O.k. I headed out to see if I could awaken the mighty 283 from it's 20 year slumber. after new plugs, oil, filter, air breather, belts, battery, and rolling it over to make sure it wasn't siezed; I discovered I had no spark.
I checked my coil resistance and from + to - I have 6 Ohms and from + to output I have 16K Ohm I also checked my voltage @ the + side of the coil and found it's @ 6V, is that normal or should it be @ the full battery voltage?
As simple as these old ignition systems are supposed to be I have no experience with them and no shop manual.
could someone please help point me in the right direction?
again not familiar with this system and no book, so you'll have to assume I know nothing. where can I find the breaker points? are you talking about the actual points in the distributor? because if so I don't even have any juice comming out of the coil from what I can tell.
yes, the breaker points are the points within the distributor. You must make sure they are in good working order, with the gap set at appx .020". They are an integral part of the ignition system, and without them in good working order you WILL NOT get any spark. I'm not sure what the +6V reading at the + side of coil is telling you, but I suspect that may be ok as there is a ballast resistor ahead of it, which drops the voltage from +12V.
While you're at it, change the points & condensor (modern sets are a combination of points and condensor), rotor and distributor cap. New wires would also be a step in the right direction.
O.K. I snaped a few pics, I'm assuming I have 2 condensors in this setup, would this be a problem? also does anyone have the resistance specs for testing one of these coils?
the breaker points you have are one of the combination points & condensor in one. That's ok, but have you checked to ensure the points are good or not? They MUST be able to open and close for the coil to produce spark. (when the points are closed, the coil is grounded and will not spark. When the points open, it removes the ground and allows the coil to spark. If they're stuck open - which is often the case, the coil won't spark either).
The other capacitor on the + side of the coil is normal. It's not the condensor we're talking about, I believe it's part of the system to reduce ignition noise in the radio.
condensors have a very short life, 6 years at most. back in the day, an annual tune up included changing plugs, points and condensors every year and coil about every five years to maintain peek performance. Now that we only drive our classic pontiacs a few thousand miles each year.(if were lucky) we forget some components die with age,not mileage.
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pontiax- (canadian pontiac X frame)1964 Parisienne 2dr. Hardtop ,lagoon aqua metallic (Q) ,421 cid Dart Industries block and heads. 550 hp. 575 ft lb of torque.
Well everyone I would like to thank you for all the good advice, once I setup the points and cleaned all the contacts etc. the car fired right up and idles like a champ.
Took it out for a little tour around town, needs a little work but it moves under it's own power.