[impala1972]

1972 impala 350 c.i.
im trying to figure out which post on my coil i run a hot wire to.ive been told by one person the + side and another person the - side.
the coil is hooked up in the wiring harness but somewhere there is a short and im not getting any fire to the plugs.it has a new cap wires plugs points and coil.i did try running a hotwire from the postive post of the battery to the positive side of the coil but it didnt do anything.i was told by another person to run a hotwire to the negative side of the coil but will this fry anything?please help

 

[David E]

could also be a bad coil. hot wire goes to the + side of the coil.
if you unhook both sides of the coil, and hook up a hot wire to the + side, use a multi-meter, or test light to check if the coil is bad. hot wire to + side, multimeter or test light to - side. no voltage coming through means coil is bad.

 

[Grumpy]

Positive wire to the + side of the coil...
This bypasses the ignition and the ballast resistor.
If you have volt meter check for 12Vdc at this terminal with the key in the ON posistion. (measured from the + coil connection to a good ground.)

The - Neg side of the coil goes to the points in the distributor.

DO NOT connect a hot wire here...you will just ruin the points and burn your wires.


I would suggest you first:
Take the dist. cap off and while someone cranks the engine over you look to make sure the points are opening and closing.. they can be adjusted with an Allen wrench, you will see the adjuster next to where a little sliding window is located on the distributor cap
Another possible problem is the condenser connected to the points, you can just disconnect, the condenser, the car will run without it. But the point contacts will erode if it isn't replaced. If the engine runs after you have removed the condenser you know that was the problem, replace it and the points. They are cheap.

My bet is you have point problem not a coil problem.


Yours: Grumpy