The Ford Barn

Brian Philpott · 07-24-2010, 12:23 PM

I fitted a modern points/condenser plate on my car a few years back. In the last year I've had the classic symptoms of condenser failure on three occasions- misfire/backfire and loss of sparks. In each case I found burnt points and a blown main fuse. All the failures occurred within a half mile of start up. A roadside change of the points and condenser fixed the problems. I thought condenser failure as the cause! It seems I was wrong! As a precaution I had fitted a replacement 6v coil before today's failure.
After the latest breakdown I put a "failed" condenser back on the car today and it ran perfectly. Examination of the points shows not just burning but massive overheating. The moving contact is discoloured for .25 inch back from the tip with a straw to blue band indicating that it has probably been RED hot. The plastic part that forms the cam follower had started to melt where it contacts the moving contact arm.
It appears that I've been getting the full 6 volts in a dead short across the points which was in effect bypassing the primary winding of the coil.
Is there any way the red line from the CB/popout side of the coil can pick up 6volts? Has anyone had experience of intermittent shorting of this wire or a similar overheating of points?
Thanks for staying with this long tale!
Brian Philpott Camberley UK

07-24-2010, 12:23 PM	#1
Brian Philpott Junior Member Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 8	Repetitive Points Burn out I fitted a modern points/condenser plate on my car a few years back. In the last year I've had the classic symptoms of condenser failure on three occasions- misfire/backfire and loss of sparks. In each case I found burnt points and a blown main fuse. All the failures occurred within a half mile of start up. A roadside change of the points and condenser fixed the problems. I thought condenser failure as the cause! It seems I was wrong! As a precaution I had fitted a replacement 6v coil before today's failure. After the latest breakdown I put a "failed" condenser back on the car today and it ran perfectly. Examination of the points shows not just burning but massive overheating. The moving contact is discoloured for .25 inch back from the tip with a straw to blue band indicating that it has probably been RED hot. The plastic part that forms the cam follower had started to melt where it contacts the moving contact arm. It appears that I've been getting the full 6 volts in a dead short across the points which was in effect bypassing the primary winding of the coil. Is there any way the red line from the CB/popout side of the coil can pick up 6volts? Has anyone had experience of intermittent shorting of this wire or a similar overheating of points? Thanks for staying with this long tale! Brian Philpott Camberley UK