Classic/Antique Car Repair: 1949 Packard - no spart - followup, danville indiana, battery terminal

Question
Dick,  

I'm following up on your helpful answer regarding the 1949 8-cyl Packard I bought (Autolite ignition), that has no spark.

Whether or not the points are open or closed, I have NO 6 volts on the side of the coil going to the distributor.  I DO have 6 volts on the other (switch) side.  By the way (just to keep me honest), which side of the coil goes to the distributor - plus or minus?  I'm not sure at this point as I had it loose and I'm not sure I hooked it back up right.

I have two wires going to one side of the coil (one from the switch), and one wire going to the distributor side from the other side of the coil.  The engine will crank.  

Do you have a suggestion as to how to troubleshoot the lack of 6 volts on the coil's distributor side?

I wish you lived around Danville, Indiana!  Thanks so much for your contribution.

Jay


Answer
As for the hookup to the coil, assuming your car is still positive ground, as it was since new, the + side of the coil goes to the distributor, and the - side goes to the ignition switch.  

If there is no 6 volts on the - side, then the failure is in the connection from the battery to the coil.  

To prove this, get another piece of wire and connect it directly from the coil - terminal to the battery - terminal.

Now the car should start and run, regardless of whether there is a problem in the ignition switch or wiring.  Once you ;prove that, you need to trace back through the ignition switch to see where the - 6 volts disappears.

This connection goes through the ignition switch first, so make sure you have negative 6 volts at the switch "B" terminal, and at the "I" terminal with the key on.  

If you do, then see if the wire from the "I" terminal to the coil is bad.  Even if you can't see anything wrong with it, sometimes a wire will fail and yet look OK, with the problem hidden inside the insulation. Sometimes a wire is OK but the crimped on connector lug on the end of the wire isn't making contact for some reason.  Just keep bypassing things until you get the 6 volts out there.

My guess is you are going to find a wire that isn't connected somewhere, most likely at the ignition switch.

Just in case, if your car has been changed to negative ground, everything I said above needs to be reversed - where I said - read + and vice versa, of course.

Dick