Expert: Kevin Pilotte - 11/15/2008

Question
I have a 1974 scout II with a inline Amc 258, I have 12 volt going to my coil and when I hook up the wire coming off the negative side going to the points in the distributor, the volts go down to 5 volts. When I remove the points from the distributor the volts go back to 12 volts. Is this normal. I am not getting any fire to my spark plugs, even after changing the coil, points, condensor, distributor cap and the rotor. I also replaced the wire that goes to the points from the coil and spark plug wires and coil wire. I hope you can help me out.

Answer
Touch a 12V test light to the negative side of the ignition coil while cranking the engine, it should flash. If it stays on solid, their is a short in the circuit or the ignition points are not adjusted properly.
Ignition points are hooked in series in the circuit. Power goes from the + side of the ignition coil, through the primary windings of the coil, through the ignition points to ground. The points are like an on and off switch to ground. .
Try replacing the condensor; make sure the dwell is properly adujusted, and make sure the wires at the ignition points are not grounding.