TheSamba.com :: View topic - 1969 VW Beetle, not getting spark?? New coil?? UGHHHH

Tue Mar 16, 2010 6:04 pm

1969 VW Beetle, trying to get it running but im not gettin any spark, I pulled the coil wire to the dist, and tested to see if there was any spark while the engine was cranked, but no spark. Anyone have any ideas??? The points are adjusted, new condenser, dist rotor is spinning, new spark plug wires, everything is properly wired up, the timing isnt on but while the engine was cranking I moved the dist around and still no cylinders firing or anything, coil isnt burned up either its new. getting 12 volts to the coil also. Anyone have any ideas? I'm stumped.

Glad I found this forum though I was having the hardest time finding a good forum with tons of people! YES!

Tue Mar 16, 2010 6:06 pm

What side of the coil do you have the points lead connected to?

Wed Mar 17, 2010 8:41 am

69 Jim wrote: What side of the coil do you have the points lead connected to?

positive is to the batt and negative is to the condenser.

Wed Mar 17, 2010 9:15 am

Its a no external resistor coil too if that helps, i think there may be a resister though, would this cause no spark?

Wed Mar 17, 2010 9:07 pm

Wed Mar 17, 2010 10:00 pm

Qaiphyx wrote: bump

What does "bump" mean???

Thu Mar 18, 2010 2:06 am

Cusser wrote: Qaiphyx wrote: bump

What does "bump" mean???

It means the thread was dying off without an answer so he was "bumping" it back to the top for people's attention. ;)

Oaiphyx, are you definitely getting a working live connection to the coil?

Thu Mar 18, 2010 4:37 am

Do you have a multimeter or test lamp?

Test that your distributor body is grounded.
Test that when the points are open, one side is grounded and the other side goes to the green coil wire.
Disconnect all wires from the coil and test that there is 2.5-3ohms of resistance between the + and - terminals (primary winding).
Reconnect everything but leave the cap off the distributor. Connect the test light between the - terminal of the coil and ground. With the ignition ON, manually rotate the engine. As the points close, the test light should go off (electricity flowing thru the points). As the points open, the light should light up (electricity flowing thru lamp). This simulates the coil firing as the points open/close. If the lamp stays lit, your points are not closing (creating a path to ground). If the lamp doesn't light at all, there is either no power or the points are NOT opening.

Wire it between the negative terminal of the coil and ground. This will act

Thu Mar 18, 2010 7:36 am

ashman40 wrote: Do you have a multimeter or test lamp?

Test that your distributor body is grounded.
Test that when the points are open, one side is grounded and the other side goes to the green coil wire.
Disconnect all wires from the coil and test that there is 2.5-3ohms of resistance between the + and - terminals (primary winding).
Reconnect everything but leave the cap off the distributor. Connect the test light between the - terminal of the coil and ground. With the ignition ON, manually rotate the engine. As the points close, the test light should go off (electricity flowing thru the points). As the points open, the light should light up (electricity flowing thru lamp). This simulates the coil firing as the points open/close. If the lamp stays lit, your points are not closing (creating a path to ground). If the lamp doesn't light at all, there is either no power or the points are NOT opening.

Wire it between the negative terminal of the coil and ground. This will act

K Ill go get a test lamp today. I also notices that that stringy looking ground wire in the distributor that connects to the points is disconnected and loose. Would this cause the problem?

Thu Mar 18, 2010 12:51 pm

Qaiphyx wrote: I also notices that that stringy looking ground wire in the distributor that connects to the points is disconnected and loose. Would this cause the problem?

Like, yeah !!!

"Always fix first what you KNOW is bad"

Thu Mar 18, 2010 1:50 pm

Cusser wrote: Qaiphyx wrote: I also notices that that stringy looking ground wire in the distributor that connects to the points is disconnected and loose. Would this cause the problem?

Like, yeah !!!

"Always fix first what you KNOW is bad"

Looks like worthless wire to me haha, doesnt even look like wire. I think ill probably put some real wire in there.

Plus shouldn't the screw just ground to the distributor already anyways???

Sat Mar 20, 2010 11:46 am

alright, I fixed the ground in the distributor, and still nothing. Im getting a closed circuit on the primary of the coil through to the condenser/capacitor, and points. No spark is coming from the output on the coil, I have 3 coils, tried all coils, points and capacitor are new. nothing.

Sat Mar 20, 2010 12:07 pm

Did you swap the coil hig voltage center wire with a know good one?

Sat Mar 20, 2010 3:55 pm

Turns out the wires that go to the carb were on the wrong side of the coil haha, so it was grounding out through them instead of going to the coil!

Thanks for the replies.