Dead Zone Distributer

ivoryjohn

ivoryjohn

Senior Member
A couple of times now my engine wouldn't start from lack of fire. The coil got fairly hot and there was not spark passed it to the distributer. No fire. Monkeying around with it the problem seem to solve it self. I may have had the problem yesterday but it righted itself fairly quickly.

I haven't had a lick of trouble until today and it went dead again in front of my favorite wrench man while he was playing with the lights. He traced everything trying to find out why there was not fire and couldn't get a break until he pressed down or tapped on the modern distributer plate inside that the condenser and points are mounted on. I suspect that the brass contact in the lower half that replaces the wire the original distributer had isn't getting a good contact occasionally.

Has anyone else had a dead distributer as a result of the contact in the modern points set up. What did you do to fix it and your comments please. If that is the problem.
 
ivoryjohn said:
I suspect that the brass contact in the lower half that replaces the wire the original distributer had isn't getting a good contact occasionally.
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Yes, I have read about this several times on this forum. There is even a kit with the same contact for the original style point plate. Both has given some people problems.
 
Also be sure to use the fine stranded wire and bend and place the terminal as Marco has shown, so it doesn't touch the spring or metal body.
 
columbiA said:
Best way to fix the problem is to rebuild the dist to its original configuration.JMO
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Sure I can go back to they way Henry built it and carry the parts to do so on the road with me. AND I can go back to getting 500 miles to the cheap *** condenser they make today! JMO
 
ivoryjohn said:
Sure I can go back to they way Henry built it and carry the parts to do so on the road with me. AND I can go back to getting 500 miles to the cheap *** condenser they make today! JMO
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I know some condensers go bad, but I've never lost one yet in all the cars I've driven. In fact I hear good reports of the new heat proof condensers.
 
Remove the two brass pieces from the modern plates that rub against each other to make the electrical connection between the plates and replace with a good insulated wire like was originally used. This design is very poor. You will now have a good electrical connection. Make sure that when you install the wire to insure does not rub against the side of the distributor or will eventually fail if the covering frays off. Use a good stranded wire not solid.
 
ivoryjohn said:
Sure I can go back to they way Henry built it and carry the parts to do so on the road with me. AND I can go back to getting 500 miles to the cheap *** condenser they make today! JMO
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I haven't had a Model A condenser failure in my 40 years experience. I must admit however that back in the 70's I changed them every 5-10k miles as I was followed the conventional wisdom. It's my understanding there are better condensers available now than the stuff the Model A parts houses carried back then.

I've never seen the plates with contacts but when there was an inquiry about them on the Ahooga forum 12-13 years ago I responded that the concept was less than ideal as they would be prone to arcing and eventual failure. In less than a year folks were reporting that exact problem. That may not be the problem in your case but if it is there will be visible evidence when the contact areas are inspected.
 
Marco Tahtaras said:
I haven't had a Model A condenser failure in my 40 years experience. I must admit however that back in the 70's I changed them every 5-10k miles as I was followed the conventional wisdom. It's my understanding there are better condensers available now than the stuff the Model A parts houses carried back then.

I've never seen the plates with contacts but when there was an inquiry about them on the Ahooga forum 12-13 years ago I responded that the concept was less than ideal as they would be prone to arcing and eventual failure. In less than a year folks were reporting that exact problem. That may not be the problem in your case but if it is there will be visible evidence when the contact areas are inspected.
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I have seen two fail in the last few weeks. They are a problem waiting to happen.
 
Ivoryjohn, you said the coil was hot. That indicates a short somewhere. I suspect between the switch and distributor or armored cable. I have had one condensor fail. It shorted out and stayed out so it can happen. That said, I suspect a switch, cable or distributor short. Inside the cable shorts are often intermittent at first, as you describe. Goog luck. Ron W
 
I think Marco hit the nail on the head on this one. I was sold on this in the beginning but have see some arching problems in the last couple or years and have been changing back to orig style with the wire.
 
The only time I ever had a condenser fail in nearly 60 years of driving "A",s is when I tuned up my car 50 years or so ago & replaced the condenser & the car wouldnt start I put the old one back in & it worked fine until I sold the car some 60,000 miles later.
 
I'm glad that so many of you have such good luck with the original style set-up. I didn't have such good luck and honestly only got about five hundred miles on a couple of them before they burned out, thanks I believe to the heat down here and the reproduction condensers I purchased. I have a spare original style condenser mounted next to the coil wired and ready to hook up when needed. Points and a couple of condensers, old style and modern, are packed away under the seat.

I switched to the modern points and plate with the modern Ford condenser available anywhere when one of those reproduction condensers failed and had me changing a condenser on a hot engine on a busy highway in one hundred degree heat. Up until just recently I have gotten 4000 miles out of the condenser and it hasn't burned out, it is a short in the dissy that is giving me fits. Old style or new condenser isn't the issue.

Marco had a good point and detected the problem...so did I, thanks. Thanks also to Jrelliott and Ron W who made good suggestions as to possible causes and suggested valid possible fixes that may also be connected to the problem. The hot coil had me guessing.

As I write this a thought came up. I just got the car back from a rebuilt engine. I remember that I had a problem before when I installed the engine and screwed the armored cable into the distributor you could only screw it in a couple of threads or it would short out. I'll bet that my buddy took one too many twists on the cable and it is about a thread screwed in too deep. I don't know if this would cause the problem to come and go as it is now doing but it is something to check in view of the hot coil.

Wow...imagine...sixty years between tune-ups and the condenser is still good! No argument the ones Henry made are better than the reproductions of today. That is Ford dependability!
 
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My 29 Tudor came with a repro ignition switch and after I screwed the instrument panel back on I noticed the coil was getting warm. As is often the case the repro switch terminals were touching the gas tank and keeping the coil on full time. I bent the terminals to the side and now it's fine. If you have an original popout switch the wire should be replaced as the insulation is usually quite weathered from age.
 
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