VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Electrical - 6 volt Correct coil

Completed wiring recently. All lights working as well as horn and signal lights, and fuses look good. Car started and ran for a bit and then stalled. Now won't start. No spark. I think I may need to replace my coil? Secondary reading is about 10 ohms. (Meter malfunction?) Primary seems to be ok. It is a new 6 volt coil. I want to make sure I get the correct one. Is there a model number? Internal resistor?
Thanks

Basics,

Check that the points are set correctly, then check static timing. Check the inside of the distributor cap and the rotor for burn marks and/or crud. Make sure that the coil is actually getting 6 volts.

If all that is right, then suspect the coil.

I had a similar issue with my 31. It would run great then randomly stall and not restart - no spark. Turns out that the electrolock was shorting the coil to ground. Change the wiring around to a non-standard configuration and it hasn't stalled since.

I had something similar on my 41. Stalled at low RPM when warm and would not restart until it cooled. Had to give it throttle to keep it going since it always occurred at a stop or idle. I replaced my coil and it solved the issue. I did not replace mine with one that looks period correct since this a fun not show car, just bought one that my local NAPA stocked.

Any of us who has tried to troubleshoot this issue has found themselves unable to completely explain what they did to fix the problem. With me it was... keep tweaking things until it finally stopped happening.

For example, I adjusted the valves AGAIN until I finally got them right. I had to get the engine completely up to temperature. Not just in the garage but drive it around for awhile. Then pull it in and adjust. That made a big difference.

The modern fuels DO NOT like old cars. I could not keep the fuel from percolating out of the carb. Worked fine when cold... wouldn't start when hot. I finally installed a return line just past the fuel pump back to the gas tank. That helped a lot with cooling the fuel but I had to use an electric fuel pump that many people don't want to use. It also requires 12v... equally an issue if you still use 6v.

I adjusted the float down a little. Equally helped a little.

I installed a little thicker insulating gasket under the carb and a heat shield (sheet metal) between the exhaust manifold and carb.

I made sure my fuel line from the pump to the carb was away from any heat source.

I also added at least two fuel filters between tank and carb. One before the pump and one before the carb. There is no way you'll ever get all the crap out of your tank so you need to filter a lot.

And finally there are lots of people who will say that this is all unnecessary. All you need to do is tune everything correctly exactly the way it was built and it will work great. Well all the best luck with that, but it hasn't worked that way for me.

Thanks all! Good stuff. Checked plug gap, points, distributor cap. All good. Still no spark. Got fuel and compression. Guess I need to look elsewhere for loose wire somewhere. Coil and condenser are new.

Do you have a carbon core coil wire or metal core wire?. Separation of the carbon core wires are a common problem particularly in 6 volt systems. The coils don't have enough voltage to jump the gap and spark plug also.