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Newbie to the group with a question about distributor pickups

D

Don A. Gross

New Member
Local time
1:29 PM
Joined
May 14, 2022
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Location
West Virginia
Recently purchased a 1975 Cordoba with 47K miles in good shape somewhat. Test drove it a few times with hesitancy on acceleration thinking its a gummed up carburetor. Parked it and next day it will not start. I'm trying to learn about the ignition electronics. No spark from the secondary -coil wire. Put a new ballast resistor, new electronic module, and new voltage regulator on it. Bought a new electronic coil pickup to replace. Before I do that I want to know how to test the pickup without taking the distributor out of the car. Do I do an Ohms test on the 2 wires connected to the distributor and have someone crank the motor to see if there is a change with resistance; and if so, how many Ohms would tell me its good or bad. I read doing a coil test with resistance of 8000 Ohms on the primary and I think it was 18,000 Ohms on the secondary. Could the coil still be bad, and how do I test the primary regarding voltage. Again, I'm new to this electronic testing. Thanks. Don.
 
Often the air gap is to wide... I believe the spec is .008-.012... Best to stay toward the .008 or even .006
 
Welcome from Alabama, we need pictures running or not. Your problem reminds me why I keep the points. I know yours didn't come with points, but with Don's post you should be on your way.
 
Welcome aboard from NJ. As mentioned..........................
pichers.jpg
 
Welcome from Missouri!!
 
mopar 3 B said:
And check more than one lobe
Click to expand...
Yes it will tell you if the upper shaft is bent. The specs are .008-.010 with a non magnetic feeler gauge. if say one lobe is .003 and one opposite is say .015 it is bent. Kind of common. The ohms were spot on mentioned above and it will not change cranking. It basically works like a small AC alt and the ecu takes the "peak" of the signal and amplifies it to send the current to the coil. Hope that helps.
Basic coil check. But check your FSM for actual ranges. With the wires off of the coil.
coil_checks.jpg
 
Last edited:
Welcome to FBBO from NorCal Sierras
 
Don Frelier said:
It should be 350-550 ohms measured at the plug.
No you don't need to crank it.
Follow this:
http://dave78chieftain.com/Ignition_Syste.html
Click to expand...
Thank all of you for the reply's, especially Don Freiler. This diagram you sent me is great. After putting a new ballast, control module, coil and pickup coil, It ended being a new distributor that did it. I even took the distributor cap and rotor off the new distributor and tried it on the old one, and still nothing.
 
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