When I originally installed to points I checked the gap, when my brother came over he also checked the gap to double check if I did it correctly. I will use my meter to see if I get voltage on the + and - side of the coil when the engine is cranked. I let you know within a few minutes on the results. Thanks for helping me out! George
A light is much better. I don't think that a meter will be fast enough to show you anything. Also, we know you have voltage on the + side, what I want to see is if the points are making and breaking the ground. When the points are open, there should be no voltage on the - side, when they are closed, you should see voltage. The light will flicker and indicate this better than a meter.
Larry Using my meter, + and - and cranking then engine I get nothing. No voltage accross + and - side of the coil with the distrubtor connected. George
The problem is inside the distributor then. You have an open somewhere. Check continuity between the point terminal and the - side of the coil. That wire may be bad. It's either that or your point gap is way to big, and the points are not closing. In any case, the coil is not seeing a ground. It has to ground and unground or there will be no spark. It's either that, or you are losing the coil + voltage when cranking. Wasn't that OK before? To set the point gap, rotate the engine until a high point of the distributor cam aligns with the rubbing block of the points. Rotate the allen adjuster screw until the points just close, then back 1/2 a turn. That will start the engine. Finish with a dwell meter (30*)
Larry Sorry that I did not get back to you I had my daughters softball game this evening, I did recieve a call from Tom on this board, I explained what I started with and he gave me some good advice. I informed him that the former owner had a alarm system install on the GS455. Tom thinks that the alarm might be gounding out something or not working correctly. I have a business trip the next two day so I can't try his advice till then. Tom advice me to avoid the whole iginition system and put a wire from the + side of the battery to the + side of the coil and then test the coil to see if it work by getting a spark. If it doesnt work then it has to be the coil, if it works then the problem must be in between the iginition to starter than to hot lead to the coil. This makes perfect sense and hope this works. BTW can I try to start the car using the battery at the + side of the coil? I will let everyone know the middle this week if it works or not! George
Well I got some advice to test out the coil and here it goes. - I ran a wire directly from battery + to the + side of the coil, used a spark plug tester to the coil output line then another wire from the - side and checked if the coil sparked at the plug and it worked. So I know that the coil works. - Then I placed the hot wire from the wire harness and did the same thing an got a spark but it was barely a spark. So I am still lost and still not running. George
Larry- I told George to do the same thing. The engine did not run at all when he tried this. When he used the direct hot wire to the positive and a jumper from the negative he got a fat spark from the coil. He then tried again using the normal ignition wiring from the switch while still using the jumper from the coil negative to the block. George described a weak spark when testing the coil with ignition switch voltage. We spoke about the ballast resistor and the possibility of the car having a resistance wire from the ignition switch to the coil, like my '64. He is still using the ballast resistor from the Stinger system and if the car has resistance wire the two would be in series and the voltage to the coil would be weak. I suggested that he test the points to see if they are grounded or if the post insulating sleeve is bad, or if the insulation on the small wire from the casing to the post is bad. If that is the problem the coil would be constantly grounded and no spark generated.The simplest answer would be either the points being grounded and/or low voltage to the coil. Let's hope that the tests bear this out. Also he is going to send me the diagram for the alarm system to see what it does. It sure is tough trying to troubleshoot via long distance and hands off!
Yes, it is hard to do online. The stinger system does use primary resistance, and adding a ballast resistor to the stock resistance wire would be unnecessary, but the engine ran like that before. Most alarms simply interrupt the starter circuit. I have seen lots of points installations where the inexperienced hook the wires to the points in such a way that the wire grounds to the base plate, so no spark. I think it is something simple that we can't see.
I want to thanks both you and Tom for helping out. I already tried to give it full 12v from the battery to the + side of the coil and it did not start. But testing the coil with the battery and the coil gave a great spark, so I know that the coil is ok. As what most of you guys are saying that possible a ground problem with the distributor itself. As I stated before when I got the car together it did start for 15min till I turned it off to repair a leak then it did not restart. When it started I had the stinger system hooked up, since then I removed it and install a points distributor. What I am going to do is take my coil and distributor out of my 71GS which I know work and runs and put it in my 72GS knowing that the coil, points and distributor ALL works! This would eliminate any guesses between the coil and spark plugs. First I will install the hot wire from battery to the coil to see if it will start, if it does then I will install the the engine harness hot wire, less ballast resistor, to the coil and see if it starts, if it doesn't then I know the problem is between the engine harness hot wire and the iginition switch. Give me a few days and I will get back to you on the results. WISH ME LUCK! George
George, Just read this thread and want to wish you good luck. I too am having a weird ignition issue that sounds a lot like yours. My 455 (with accel breakerless dist and stock coil) will start when very cold and run, but when trying to restart after a short time will get no spark. Oddly enough, when the car is hot it will restart fine. But within 20 minutes it cools enough and I have the same problem. It is also running with a "miss" or seeming short while cruising and causes a noticeable stumble. My mechanic has been working on the car as well and we both are a bit baffled at this point. I have replaced my coil, replaced the control module and pickup in the distributor and still the same issue. It obviously gets spark when started after sitting for a while. But immediately after nothing. I will be curious to see what your solution is and will offer any advice I have with my problem as well. Let's hope you find the issue with this new swap.
Mike Boy I hope my next step works! Knowing that my 71 GS runs with the existing coil, points and distributor, I will be transplanting them into my 72 GS to see if I can get this monster to run! This board has given me great advice on the issue I am having. I did have a little time last night to work on the car and found the rear engine ground wire on the block was loose so I tighten it back to the block but still no spark. A ideal popped in my head if the starter solenoid could cause this problem of no spark to the plugs? I will let you know how I make out as soon as I get them in my 72 GS. George
ok guys I am really stumped on this one. I installed another battery, working distributor and coil from my 71 GS into my 72 GS and getting the same results no spark to the plugs for a startup. I am getting 12v across the coil on both sides when the iginition is on and still nothing and then I added a hot wire from the + side of the battery to + side of the coil and still nothing. Well I really think I need professional help with this one. George
Hi George-OK, let's try this one. 1- See if you can get a remote starting switch from someone, or make your own. 2- Remove all the wiring from the starter to the ignition switch but leave the hot lead from the battery to the starter. 3- Connect the remote starter switch from the hot lead at the starter to the solenoid contact on the starter. 4- Remove all the wiring from the positive side of the coil and run a hot leg feed directly from the battery to the positive side of the coil like you did before, but don't connect it to the battery yet, wait until step 9. 5- Run another wire from the negative side of the coil directly to the distributor contact connection without a ballast resistor. 6- Double check the points plate, bump the engine until the points are closed and take an ohmmeter reading from the connecting screw on the contact point on the outside of the distributor to ground and look for a near zero reading. 7- Repeat the bumping and open the contacts and look for an infinity reading. 8- reassemble the distributor. 9- When everything is ready hit the remote starter and see what happens. By doing this you have removed any and all items except for the temporary wiring, which should be immune to the gremlins haunting the ignition system now. The engine should run and assuming it does you can then put 1 normal component at a time in and see when the problem returns.
Tom, Larry and others! I finally got it RUNNING! I reinstalled the Stinger Box and Distributor and got it started! I believe it had something to do with the 2nd negitive ground from the battery to the body. Thanks to everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! George
