ZC-Cruiser

I have installed an Alloy head six into the Fairlane - all went well except that whe I went to fire it up - NO SPARK.

It has what I believe to be an XE Distributor - two wires to the Dizzy - one from the coil and one from the ignition switch.

So far I have done this:
- checked for volts going to the coil/dizzy - 12 volts and about 9 volts when cranking.

- used a lead from the negative side of the coil to short to earth and release to simulate points opening, small spark only

- substituted a new coil - reasonable spark with the flying lead as above but no spark when cranking

- measured across the two leads going into the coil with an ohmmeter - 11 ohms

- tried a different coil lead - same results

- checked that the dizzy is rotating

So:
- is the coil in this system a special one?
- is there any way to test the dizzy is working properly

Am I missing something here?
The engine was running when it came out of the last car to be replaced with a V8 so it should just work.

I have changed the timing chain, but even if I got that wrong, I should still get spark, even if the engine won't run

__________________
"It's good to honk in a Henry"
FTW Racing - Fabricated To Win

1970 ZC Fairlane - Pictures HERE
1971 XY Falcon Ute - Pictures HERE

glossy 302

I presume your talking about an electronic dissy. If so,make sure you are not using a standard voltage coil. Just by what you have explained it sounds like you are using a standard coil which will give you a weak spark.You need to use a high voltage coil suitable for ford electronic ignition.Hopefully it is as simple as that to fix.Let us know how you get along.

ZC-Cruiser

I think the weak spark when testing was mostly due to the dodgy way I was making and breaking the circuit.

So, after switching the electronic module for another one and doing all the testing I could think of, we decided that the module must be faulty.

Took both modules to a module shop were the guy tested them with a cool little gadget - one faulty, one good.

Went home, installed the good one - same result - no spark.

Looked in my XF manual to see what the procedure is for changing the Reluctor and Stator and found that XF also had the same dizzy (I was told it was from an XE and so assumed that the XF manual would not cover it)

While examining the wiring schematic and reading the test procedures, I realised that the power wire and the coil wire were reversed on the module.
Switched the wires over, put all the coil wires back together and hey presto - we have ignition.

Now, I didn't even think that the wires could be wrong because I had been told that the engine was running as it was when removed from the car.

I guess that the moral is that sometimes looking at the manual before all else fails is a good thing...

__________________
"It's good to honk in a Henry"
FTW Racing - Fabricated To Win

1970 ZC Fairlane - Pictures HERE
1971 XY Falcon Ute - Pictures HERE