engine and drivetrain Running Poorly – Need Ideas

[hawkgm]

Rember Walter that the distributor housing has a mak that aligns with the distributor rotor to indicate TDC on cylinder 1, unless it has been messed with after the distributor was pulled for some reason.

[walter_middie]

Nathan,

Thanks for the generous offer. If I'm still stumped after today, I'll contact you. But if everything goes well, it will be for a drive though.

Ed,

Thanks - the rotor pointing at #1 with both intake and exhaust valves loose was going to be my starting place. Then I'll look for the timing mark on the flywheel - it must just be too dirty for me to see it with my timing light.

I'll update this post at the end of the day with my progress. Thanks again for all the suggestions.

[Guest Anonymous]

The progression of bad to worse makes it sound to me like it could be a plugged exhaust. I don't know if the 76 had a cat converter but they can plug or the exhaust can fail internally and block flow. Drop the exhaust off of the down pipe and see if that helps.

You will get it right and she will love the car! Have fun

[walter_middie]

This is like cleaning a room - it gets worse before it gets better.

I did manage to find TDC, and painted a white mark on it.

The coil has some confusing wires. There is a green wire that has +12v when the key is on "run", and just less than that when the key is turned to start. I don't understand why there isn't a separate resistor wire. It seems like it is running on +12 volts all the time.

There is also a red and black wire connected to the coil +and -. I'm not sure what they go to but appear to be factory.

I measured +12v at the coil for a while, then it stopped and was only registering 0 volts. I disconnected the condenser and it again showed +12 volts, so I think my condenser is bad. Then points were also burnt.

I'm having trouble finding the correct points. My distibutor is 0231 115 048. Is this the correct distributor for a 1976?

So my questions are:

1.) What wires are supposed to be connected to the coil?

2.) What year car is the distributor from?

[nemwrks]

Does your distributor have a cast iron body?

The # you posted is for the old cast iron body distributor from an 1800 or very early small car.

Points 12 11 1 354 495

Condenser 12 11 1 354 497

I don't have my wiring schematics to hand,will check tomorrow.

Hope this helps.

Mark

[AubreyEiko]

I have cleaned and reset the points without any affect. I guess replacing them is easy enough to try.

....And here he is "fixing" the points....

[AubreyEiko]

For reference, here are photos of 'dizzy' and wiring for ignition coil ?

[roadhog0]

As far as CAT's go, no 02 had a cat, it would be an addition. The problems brought forth dont sound like a clogged exhaust at all.

If your coil is black you dont want 12v to it all the time. If it's blue I believe it has an internal ballast resistor. 76's have a wire that looks a lot like a speaker wire that is the ballast resistor going to the coil. In the "On" position it should get something like 10v (not sure of the exact number) and on "Start" it should have 12v.

[Harv]

I have cleaned and reset the points without any affect. I guess replacing them is easy enough to try.

....And here he is "fixing" the points....

What the....

John

[walter_middie]

What the.....

AubreyEiko is my daughter and the owner of the car. The first picture is an unsuccesful attempt at modifying points for a 1976 that do not fit.

Is the distributor body cast iron?

Yes, as the picture shows, I have an older cast iron distributor. I'll have to look up the advance curve for this one to see if it is an attempt by the PO at a performance upgrade.

The original resistor wire looked like speaker wire

Yes, I remember that now. When we first bought the car, the wire that ran to the coil was burnt and all the insulation was gone. There was a factory splice in the middle of the firewall that I thought was funny - but now I realize that the last 3 feet of the wire must have been resistor wire - and I replaced it with regular wire.

As the picture shows, we have a blue coil. I asked above what the red and black wires were that go to the coil. They musy be for +12 volts during start. Right now they don't do anything. I'll trace them this morning.

[walter_middie]

I figured out what the extra 2 wires going to the coil are. One the + side is a wire going to the electric choke. This seems strange to me, as this is supposed to be lower voltage during run. The Webber carb has been added by the PO, and I think they connected the choke to the wrong wire.

The negative side of the coil has an extra wire that goes to a silver box on the firewall named "drehzahlschalter" 0 335 530 006. This is some kind of emissions box. It is the 1650 speed relay that activates the dashpot to slow down the carburetor deceleration, and thus reduce some emmisions. It is used on '75 and '76 2002's. I'm going to remove it.

I still don't know how the coil gets +12 volts during "start" if the only wire going to it is the green resistor wire. I may run an extra wire that only gets juice during "start". Do you think this is wrong?

[roadhog0]

I believe that's how it works. My 76 is that way if I remember correctly. I have a water choke on my carb though.

[walter_middie]

I believe that's how it works. My 76 is that way if I remember correctly.

Nathan,

Just so I understand, your cars coil only has the green resistor wire going to the + side of the coil? So no extra voltage (+12v) during "start"? Only the resistor wire voltage?

[roadhog0]

I believe I got 12v during start. I will take pictures for you tomorrow and post them. I know I have a ballast resistor wire running to the coil giving a lower voltage while the car is running.

[walter_middie]

Before I started all this, the engine got so bad that it would not start. Now, after lots of work, it still will not run. What have I done so far?

New plugs, wires, cap, points, and condenser.

Fixed the ignition wiring so I now get +12 v during "start" and slightly less than that during "run" (1.8 ohm ballast resistor from a dodge pickup). And the choke now has its own source of power so it gets a full +12 volts.

I also installed a new chain tensioner piston and spring.

Rebuilt carb.

After all than it doesn't fire. I can smell gas and I can see it squirt when I open the throttle. My timing light is flashing so it is also getting spark.

The one thing I haven't replaced is the coil. My book says the primary should be 0.8 to 1.4 ohms. I'm reading 3.6 ohms.?? My book says the secondary should read 12k to 18k ohms. I'm reading 8.7k ohms?? Do you think my coil might be bad?