Start with the basics. And don't trust the wire colors as someone may have
changed things during the disty replacement.
You first need input voltage at the coil from the ignition switch. Use a 12V
light or volt meter to between the + terminal on the coil and to ground.
Whenever the ignition switch is on, there should be about 12V here. If not,
trace you this wire back to it's source. It should go to the ignition switch.
If you have 12V at the coil, follow the lead coming off the - terminal. It
should go to the points in the distributor. If the points are open, you should
read about 12V again (with the key on). If the points are closed, you should
read close to zero. You may be able to open and close the points to check the
voltage change.
If you are good to this point, check the rotor contact on the inside top of the
cap. Sometimes the little spring on the rotor doesn't contact the top of the cap
and you will not get a spark to the plugs. Even if this is bad you should be
able to turn the engine over and get a spark from the coil output to a ground
point on the engine.
Vic Whitmore
76 Spitfire
Thornhill, Ontario
Sean & Shannon Twigg wrote:
>
> Everyone,
> I seem to have a number of degenerative problems with my 1980
>Spitfire.
> Currently I am getting no spark from the coil. I purchased a new one (Lucas
> Sports Coil) and the old one was less than three months old (Lucas 15B6
> ballasted coil). I was getting a weak orange spark up until a few days ago
> wit the old coil. The battery drained from all my attempts at starting the
> car. So I put in a good one that I had sitting around (It has a full charge
> BTW). I've tried two different distributors (one points, one electronic)
> to no avail. The high tension wire from the coil to the distributor
> produces no spark when I turn the engine over. I can hear the starter whir
> and there's compression. The wiring around the coil looks different than
> what the Bentley and Factory Reprint manuals indicate. There are two
> white/slate wires coming from the harness that are spliced together to
> attach to the - side and a simple white wire that attached to the + side. I
> found the white/yellow that was indicated in the wiring diagram, but it was
> cut back so I spliced a wire o it and attached it to the + terminal without
> any effect. There are no white/black wires coming from the harness, the
> only one left is a black one connected to the PDWA(?). The white wire I
> mentioned above was connected to the white wire that is meant for the drive
> resistor (which is not on the system). The car was modified at one time to
> have the Lucas CEI system, which does have a white/black wire coming from
> the module and was attached to the coil before the CEI system died and I
> replaced the distributor in that system with a points one from a parts car.
> I tried a listquest search but it seems to be down at the moment.
> Hopefully I didn't leave anything out of this description and am in
> desperate need of help. Thanks for any suggestions.
>
> Slanté (And I do need a drink right now)
> Sean Twigg
> '80 Spitfire
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