Expert: Brad Sears - 9/25/2011

Question
My Willys was parked for two years but it has a new generator, voltage regulator, battery, plugs and wires, condenser, rotor, coil. The motor cranks but won't fire.  Started it yesterday 3-4 times each running for a few minutes then it would die.  Then for no apparent reason, it would no longer start at all.  It has fuel but no spark.  Correct gap on contact point and spark plugs.  Good voltage reading on negative side of coil.  Weak reading on stationary side of point contact, with points closed.  It has a 134ci 4 cylinder.  What else could be wrong?

Answer
It sounds like there may be a problem with the ignition points. Now a quick test of the points is easy with a voltmeter. With the key on and the points closed, there should be battery voltage at the ignition switch side of the coil. The side of the coil that is connected to the distributor should see 0 volts. If there is voltage at the distributor side of the coil there is resistance at the points. However you said that there was a small amount of voltage at the stationary side of the points. This makes me believe that there could be a problem with the ground pig tail wire that connects the breaker plate with the distributor body. Also make sure that there is a good ground between the distributor body and the engine block.I think that you found the problem with the weak reading on the stationary side of the points.