Having problems getting my 66 289 going. Was running halfway decent a little while ago, and then it cut-out on me. Started a couple more times, and then nothing. It appears that plenty of gas is getting to the carb, but maybe no spark. When I disconnect the coil wire from the distributor cap, and try to ground it against a bolt, I can't see any spark jumping from the end of the wire. Before I go and invest in a new coil, I'd prefer to KNOW that is the problem. Talked to a friend, and he said to check the points. I'll do that, but is there a way to 'test' a coil? A new one is not that much, but my budget for 'hobby' repairs is kind of thin right now. I put a volt meter on it. I get a full 12 volts at the starter solenoid. When I take the coil wire loose at the distributor cap, I get about 8.4 volts at the end of that wire. When I test the end of the spark plug leads, I don't detect anything. So that means it's somewhere twixt the coil, and the end of the plug wires. I lightly sanded my points hoping there was a slight bit of corrosion or something. No results though. Any ideas?
Has it had a tune up lately? If not, then change the cap, rotor, plugs, wires, points, condensor; and since you are having intermittent problems, change out the coil also. Get it over with. TommyJ
Well, I'm trying to narrow down the problem before throwing good money after bad. I don't have much money in my 'hobby' fund. I tried hooking up a timing light to one of the plug wires to see if a light would come on indicating a fire. Nothing. I've never changed a set of points, is that what it's looking like? Or maybe a coil? Any way to narrow down a little further?
Tommyleea is right about the basic tune up. Most intermittent problems are electrical related and not fuel. It sounds like if you run it hard and then have problems with no spark, I would look at the coil or condenser. If you don't know if the engine is basically tuned right in the electrical system then you need to start from the distributor by replacing the points, condenser, cap, and rotor to start with. The points have to be adjusted with either a feeler gauge and/or dwell meter, both of which you probably don't have. I would look for somebody with some basic tune up knowledge and a few tools. Also, you have to check the timing with the timing light hooked up to the #1 spark plug wire and with the vacuum hose disconnected and pluged. Good luck, Mike
Hello again. SUCCESS!! Well kind of. I took my pocket knife, and scraped the leads at each one of the spots on the distributor cap, twixt the points, and the rotor. Viola..got it to run for a few minutes. I took this as a big success, and an indication that I need to start with replacing the parts suggested. I think I'll hold off on the coil for now, but thanks for all your help.
GCRIV, what did you scrape off of the "leads"? Corrosion? If so, replace the cap and wires (one at a time) and could you please explain how you "twixt" the points. Just curious. Thanks, Mike
You're funny. Twixt the points is my slang for 'between the points' I picked that up from an old movie with some old timer, and it stuck. Some kind of corrosion I scraped off the points in contact. i.e. twixt the rotor and the cap, and twixt the points. Get it....between the rotor and cap, and between the points. ;-)
Again, while you are at it I would twixt the coil now also, so you are not twixting it along the side of the road. It has probably been on there for 10 or 20 years.
Got it! Thanks for the clarification. Now, get yourself a new set of points, condenser, rotor and cap. If you've never replaced a set of points then I would recommend having someone do it for you. The rest, you can do yourself, except for maybe the timing. And throw in a coil while you're at it. Have fun, Mike
A coil wire can be defective also... to check it just pull up the coil wire from the cap enough to crank the motor and look for a spark...If its good and strong ..good wire!!! The process of elimination...Mustangs are easy to work on..except when you add new electronics to an old system..then take a computer class and that will help bring you up to speed, or better yet ask a 4 year old about the computer stuff...nowadays these kids know more than you can learn with a PHD..
A coil is really easy to check with an ohmmeter. You need to check both the primary and the secondary circuit & compare them to specification. I don't have any information on what that specification is, but one of our vintage Ford fans should be able to help with that. robin
A few years ago, I was asked to figure out a problem concerning a Shelby that the owner could not figure out why it would run for a while and then act as if the key was shut off. I traced the problem to the wire that goes between the distributor and the negative side of the coil. The wire was the OEM unit, the insulation was cracked and the wire was broken inside the rubber grommet where the distributor wire exited the distributor housing. It would make intermittent contact. Drove the owner of the car crazy. I have also seen problems with these cars burning points. This is usually caused by resistance to ground between the distributor hold down, which is steel and the distributor housing, which is aluminum. I will take a good old MSD any time.
I was helping a buddy get a cobra running that was parked since 1972 or so, we did all the routine stuff to fire up an old engine, (it looked like a fresh rebuild before storeage) and couldnt get it going, looking around under the hood and he bumped the negative wire on the coil and it fell off. After replacing that it fired right up, smoked for a few minutes then ran like a bat out of hell!
