Why Isn't My Car Getting Spark?

Question

1972 Chevelle. Decided to go ahead and purchase a brand new point type distributor. I had an HEI on there but decided to take it off because the distributor cap was too big and my air filter wouldn't sit on the carb all the way and I was having trouble with it anyway.

Well... now, I bought a brand new point type distributor for my car. Aligned it at TDC, dropped it in, connected the ignition coil and then began to connect the wires. On my car, there is a yellow wire from the starter solenoid which should provide 12 volts during cranking. That goes to the positive side of the coil. Done. Now, there was a negative wire coming from the distributor. Connected that to the negative side of the coil. Done. Finally, there is a condenser on my car that is held on to the ignition coil housing. I believe that one connects to the positive coil. That is where I put it. Tightened the wires down, connected a spark plug wire from the ignition to the distributor and connected another spark plug wire from where it was aligned to the number one plug. The first time I had it connected, it sparked. Did fairly well. A lil' weak spark but it sparked. Now, I tried it again and this time, there was no spark at all. Tried it about five more times and it wasn't sparking. And now, my battery drained completely dead and it was fully charged before I tested for spark. So I disconnected it, and was about ready to connect it, and when I touched the negative cable end to the terminal on the battery, it started sparking there. Not as bad as if it was wired backwards (positive to negative), but not how it should be. So then I went and tried to start it and with it being low in charge, it just went click click click click etc... I'm going to go test the battery now but how come it wasn't getting spark? Bad wire/wires or what? Did the ignition coil go out or what should I look for? Should I just connect lead wires from the battery itself to the coils to ensure that is getting power just to see if that will solve the problem or what? Let me know please. The distributor is new so I doubt that went bad. Thanks NON HEI, point type distributor. 1972 Chevelle 350.

Answer 1

make sure the points are opening and closing when you crank it. you are right on 1 thing, the ground wire does go to the dist.

Answer 2

they make a breather that will work with the hei system you had on it,i would have stayed with that system on that car,anyway do you have spark from the wire that comes from the ignition switch when its in the start position you have to make sure you have fire on it,if you do the car will have to start,and make sure its on the positive side of the coil then make sure the one from the distributor is on the negative side of the cool ,if all those are right it should run,the only thing that could have happened was the condenser went dead in it that can happen to a brand new distributor,other wise there's something crossed up,go back over it and check it again,id try another condenser ,even though its new that doesn't mean its good,good luck.  

Answer 3

you mention that the contact on the starter provides 12 volts, if oyu are talking about the small contact, that one only gets 12 volts when the engine is cranking over (starter engaged) you can go to the larger terminal on the starter ,the one that is attached to the battery cable. BUT if you go through this route, you will loose the ability to shut the car off. you should look for a connection at the ignition switch and go to that point.  

Answer 4

verify the points are opening. The system works as follows coil receives a  + voltage from ignition switch runs through  the coil through the points to ground.at that point the coil is charging. once the points open at breaks the ground and induces a voltage out of the coil into the coil wire which then the distributor directs it to the proper cylinder. I have seen the clamp around the coil preventing a bad ground . You also can do a resistance check on the coil . the - & + connections are one side of the coil. and  coil wire (+) and side of the coil is the other. . I forget the resistance read outs on it but the 2 +`s should have a open.  Do you have 12 volts to ground at the + at the coil. and are points opening. The condensor is only the to prevent premature failure of the point due to arcing ,