Points maintenance

J

JBill

Well-known member
What are the symptoms that points need adjustment, dressing, or replacement? My A runs a little rough, and won't idle without dying. New gas, timing spot on, puzzled.
 
Your car can have a miss upon starting off the line until you shift
in which can be the points having metal transfer deposit on either
side. Usually cause by a condenser that has the wrong values
for the points. Check your points to see if each surface is clean
with no material sticking up on either contact area.
 
The rubbing block on the points wear down as you drive the car. This causes the points to close up. The ignition timing is set after the point gap is set. Usually set at a nominal .020. As the points close up it changes the timing. They tend to close up faster on a new set of points. On a new set they can close up considerably in just 100 miles. After that the wear is not as severe. You will notice them closing up while driving as you will have to keep retarding the spark by pushing the spark handle up. Resetting the points to .020 restores the timing.

Tom Endy
 
May be a problem with a dirty carburetor. To check the points, move the engine until the points are closed. Take the high tension lead from the coil and put it about 1/4 inch from a grounded point on the head (a nut or other part). Turn on the ignition and open the points with your finger or a wooden stick. The spark from the end of the high tension lead should be a bright blue and strong. Also observe the points. They should not spark. If they do you may have a bad condensor.

All kinds of things can make the engine misfire or not idle such as dirty plugs or plugs that are not gapped correctly. (0.035 inch) It could be a bad rotor or other problems. You will want to do a tune up and perhaps clean the carburetor with spray carburetor cleaner.

Where are you located? There may be someone local to help.
 
Other than Tom Endy's description of rubbing block wear, issues with ignition points can be traced to the condenser. As the condenser breaks-down electrically, the points deteriorate. Deterioration starts with frosting and eventually a crater and a stalagmite form on the points. As the condenser breaks-down, the engine performance degrades starting with a loss of power, then miss firing, possibly some back firing, and eventually the engine stops running / will not start.
Another issue with the function of the ignition points is a short circuit of the wire between the plates. A poorly grounded distributor will also degrade performance.
 
Thanks, all! I'll check the points gap and go from there. Carb might be an issue too. Appreciate all the advice.
 
I recently got a set of points from snyders and they do not line up when installed. The round contact areas do not meet exactly. Is there a fix for this, adjustment?
 
Many many years ago you could get original Ford points that lasted for a very long time and fit correctly. That does not seem to be the case now. I have switched over to the modern points, I think from a V8, and they are lasting a long time and join correctly. Also the modern condensor. Friends of mine use the electronic points but in the past I have had problems with those when the battery voltage was low, so I am sticking to mechanical points.
 
Tom Endy said:
The rubbing block on the points wear down as you drive the car. This causes the points to close up. The ignition timing is set after the point gap is set. Usually set at a nominal .020. As the points close up it changes the timing. They tend to close up faster on a new set of points. On a new set they can close up considerably in just 100 miles. After that the wear is not as severe. You will notice them closing up while driving as you will have to keep retarding the spark by pushing the spark handle up.
Tom Endy
Click to expand...

I don't think that is correct. When the points block wears, the points close, retarding the timing. You would have to advance the lever (pull down) to compensate.
 
I just got a new set of points from a reputable supplier and had the same problem. The point arm is such that about 33% of the point contact touched the adjustable point. They are unusable. Why do otherwise honest companies sell this crap ??
 
Brattons has a point block for that very reason. The part number is #17351 and it's suppose to take care of the poor points that don't line up with the block. I've order a number of them to have on hand when I run into the problem of points not lining up.
 
Brkile said:
I just got a new set of points from a reputable supplier and had the same problem. The point arm is such that about 33% of the point contact touched the adjustable point. They are unusable. Why do otherwise honest companies sell this crap ??
Click to expand...

The problem is their overseas supplier has made their tooling inaccurately and refuse to change it. The vendors' solution is to make a new fixed point mounting block to compensate for the (wrong) length of the arm.
 
Brkile said:
I just got a new set of points from a reputable supplier and had the same problem. The point arm is such that about 33% of the point contact touched the adjustable point. They are unusable. Why do otherwise honest companies sell this crap ??
Click to expand...

If the distributor upper plate has the removable point block, the block can be repositioned by elongating the mounting holes w/a small file. Simples.
 
nkaminar said:
Friends of mine use the electronic points but in the past I have had problems with those when the battery voltage was low, so I am sticking to mechanical points.[/QUOTE

That is one downside to electronic points, and was part of the reason I wrecked my car 15 years ago. ( the main reason was insufficient observation of the car in front of me while trying to determine if I had enough battery to go 50 miles home). But, how often does your battery get low enough to cause your weak or no spark?
I love my electronic ignition, even though I had my only failure this summer, after 44,000 miles. It took a half hour to replace the module on the side of the road.
Click to expand...
 
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