one to Overdrive terminal #2....Aha!...it has something to do with the overdrive. Wire 55.

That #2 terminal screw had been a little loose. I tightened it up earlier this evening. Does the overdrive have the power to shut down ignition if it isn't hooked up right? Gads. There should be a restraining order on how close I can get to the functional mechanics of this car.

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Howard and Dave,
If carbon wires don't spark, and everything else is new between the ignition and the distributor, the points are the next step. I'll pull the cap and look.
They would be closed whether on a flat or a bump, if that's the problem, is what I understand. But if they were closed all the time, wouldn't there be spark all the time? Never mind explaining. I'll check on what it's doing.


Photos seems to show it's ok. Points closed on a flat. Open on a bump.

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If you can disconnect the coil and ground just the coil terminal and get a spark than coil & plug wire is OK. If the points check out, then look at the ign cutout circuit.

There are 3 sets of contacts on the R9 ign circuit. One in the solenoid and two in the relay. If one is hanging, that could cause the problem.

IF OD is locked out, the single contact relay and the solenoid should be open. When OD is engaged and active, solenoid contact and single contact relay should be closed but the contact on double set relay will be open so all is normal. When kickdown is made, the contact on double set relay closes as it releases the solenoid. As solenoid drops out it's contact being closed grounds the ign and a few milliseconds later the single contact relay opens to restore ign until solenoid is fully released and that contact is open again.

Photos of upper relay on firewall attached.
When I opened the lid, it smelled like an old movie projector, 16 mm.

I had cleaned the solenoid contacts with electrical parts cleaner and 2000 sandpaper. The OD operated just fine prior to yesterday.

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Thank you, Howard, once again. It started right up just now. One of the contacts in the OD relay must have been stuck. In the morning I'll test the OD.

Guess I'll save the other coil.

Maybe next time a rubber mallet to the relay housing?

Dear Joe:

I think the way to go here is to isolate the problem to either the overdrive relay or the ignition system.

To do that disconnect the ignition interruptor wire at the coil (that is the extra wire that is usually found hanging underhood on original cars).

The overdrive will still work with the exception of kickdown which is no loss.

If your problems persists and you have no wires shorting inside the distributor then there is a short in the breaker plate and you will need to fix that.

The overdrive ignition interrupt is a notorious troublemaker.

Buy a point file. NEVER use sandpaper, emery paper etc.
mcmaster.com/#distributor-point-files/=i7tf56