engine and drivetrain We have ignition!!!!

[jerry]

well, after 21 months of down time, my engine came to life this morning. i had to prime the carburetor several times with gas but eventually the fuel pump did its thing.

there's some knocking in the valve train which will need some adjustment and looks like a small exhaust leak or perhaps, hopefully, just burning off never-seize compound.

my driver's side turn signal flasher will not turn off.

my tachometer is not working.

my alt light does not turn off.

at any rate, i'm one step closer to driving it....

[Chris_B]

Perhaps your condenser is shorted out. How old is it? In any event, you can test it by pulling it out and using an Ohmmeter to determine whether the end of the wire is shorted to the case.

[jerry]

my condenser is brand new and i just replaced it with another new one to no avail. i'm an electrical idiot. how do i use my voltmeter to test it?

ok, i just readjusted my points and set the gap wider. no burning. however, i'm not getting the engine to start yet. i'm gonna assume that i was getting electric spark before i adjusted points....

i'll keep plugging away.

btw, i have no idea how far off of TDC i am anymore as i had to rotate the distributer to get the cam lobe in the right spot. i have an idea of the original location of the distributor.

[Chris_B]

You have to remove the condenser from the distributor and put one probe on the end of the wire and the other on the metal can of the condenser to test it, on the Ohmmeter setting. Yes, if you see 0 Ohms on the meter, you have a dead short. However, the odds of having a new condenser that is shorted are slim, and two in a row- pretty much 0 to none.

The point gap is not relevant to the problem you are experiencing. You have the black wire connected to the "-" side of the coil? What do you mean when you say "the wire between the condenser and points is getting hot enough to melt the plastic"? Did the plastic on the wire melt? Under what conditions is this happening?

Have you checked the resistance between the negative terminal and a good ground on chassis (maybe, the ground point for the tail lights or one of the shock mount bolts...)?

[c.d.iesel]

....and the point gap is 0.016"

[Chris_B]

He seems to be saying that he is having a shorting kind of situation, compadre. Not the kind of pitting and burning of points that would happen more gradually, if the points were set too close.

[jerry]

thanks for the help you guys. the black wire was improperly placed on the pos side of the coil. my battery ground is verified good. after enlarging the gap i'm not burning the wire.

btw, the wire i'm speaking of is the small pigtail off the points that connects to the male terminal of the condenser which protrudes into the distributor.

as for the gap, it was originally set per the Haynes manual and C.D. you are correct, it is 0.016inch. i was going off memory (a bad thing for me). i will readjust gap closer and have another go tomorrow. i'm a bit disappointed my fuel filter hasn't filled up with gas after all the cranks on the engine.

do i have to prime it somehow?

another problem i'm gonna have to deal with later is that my flywheel teeth are worn and the starter does not engage properly sometimes. i'm afraid to ask what the solution is.

[Chris_B]

So, is your motor running? Don't expect your fuel filter to fill up. It is typical for there to be a sizeable air bubble in the filter. This will not prevent fuel from flowing through.

What do you mean when you say that the starter does not engage?