Ignition Condenser and Coil question,Single Point system

[gary h]

Well after a short drive yesterday in my '66 Mopar (440) , It would not start after sitting a couple hours (in Driveway) I had no spark and car Was running fine. Pushed it in garage .Today it starts and runs fine. My question is: Could the Coil (15 years old) be going ? Or ignition Condenser (5 years old Filko, USA ) be going? Can i test anything if it is Running great ? I Now have trust issues with this car. Any Thoughts ?

 

[toolmanmike]

Well after a short drive yesterday in my '66 Mopar (440) , It would not start after sitting a couple hours (in Driveway) I had no spark and car Was running fine. Pushed it in garage .Today it starts and runs fine. My question is: Could the Coil (15 years old) be going ? Or ignition Condenser (5 years old Filko, USA ) be going? Can i test anything if it is Running great ? I Now have trust issues with this car. Any Thoughts ?

Could be either. Ballast resistor? Let's ask @HALIFAXHOPS.

 

[gary h]

No,It would crank Normally and not catch.

Ballast resistor?

 

[68BabyBlue]

I went through the identical problem 30 years ago with my ‘62 Imperial. New coil fixed it, drove the car 100,000 miles without another starting issue.

 

[twecomm]

Assume you have points distributor ? I would replace the coil, condenser and ballast resistor. You're not talking a lot of $$. I would also suggest carrying spares of all those items with a basic tool kit, so if you have similar issues all are easy to replace road side to get you on your way.

 

[Bee1971]

A simple voltmeter and test light will tell you a lot of things when it doesn’t start

If it starts one day and runs fine and doesn’t start the next day , could bee as simple as a loose wire connector , wiring issue



When it is running , measure volts at both sides of ballast

Volts at positive side of coil

Points / Condenser like mentioned - Points Burnt or , how is the gap

When you know it starts and runs , engine off key off , pull the high tension coil ignition wire out of middle of distributor cap , ground it with a gap , either have someone turn the engine over or use a remote start , is the spark blue and crisp , or yellow and weak

Same with distributor cap off , checking spark at points , turning the engine over , how does the spark look

Bulkhead connector - Not familiar with the wiring diagram on a 1966

If it won’t start when the coil is hot versus starting with a cold coil

Distributor cap and rotor

So many possibilities

 

[HALIFAXHOPS]

Hate to say this it needs to be trouble shot when it is broken, as said above alot of possibilities and throwing parts at it costs and could be as simple as a wire got moved and works now.

 

[gary h]

Hate to say this it needs to be trouble shot when it is broken, as said above alot of possibilities and throwing parts at it costs and could be as simple as a wire got moved and works now.

Would a Coil or Condenser fail Intermittently or Completely ?

 

[MoparJW]

Would a Coil or Condenser fail Intermittently or Completely ?

I've had a bad condenser, it was intermittent.
Sometimes it was hard to start, other times it would misfire during acceleration or cruising.

 

[HALIFAXHOPS]

Would a Coil or Condenser fail Intermittently or Completely ?

Can be both.

 

[HALIFAXHOPS]

Just a starting point if you go and it starts up I would wiggle all the wires of the system to see if you can make it fail. If so I might just be a dirty connection. Have the FSM on it?

If it does not start which can be a good thing You have to see what is not working. All the way from the ignition switch to the coil. Make sure you get voltage to the ballast resistor in start and in run.

There is no plug and play tester for points like electronic ignition has.

 

[Frank Mopar]

Start by checking the bulkhead connector pins.

 

[68BabyBlue]

Would a Coil or Condenser fail Intermittently or Completely ?

When I had my coil problem, the car would always start fine when cold, but would barely fire when hot. A co worker told me to throw a wet rag on the coil and see if it helped. That's how I figured it out.

 

[toolmanmike]

When I had my coil problem, the car would always start fine when cold, but would barely fire when hot. A co worker told me to throw a wet rag on the coil and see if it helped. That's how I figured it out.

It must have been shorting out when it got hot.

 

[Darter6]

Start by checking the bulkhead connector pins.

Good thought. Had this happen on a 70 Duster.

 

[Geoff 2]

It could be anything: component or wiring. And because of the intermittent nature, really hard to track down. Inspect the dist cap & rotor for carbon tracking. Check measure the coil lead [ because it affects ALL cyls ]. You could replace the coil, points & cond, not that many $$$, because they are the most likely suspects....

 

[gary h]

I do have some USA NORS (Filko) points and condensers in my stash,but i wonder if condensers have a "Shelf Life" ? And Coils Appear to be all China now, I hope an older Standard ,Blue streak or Filko made in USA would be wise to obtain.

 

[Don Frelier]

I would suspect the coil due to the seemingly temperature dependant nature of the problem.
But that said I would still pull apart the bulkhead connector and inspect the connections.
I'd also take a look inside the distributor for any wires that may be rubbing and comprimised insulation perhaps.

I wouldn't suspect a shelf life on a condensor.