1969 Cougar 351 No spark… Need Help PLZ
Replaced Coil Pack, Distributer and Rotor,Ignition Switch, spark plugs and still not getting a spark…
Whats next?
There was a short at the alternater wires because they were touching but I fixed that. She cranks no problem and shes squirting fuel but no spark.
Power is not coming out of the center wire to the distrubuter.
Getting power on the coil terminals - / +
Was your old coil bad or you just replaced it all after finding the short at the alternator. First thing I would do is put the old coil back in and give it a try (unless you know its no good). You didn’t do anything major and you say you replaced the distributor but I think you meant distributor cap, so there should be no timing issues. Clean up all of you connections if you haven’t done so.
Electrical is not my specialty but there are some very knowledgeable guys here that can help you out.
Also, here is a quick test for your coil.
The car had an after market coil put in. I thought that was the issue so i replaced with the exact same one. Yes i replaced the cap and rotor.
I posted a picture of my engine bay. please look
What ignition system?
If points check that they are opening/closing and the gap. Make sure the wire from coil to points isn’t grounding out. Make sure ground wire for points is in place.
what do you mean by grounding itself out?
and i got the electronic ignition which was running just fine before.
It looks like the ignition system has been heavily modified. I can see a ballast resistor above the coil so I am guessing that there is a new wire run to the coil from the key switch to the ballast resistor and then from the resistor to the positive post of the coil. I think I can see some Pertronix looking wires coming out of the distributor. The red lead should go to the same post on the ballast resistor as the wire from the key switch. The black wire should go to the negative post on the coil. Is that the way it is hooked up?
And to be sure, this is not an XR7 right?
I bought the car with the negative on the positive terminal and the positive on the negative. So i just put it back the same way. I need to take a look again.With a test light i went to both positive and negative terminals on the coil resulting with power. One high and one more dim. but no light from the wire that goes to the cap.
If it’s an XR7 the power for the coil runs through the tach. If the tach goes bad, it won’t allow power to get to the coil. Try running power straight from the battery to the coil and jumping across the starter selinoid to start it which eliminates the ignition circuit. Just don’t run it hot wired for very long as the coil only normally receives about 8 volts and not 12.
Not an xr7
There is no tach
OK then, check the voltage you are or are not getting past each component with a multi meter with the key on. That shuld tell you where your weak link is. Don’t check past the coil this way or you might not like the results. 
im guessing the volts should be 12 and 8 ?
waiting on my multi meter
but for now i uploaded more pictures. please look.
Looks like it is basically hooked up correctly. I see a green wire possibly for an aftermarket tach? What does that wire go to? If it is not a tach that could very well be your problem. If it is for an electric choke, then that is the problem, it is connected in the wrong place. Remove that wire from the coil negative and see what you get.
IF that doesn’t fix it…
It also looks like you have an Ignitor 1. If you leave the ignition switch in the run position for an extended period, without the engine running, it will burn up the internal switch.
Try this:
Disconnect the Ignitor wire from the negative terminal on the coil.
Pull back the insulator from the cap end of a spark plug wire and plug it into the top of the coil. Be sure it is making a good electrical connection in the top of the coil. Stick a good spark plug in the other end. Ground the threaded part of the plug to the block.
Attach a jumper wire to the negative post on the coil. Turn the key to the run position. Touch the other end of the jumper wire BRIEFLY to the block. You should see a single spark at the plug, ever time you touch the jumper wire to the block.
If this works you have proved out the coil and all wiring up to the coil. If the air gap between the Ignitor and the magnet ring is correct, it sounds like a bad Ignitor. Note: the top of the magnet ring must be even with the top of the ignitor.
So yes the green wire is the am tach in the car.
I will attempt what you said.
Is it anything behind the dash?
i replaced the ignition switch.
The car was running no problem about a month ago.
So doesn’t the ignitor positive and negative wires need to be hooked up to the coil terminals?
Why is mine installed like the pictures with the positive merging with the key wire into the resistor?
The power for the Ignitor needs to be 12 volts. The ballast resistor reduces the voltage to the coil so power at the coil is going to be about 6 volts. It looks like the Ignitor wire was spliced into the wire feeding the ballast resistor, The quality of all the wiring is questionable so it might be worth giving that a look and seeing if you can clean things up.
Should the igniter red wire be hooked up to the coil direct or should I let it go through the resistor ?
The Ignitor red wire needs to be hooked up to 12 volts. The only wire with 12 volts is the wire from the key switch that goes to the ballast resistor. The 12 volts going to the Ignitor are only used to operate the ignitor. The Ignitor is really just and electrically operated switch.
The way your ignition works is like this: The Ignitor, just like a set of points, switches the ground side of the coil between ground, and open. Inside the coil there are actually two coils, one with a lot of turns is called the secondary, the other with far fewer coils is called the primary.
When the primary coil is grounded, (points are closed, Ignitor internal switch is closed) a powerful magnetic field forms inside the coil.
When the points open, or the Ignitor switch opens, the two coils act like a transformer increasing the voltage dramatically. The only path to ground is through the spark plugs.
Voltage pressure is what it takes to get electricity to jump a gap and make a spark. The ballast resistor is there to LOWER the voltage the points have to switch, so it is less likely that a spark will form. The condensor or capacitor that you find with a set of points is there to assist in preventing the spar across a set of partially opened points. A spark is very hot, as in as hot as the surface of the sun. So sparks can really burn up a set of points pretty fast.
The Ignitor is a solid state switch, basically a type of transistor designed to either be open or closed. When it is closed there is almost no resistance in the switch so there is also no heat. When it is open the resistance is infinite, so no current is flowing and therefore no heat. The problem is if it is partially open / closed. In that condition, there is a ton of heat and it starts to burn up internally. The power supply to the Ignitor is important, because the speed at which it can switch on and off is a function of voltage. It switches much slower at 6 volts (if at all) than it does with 12 volts.
Internally, in the Ignitor, there is a coil. The ring that goes over the distributor shaft has small but powerful magnets inside. When the magnet sweeps past the coil it induces a very small amount of current through the coil. That current is then amplified and used to drive the solid state switch.
So should I replace my igniter?