Engine Ran, Now it Wont’t

[69SatelliteGuy]

Hey guys, I have a ‘69 Satellite with a 318 and a 904. It was running great last week. I had just replaced the points, condenser, plugs, wire set, set timing, and put in a new ballast resistor. Was driving great until yesterday when it started stalling at stops. Checked points and no gap so I set them to .018 and now it doesn’t even try to start, just turns over. Any ideas? I’m a body guy, not mechanical, so I’m kind of out of my element.

 

[69L48Z27]

You need some tools.
Volt meter for starters. Check VDC in and out of the ballast, then check at coil.

I would be more concerned why your points lost the gap.

Pull a plug and see if you have spark.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

It ran till you touched the points, go back & look at the points... Is the rotor installed properly? Any change the wire going to the points is touching anything besides the stud on the points?

 

[Johnpat]

Check points& condeser

 

[Johnpat]

Did you lube cam in distributor?
If dry could wear fiber rubbing block
causing points to close.

 

[dadsbee]

Did you put the rotor back?.. don't ask how I know that one...

 

[gdrill]

Did you tighten the distributor hold down firmly? If left slightly loose, it can run until it moves it far enough to not run.

 

[RussT Plymouths]

When you readjusted the points, were you sure you had the rubbing block of the points on the tip of the lobe?

 

[Jerry Hall]

Takes 3 things for a internal combustion engine to run. Air, fuel, and spark.
Air is sort of hard to lose.
Fuel easy to see going into the carburetor.
So the question is what happened to the spark.
It could be any one of the things you messed with. Trace your steps to chase down the problem. A voltmeter is an essential tool. Also a service manual. Or you could be just like me looking under the hood of my diesel truck. Damn there's no spark.

 

[RussT Plymouths]

Also something to think about is closed doesn't guarantee the points are conducting current. Any contamination on them could prevent them from working.

 

[Curiousyellow71]

The new condenser could be bad. Odd in ran at all w no point gap. Possibly the points were not tight and it just slipped back. Clean the points good and make sure no grit got between the contacts. Over the years I can think of three 318s that the timing chain jumped and they would not fire again, very frustrating to solve. If its still got a nylon timing gear they can give up... run one moment and then not fire the next start.

 

[69SatelliteGuy]

Thanks all for the advice! I did get it going again tonight. The coil in the car seemed a bit temperamental, as even after setting the points again I had no spark. I replaced it along with the ballast resistor again. Runs fine now. Idles about 580 RPM @ 10*BTDC. I’m gonna have to go through this car a bit before taking it on any long trips, but it seems okay for now. Would like to go get an exhaust put on as mine is basically non existent.

 

[Big Bad Dad]

You sure you tightened the screw enough that holds the points in place?

 

[1967coronet]

Like jerry posted check for the 3, spark,fuel,air.
Pull a plug wire , stick a plug in it and ground it then crank, no spark or faint ,weak spark start chasing it , and see were you loose it. Ballast resister , coil , distributor.
This stuff does not take long to check, looking down the carb, do you get a good shot of fuel when throttle is opened up ?
If not and you have spark , try priming the carb. If it fires you could have a bad accelerator pump or fuel pump.
With the recent ignition work I would check that 1st, feeler gauge is ok but you need to barrow a dwell meter to get the points set right.

 

[69L48Z27]

Another coil and ballast resistor?

 

[Red63440]

Don't forget compression....

 

[69SatelliteGuy]

Yeah another coil and ballast resistor and it idles. Now when I put it in gear, it will pulsate(?) then stall unless I floor it.