Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines 1953 Chevy 3100 w/ 1957 235 - no spark

1953 Chevy 3100 w/ 1957 235 - no spark

This truck has run before, but not lately.

I recently replace the fuel pump, now it is getting fuel to the carburetor.

Today's issue is no spark! grin

details :

1953 Chevrolet 3100 series / half ton pickup

1957 engine block

however, the distributor, points and condenser setup are the 1953 parts.

Replaced the condenser and points, adjusted the points, put rotor and dist. cap back on, checked wires to be snug...

Still no spark.

coil reads 12 volts with a digital multi-meter set on volts... can a coil read 12v and still be bad?

I dunno - I've never monkeyed around with points and coils before.

Thanks folks.

-W

a few photos of the damaged parts and repairs thus far

Get a 12V testl ight and connect the gnd lead to block and touch the - coil connection - have someone else crank the engine (gnd the coil lead) does the light get bright dim bright as the engine turns?

If yes then good chance the point, condensor and coil are ok.

Make sure the coil bracket to coil and coil bracket to block where the coil mounts are nice and shinny.

Thank you for the reply.

I will troubleshoot some more and report back.

-W

Try this too:
W/distrib cap off, make sure points are closed (turn crank til they are shut).
Turn ignition on.
THen w your fingers or non-metallic tool, open the points.
There should be a bluish spark across the points, you might even hear it.

If you try this same thing, but also hold the end of the fat coil wire near the block, when you open the points, the fat coil wire should spark across to the block just like a spark plug. This tests the coil.

Of course, the system can still be "weak", but this will tell you if it's working or totally dead.

If it is 12V it needs a ballast resistor between the ignition lead and the coil or a coil with a built in resistor. 6V systems don't need them. Use a multimeter to test for 12V at ignition side of resistor and 7 or so at the other side. Test the resistance in both coil windings. There are lots of sites you can google for coil testing. Check your battery voltage and all grounds.

I just learned the hard way that the distributor cap can be installed, with everything else working, and yet not send electricity to the spark plug.

The plastic (?) distributor cap has a tab inside the rim of the plastic cap that must go into a matching recess/slot on the top edge of the metal distributor body.

My 235 had been running, was hard to start, and a friend tried to troubleshoot why it wouldn't start. During the process he took the distributor cap off and reinstalled it. When he put the distributor cap back on the distributor, the cap was not in the recess on the top edge of the distributor. After much detective work another friend of mine found the problem.

This may a simple thing but correcting it made the old gal sing again. Good luck!

I don't care how long you've known him the first guy is not a friend. Don't ever let him touch anything under your hood again. He could be a car wash buddy or a windshield washing pal. He can sit by your car in a lawn chair and be in charge of the feather duster or be the person who gets the pouty doll out of the trunk, but a friend will not complicate things by half assed reassembly of parts. This is dumb humor, we all make stupid little mistakes that cause us to run in circles.

I swapped out the coil today and got it to fire up for a bit.

Fuel is not getting to the carb. again... I took the line loose and put a container there to catch it.

I replaced the mechanical fuel pump about a month or so ago, it was pumping then.

Either it is out of gas, line is blocked or the pump has broken already... hope not.

I added gas to it at the end of today's adventures... so I will check it all out again tomorrow.

It was exciting to here it kick over and run for a little while tho'.

Thanks for all of the help and advice folks.

-W

Fuel lines were gummed up - flexible fuel line at the tank was gummed up and busted... ordered a new one and it leaked at the flared part, behind the threaded fitting when I installed it... they are sending out a new one... hope it works... but I'm not holding my breath...

old trucks are fun?

right?

-W