[Joedon8989]

I have a 1956 chevy bel air and i have serious electrical issues. The car wouldnt start so i changed the cap, rotor and pts. It started and ran about ten miles and died. I swaped the cap and rotor again and the same result occured. I changed coils and nothing. I checked the ground strapes on the motor and they are good. the coil is getting power. I have a brand new battery. Does anyone one have any suggestions?

 

[Kiwi]

HI
Have you got a resistor in the ignition coil circuit? When the car stopped and you replaced the points were they blue/discolored/badly burnt and was the coil very hot? The symtoms sound very much like the coil is getting to much voltage and burning the points out.
Cheers

 

[acardon]

I have a 1956 chevy bel air and i have serious electrical issues. The car wouldnt start so i changed the cap, rotor and pts. It started and ran about ten miles and died. I swaped the cap and rotor again and the same result occured. I changed coils and nothing. I checked the ground strapes on the motor and they are good. the coil is getting power. I have a brand new battery. Does anyone one have any suggestions?

Did you check the points gap again? The points may have closed up to keep it from firing. The wire to the points through the side of the distributor could be shorted. Check the voltage on the - terminal of the coil while cranking. It should change rapidly from 12 volts to zero volts at the - terminal.

 

[Joedon8989]

HI
Have you got a resistor in the ignition coil circuit? When the car stopped and you replaced the points were they blue/discolored/badly burnt and was the coil very hot? The symtoms sound very much like the coil is getting to much voltage and burning the points out.
Cheers

the coil wasnt hot and the points looked fine, is it possible the voltage regulator is bad?

 

[Joedon8989]

Did you check the points gap again? The points may have closed up to keep it from firing. The wire to the points through the side of the distributor could be shorted. Check the voltage on the - terminal of the coil while cranking. It should change rapidly from 12 volts to zero volts at the - terminal.

the gap is fine. the wire is also ok. what terminal should i check while firing? also should it read 12 volts before i crank or when i am cranking? if it reads incorrectly what does that mean? thanks for ur help!

 

[acardon]

the gap is fine. the wire is also ok. what terminal should i check while firing? also should it read 12 volts before i crank or when i am cranking? if it reads incorrectly what does that mean? thanks for ur help!

Check the voltage on the + coil terminal with the key on (8 to 12 volts) and while cranking (battery voltage around 10 volts). The starter will pull the battery voltage down some while cranking.
Voltage regulator won't affect voltage while cranking.

 

[Gregs210]

Did you install a new condensor?

 

[Joedon8989]

Did you install a new condensor?

yes i did.

 

[Joedon8989]

Check the voltage on the + coil terminal with the key on (8 to 12 volts) and while cranking (battery voltage around 10 volts). The starter will pull the battery voltage down some while cranking.
Voltage regulator won't affect voltage while cranking.

i will do that. if they arent reading correctly what should i look at to isolate the problem?

 

[acardon]

i will do that. if they arent reading correctly what should i look at to isolate the problem?

Could be the ignition switch or a bad connection in the wiring.