hello guys I'm new here and was reading this side of the forum which caught my interest since I have a similar problem with my Buick. I have a '63 Buick wildcat and I updated the points, MSD coil and MSD Ballast resistor, distributor cap and rotor, spark plug wires and spark plugs, battery, battery cables, and condenser. The problem is that I am not receiving any spark to the Spark Plugs or Coil. I was wondering what might cause this to happen? I also wanted to know or see what wires connect to the coil? if someone moved the distributor does that affect spark? maybe Im connecting something wrong or something is connected wrong. Also is any of the wires suppose to be Soldered together. I have one black wire which goes to the positive of the coil but following it goes to two other wires, almost like a fork in the road. The color of the other wire attached is like a Copper-metal- brown threaded wire. any help will be great. :grin: .
That copper metal brown wire you describe is a resistance wire. That is the GM ballast resistor. You don't need another ballast resistor in line, remove it and use the stock wiring. That fork you describe is a wire that goes down to the starter solenoid. It bypasses the resistance wire so that the coil gets full battery voltage while cranking to start only. In the run position, the resistance wire knocks down the voltage so the points live a nice happy life. If you replaced the points, you need to check the gap. They do not come pre gapped. Rotate the engine until one of the high points of the distributor cam opens the points. The correct gap is about the width of a matchbook cover, or, you can screw the adjustment in until the points close, then back off 1/2 turn. That will start the engine. Finish adjustment with the engine running and a dwell meter.
On the instructions of the msd coil it said to get the ballast resistor. I will disconnect the ballast resistor and try it with the normal wire from now on. for the two wires together part, I follow them both and they lead to the ignition switch behind the dash (where the keys go). I don't see any wire going to the starter solenoid just a purple wire that also goes to the ignition switch which I think is also a Resistance wire . thats why I was thinking maybe something is connected wrong and wanted to see a coil set up. I did gapped the points to .015 but didn't start, so I am going to do the two gapping tricks you told me, I'll let you know if it works .
The ballast resistor is for the points, not the coil. You already have built in resistance in the car wiring. Using additional resistance knocks the voltage down even more, maybe too much.
A 63 has the ignition switch in the dash. In any case, one wire is a bypass. Running the points with full battery voltage will burn them out. The factory set up uses a resistance wire in line to the coil. There is a bypass circuit that bypasses the resistance wire so that the points get full battery voltage only when you are cranking the engine to start. Make sense?
X2 - you shouldn't need another resistor. Also, you shouldn't have a wire coming from the starter. I forget exactly how, but with the Dynaflow starter, it bypasses the resistance wire differently than the later units.
Also that MSD coil does not do a thing more than the Delco coil that was already in there. If you car was running fine before you may want to consider putting it back too.
Some things to check before going further... Put the ignition back to stock and see if it runs. If it does not, the issue is with the original ignition. First, put set the points to a position where a calling card will just slip with slight resistance between the points when they are on the high point of the points cam. Then, using a dwell meter, connect the clips to the negative side of the coil, and the other side to ground. Check for a dwell setting close to 30 deg. If the engine starts, so much the better. Set the points for 30 deg with the engine running. Now, connect the new ignition, carefully connecting the correct wires to the correct position. You should have the following... One wire goes to the battery positive, and one to ground. One wire will go to the coil positive, and the original wire from that point will connect to another wire on the ignition. There should be a wire connecting to the negative side of the coil. The 12 volt and ground wires are obvious for their purpose. The wire going to the coil positive is the ignition output from the box. The wire originally connecting to the coil, but now to another wire on the box turns the box on. The points lead triggers the ignition. The box is intended to do one thing... it is to feed the coil with a voltage approaching 500 volts, give or take. it is intended to make the coil charge very quickly; the higher primary voltage increases the secondary voltage, which is what the box is built to do. The additional voltage aloows the plugs to have a wider gap, and more energy to stay clean, fire the mixture, several times if necessary, depending on the box's design, and to make the spark voltage less dependent on battery voltage. let me know...
Ray, I don't think he is using an MSD box. I believe he just decided to use an MSD coil and change the points. If he is using an MSD box, he didn't make that clear to me.
check spark from your coil.. make sure you have no spark comming out of the coil. if not, go to the positive side of your coil and hook up a multi meter, set it to dcv20 and you should have 12 volts. start thier. do you have a manual?? if not let us know and we can pull the EWD for you. you need to have a postive to energize that coil and a neg for the trigger(points) get rid of those points and put a pertronics setup. they are cheap and easy if you dont want to run a msd box. i run the complete msd setup, 6btm box, coil and dist.. what a nice setup~!! Paul 66 lark gs 401 t67 turbo
I don't have a buick wildcat manual but I do have a large manual from the year 1951 to 63 different makes which has a small section for buick. I don't have a multi meter at the moment but I am going to get one :dollar:. Im not running a MSD box or anything else MSD, just the coil and Ballast resistor. I thought that by getting a good brand coil I can eliminate one problem. I did tested the other 2 original old coils that was in the trunk and nothing happen. I have the Accel spark plugs and cables on. I tried gapping the points with a calling business card but I failed and I did re-rotate the engine to #1 spark plug hole, made sure that the rotor was pointing to #1 spark plug wire and gapped with a matchbook cover - failed again. I do have gasoline in the tank and it pumps to the carb but failed to start. I bought a 26 blade gaping tool and the book said to gap to .015 the point. gap the spark plugs to .35 and the firing order is #1 at the passager side at the front of the engine. for the coil, I had 3 wires connected to the negative side which were 1. Ground cable, 2. black wire - points and 3. Dark blue wire - ? . For positive side I had 1. condenser 2. black wire (together with copper wire) - to ignition switch. It took most of the wires off and left the points wire negative and the black-copper wire on positive. let me know if I am describing this clear. RAbarrett what box are you talking about that gives volts? where is it located? maybe thats the problem unless I mistaken what you said. also does moving the distributor have anything to do with spark. sorry Im at lost with everything . .
I just double checked this on my 63 Wildcat. There are two wires from the firewall harness. The black wire goes to the positive terminal of the coil. Dark Blue wire goes to the negative terminal of the coil (Dark Blue is to the factory tachometer) Condenser goes on the positive terminal. Finally, the single wire to the distributor also goes to the negative terminal of the coil. The black wire from the firewall is the resistor wire. I measured 6 volts DC (to any ground) on this wire with the ignition in the "run" position. Start by making sure you have voltage at this wire with the ignition on. I agree that you should try using the stock parts first. I have never seen a ground wire connected to the negative terminal as you described. Hook the wires up like I described and I know it will run. Chris
Something to consider here is the use of an aftermarket coil, intended for a "box." If you are not using an aftermarket ignition, the use of a coil intended for an aftermarket ignition will wreak havoc with the standard ignition. First, a little electrical theory. The ignition coil uses a current initiated by the closing points to "induce" a voltage in the secondary coil. This is done through the closed points. It causes a magnetic field to develop around the primary coil. When the points open, the current stops flowing, and the magnetic field collapses, very quickly, causing a voltage to develop in the secondary coil. It is this voltage that creates the spark in the plugs, by going from the secondary coil wire, through the distributor rotor, to the selected plug. If you are not using an aftermarket ignition, using an aftermarket coil designed for one will simply burn out the points. Set everything back to factory, including the points dwell, and get the engine running again. This will allow you to make sure that the distributor is re-installed correctly as well. let's start there. I suspect a mis-match somewhere.
