Wont start

[crazyrog17]

Yep

[JoDan]

By the way, when they say tower, is that the part of coil where coil to distributor wire connects to coil.

Yes

[JoDan]

Ok I drew this picture to kinda help you understand the operation of how this all works (or at least how I understand it) I apologize for the really REALLY crappy drawing, I'm on a laptop lol.


Ok you have positive voltage coming from the battery to the positive side of the coil (I think its the black wire on the connector) which goes through what is called the primary coil(the red swirly inside the coil) and out through the negative side(yellow wire) and through the ICM to ground. When the dizzy sends a signal to the ICM when it is pointing toward a spark plug wire it tells the ICM to take away that ground to the coil.
Now when the ground is taken away there is a magnetic field that the primary coil is producing that collapses because it doesn't have power AND ground. That collapsing magnetic field has to go somewhere which is in the secondary coil(the black swirly inside the coil) which energizes that coil with somewhere between 50,000-100,000+ volts which goes up through the coil wire and to the dizzy which sends it to the correlating spark plug and fires.


I hope that kinda gives you a good idea how that works and helps you understand what you are fixing instead of just replacing a bad part. My description might not be completely correct since I'm still learning stuff as I go but I hope I'm close enough and if not someone will probably correct me.

[FestYboy]

that's close enough!

[nitrofarm]

Ok I drew this picture to kinda help you understand the operation of how this all works (or at least how I understand it) I apologize for the really REALLY crappy drawing, I'm on a laptop lol.


Ok you have positive voltage coming from the battery to the positive side of the coil (I think its the black wire on the connector) which goes through what is called the primary coil(the red swirly inside the coil) and out through the negative side(yellow wire) and through the ICM to ground. When the dizzy sends a signal to the ICM when it is pointing toward a spark plug wire it tells the ICM to take away that ground to the coil.
Now when the ground is taken away there is a magnetic field that the primary coil is producing that collapses because it doesn't have power AND ground. That collapsing magnetic field has to go somewhere which is in the secondary coil(the black swirly inside the coil) which energizes that coil with somewhere between 50,000-100,000+ volts which goes up through the coil wire and to the dizzy which sends it to the correlating spark plug and fires.


I hope that kinda gives you a good idea how that works and helps you understand what you are fixing instead of just replacing a bad part. My description might not be completely correct since I'm still learning stuff as I go but I hope I'm close enough and if not someone will probably correct me.

Looks good just remember that coils arent designed to operate @ 12v.

[milehighbear]

ok, got a new coil and a new ICM from Rock Auto and put them both on. Tried starting the car, nothing. It turns over, but still no spark thru the ign coil. Now I'm lost. Does the dizzy come into play anywhere in here that would interrupt the spark from the coil. As stated earlier, cleaned all contacts and checked dizzy for oil, clean.

[milehighbear]

Something is very weird. I thought about it being a new coil and with all black paint on it maybe it isn't getting good ground. So I took coil off, removed bracket, scraped nice pretty black paint away, put it all back together, got in, it started for about 2 seconds then quit. So I checked ground cable, cleaned it. I checked to make sure coil and new ICM getting power, and black wire on coil is, the IDM terminal is getting power and middle wire is grounded. But here comes kicker. I checked the continuity between ground on battery and the IDM wire on ICM that is getting power, and I also have continuity which means the wire is also grounded. How can this be. If it has 12volts going thru it, how can it be grounded also. Is that my problem, I have a bad wire somewhere. If so, wouldn't it blow a fuse?? Im stumped.

[FB71]

OMG..... this thread is such a cluster.

MHB, I don't have time at this moment, but I will post what you need to know to fix this, and correct all the misinformation that has been presented here. Everyone that has posted is so very close to being correct, but still misses an important detail or two, and I fear that's leading you down the garden path...

[milehighbear]

Ok, here is update on LiL Red(Hope I didn't steal someone elses car name). Still not starting. I was getting spark from coil and then I checked the spark from plug wires and nothing. So I took the distributor out of the car and took it completely apart. Made sure all contacts are clean and nothing is broken. I put it all back together(amazingly I remembered how I took it apart) brought number one piston up to compression stroke, put distributor in(by the way, i had marks on the distributor before I took it out to know how it went back in) made sure rotor was was on number one plug, put cap on and tightened everthing down. Went in, turned the key, and it started right up and ran for about 2-3 minutes then quit. So I checked the timing again and it is still ok. Intermittent spark from coil, no spark plug wires. Checked all grounds, cleaned everything, checked all connections. Tried starting car, started, then quit. I went and bought new cap and new rotor and new plug wires and tried it again, nothing. Not getting any spark from coil wire now. So I have a good distributor coming and when it gets here I will put it in and see. Im running out of ideas. I have tried every parts store to locate the "distributor stator positioner" sensor inside the distributor but to no avail. Ford don't even carry them anymore. The good distributor is on its way so until then, this chapter is closed. I've been waiting for FB-71 to get back with me but I understand he is under a lot of pressure with family stuff so I wish him a lot of luck getting that taken care of. If anyone else has any suggestions, im open to them but read the thread first so you already know what I've tried and replaced.

[milehighbear]

Ok, got the distributor from GenevaDirt and took old one out and put new one in. Got everything all set up and went in and turned the key and it started. I let it run for awhile to warm up and then made sure that everything was all hooked back up and closed the hood and took it out for a drive. Running great now. So now it has new ICM, coil, cap, rotor, plugs, plug wires and distributor and i made sure timing was set right. I also learned alot about the ignition system which I enjoyed the most. TY Willie for the distributor and input and ty to all the guys that put their input in also. I hate when I can't drive it. I do have another distributor coming from Citizen Caine that I am going to keep as backup and see if I can't find the parts to rebuild my old one. Thats going to be tough part. So again, ty all.

[GenevaDirt]

Very glad it worked out. I hate when I can not drive my Festy when I want too.

[drddan]

I'm thinking we need a BIG sticky on this.
Soooo...many peeps on here have spent good money replacing part after part, and have so many theories about why their car won't start, and has no spark....

When it has no spark......

Check The Distributor!!!!! :p :p :p

Also, when in any JY's, pull all the disty's you find.
Their cheap and can be a lifesaver.
The one running in my car right now is a $35 disty from a JY.
The $170 new one, in the "Festy Rescue Box" in the cargo area, is my back up.

[milehighbear]

I think your right dan. I did get the other distributor that that caine sent me and put it in and tried it and and it worked great. Now I have a spare distributor that I will be carrying with me along with a few other spare parts. Im still trying to find a shop that just sells the Distributor Stator Positioner. I called one place that rebuilds the distributors and they wont sell just part. They make more money selling remanufactored distributors. So if anybody has any friends that works in a company that rebuilds these distributors, please see if you can just get this part.