I just bought a 73 mav in great condition except wouldn't run. When I put gas in carb started right up and purred like a kitten until gas was gone, no fuel from pump and pretty sure tank and lines are plugged with crap from sitting. Now that I have it home and can work on it I was trying to run it by trickling gas in it to see if the fuel pump would pick up prime then the starter drive quit. Put a rebuilt on, started playing again with the fuel pump and now I lost ignition, put new points/condencer etc. Best I can get is an orange spark out top of coil. Points are NOT grounded out, have nice blue spark across points. Put new selinoid on as it feeds the coil and when I was testing there was only 3 volts on + side of coil , I have run a straight wire from battery to coil still no difference, changed coil that I'm pretty sure is good as it was new but old stock still only orange spark and hardly any spark coming out of spark plug wire even changed the coil wire with a new one, any suggestions? Is the original coil a 12v + or a 6v the replacement I'm using says its 6v but it would seem that 12v from the battery should give me a hot blue spark out the coil at least until the coil burns out from 2 much voltage. I plan on doing a distributor upgrade change later on my 250-6 but can't right now..........Hank
I think the coil is supposed to have 9 volts key on, 12 volts while cranking. If you only have 3 volts key on you are dropping volts in either ignition switch or resistor wire from ig switch to coil. ohm test from point ground in distributor to neg termial on battery. Should be less than 1 ohm. ohm wire on neg side of coil to points, again, less than 1 ohm. I don't remember how many ohms the resistor wire is supposed to have and I only have coil ohm test info on duraspark 2 coil.
The coil is a 12v coil. It sounds like a bad coil to me, or a bad distributer. Start with the coil. Either one is a cheap fix at the parts store. When you get it worked out, consider a Pertronix kit for the stock distributer. You will never have to worry about points again. Good luck!
I think I would go ahead and put the Pertronics or other type of points eliminator kit on there now. Not sure if it is the same as on the F100's but I think there are two small terms. on the starter solenoid. I have gotten those 2 wires mixed up and had similar problems. If the car has sat a long time I would replace the dist. cap as well as the plug wires. then get a schematic and trace out and check the ignition wiring. You will probably have to clean or and replace all of the fuel lines, tank and carb. to get it running right. Good luck and keep us posted. There are so many smart people on here that they will help you get it running in no time clint
reg ohms I have 4 ohms from point ground to bat neg and 11 ohms from point ground to - on coil so I assume that the distributor is bad
First - replace the points and condenser - set the points at .017" gap Next - static time the engine - bring #1 up to TDC, back it off about 30 degrees and bring it forward to 10 BTDC. with the coil lead disconnected from the coil- put a test light on it and connect the other end to the battery +. Turn the distributor counter-clockwise to get the light to come on, then turn it clockwise until it just goes off. Lock it down, your engine is timed. next - run a hose from a gas can (hung higher than the carb) to the carb fuel inlet. (make sure it has a siphon so the gas flows out of the can and down the hose) See if the engine will start and run. If it doesn't start and run - recheck that you were on #1 TDC on the compression stroke. If that is right then it is time to rebuild or replace the carb.
Resister wire Does anyone know if the resistor wire actually runs from the harness connector to the ignition switch in the steering column or is it from the harness connection to the engine compartment. I have a curved wiring connector with about 20 wires at the base of my column. I'm waiting for the 1973 manuals that I bought to get here but need to get this thing running ASAP
The resistor wire runs from the switch to the firewall connector I think. When I rewired my Mustang it was deleted so I could run the ignition of my choice without a resistor wire in the circuit.
I was hoping that when ford put the ignition in the column that they would out a straight wire to the harness connection and the resister wire wire from the connection to the engine compartment it would have been so much easier that way but I guess no such luck, I hate the thought of pulling the steering column apart as I have never done it before so I guess it's a toggle switch replacement to bypass the resistor wire for me
Wheelzzs, You don't have to pull the column apart. The switch is at the bottom of the column - just the key is in the column. The switch is held in place by two screws on the top part of the bottom of the column near the floor/firewall. Get the Chilton's manual, it will help.
THANK YOU Like I said earlier I've been away from cars for awhile and us old farts have to be retrained. I guess that I ASSUMED that all was in the column and never looked, All 15 of my chiltons are 1966 and earlier...LOL. I just bought 1973 ford manuals on Ebay but they have gotten here yet. The full 12v coil got here but I haven't had time to play with the low spark starting issue since it did.
I AM an old fart! One of the nice things about old farts is that the smell is gone...... With so many different kinds of cars - each with their own way of doing things - I just stick to the early Fords and train on the ones I have. You'll get so used to that Maverick / Comet that it'll be second nature before long. Then you start driving it and by the time you have to work on it again your memory will have to work overtime just to figure out what you need to do. I like my Maverick/Comet Chilton's manual.
I spent a lot of time w/these type of fords 1960-70 ford mustangs, falcons, fairlanes and comets with a few Tbirds thrown in. My oldest DAILY driver was a 1949 pickup w/the flathead v8. At this time I also have 2 ~ 1963 1/2 falcons, a ragtop and hardtop that I'm waiting to get into. I had a 63 1/2 Falcon sprint in the mid 60's that I just loved, and my Ex-Wife sold it on me while I was overseas. (notice I said EX...LOL) This Maverick is going to be a daily driver when its ready as I am so tired of all the computer/electronics with the new cars. I have an expedition to drive in the michigan winters and this will be our summer toy replacing a Thunderbird
Moved ground wire from points to condenser all is well again. Since getting it started again I changed the fuel pump and filter and added another between tank and pump for safety measure and purrs like a kitten
