Posted by Sherman in Idaho [72.47.153.28] on Tuesday, August 12, 2014 at 02:49:25 :
In Reply to: No Spark posted by AL [24.237.195.158] on Tuesday, August 12, 2014 at 01:04:30 :
Lots of other simple things could also be wrong, but since the ballast resistor is getting hot, we can assume the points are closed. Turn the engine to where the tab that works the points is on one of the flats on the distributor cam. The points should be closed and you should have no voltage between the low side of the coil and ground. Now open the points by hand (it won't shock you). You should have 12 volts between the low side of the coil and ground. Take the center wire from the distributor cap and hold the end of it near a ground and repeat the test. You should get a spark out of the coil wire every time you manually open the points (engine not running).
If the points look like they're opening, but there's still zero volts at the low side of the coil, the wire connecting the two could be shorted to ground somewhere, most likely where it goes through the distributor housing or is attached to the screw on the points.
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