73 VW THING no spark

[Scotty7375]

Just bought my dream car! Only issue is I have no spark. Have 9.6ish colts at the coil but, don’t have any spark coming out of coil. Any ideas

[kenj06]

Congrats on the purchase!
Assuming you have a fully charged battery, you'll need to find out where the voltage drop is. You should have 12v at terminal 30 on the ignition switch and at 15 with the key on. If you have 12v at 30 but 9 at 15, replace the ignition switch.
Here is the wiring diagram to help trace it out.
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/info/wiring/181_Wiring_Diagram_4-73.pdf

[mondshine]

The Terminal 15 (ignition) wire, in stock form, is not fused. What this means is that it is often damaged by short circuits or some other type of overload.

As Kenj06 suggested, first measure your voltage at the battery. a fully charged battery should measure 12.6V.

Next, measure voltage at Terminal 30 at the ignition switch. Stick your red probe into the Terminal 30 cavity on the plastic plug where the thick red wire comes out; black probe to a good ground). You should see a reading very close to battery voltage.

Next, switch on the ignition, and probe Terminal 15 the same way. Again, the reading should be close to battery voltage.

The plastic plug:

Compare the reading from Terminal 15 at the ignition switch to the reading at the other end of that black wire where it is connected to the coil. If there is a big difference, bad news. You will probably need to replace the black ignition wire.

If the difference in voltage is between Terminal 30 and Terminal 15 at the ignition switch, good news. That means the electrical component of the ignition switch is bad, as kenj06 suggested.

Good news because replacing the electrical component of the ignition switch is much easier than replacing the black ignition wire that runs from the fuse panel, all the way back to the engine compartment.

Wherever the problem is, you can fix it. Just be patient and methodical.

Good luck, Mondshine

[Wildthings]

If you have 9.6 volts while cranking that should be enough to get a spark, whereas 9.6 volts with the ignition on but with the engine not being cranked will be even less when the starter is engaged. To temporarily get it running, you can use a jumper from the B+ on the regulator to the #15 post on the coil to power it, this takes the ignition switch and associated wiring out of the circuit. You are dealing with unfused wires here so use care. If you haven't changed your ignition points you should do so, they need to be gapped correctly, so read up in Muir's Idiot Book on how to do so. If your condenser, cap, rotor, plug wires, or coil look ratty, you should consider replacing them as well. The rotor should turn when you crank the engine and the points should visibly open and close.