Was running good, touched the points, dead as a doornail

[Z-Luke]

I had the car running pretty good. With the distributor advanced all the way and snugged down properly, the car finally didn't have any stumble at low rpms.

After some thinking, I decided to take the bolt out of the dizzy and see if more advance would make it run even better; it did. Advancing past the maximum the plate would allow with the bolt in it made the engine run smoother and idle higher. I advanced it to the point where it vacuum would peak, then backed off. It ran great this way.

I then figured that maybe my dizzy need all this advance because the points were too close (last measured at .3mm and even that was rubbing the gauge). So I loosed up the points and move them just enough to allow my .4mm to fit at maximum openage.

I drove the car after this and it drove awful. Got maybe around one corner before it was surging, stumbling, going vrr---vrrr---vrr---vrr, sounded bad. Like it was just cutting out. No matter what I did with the dizzy from this point on it just ran worse and worse to the point where it would die at idle. I tried cleaning the points. Now it won't start at all, completely dead.

I should have NEVER touched those points. It was running SO GOOD before I did anything.

[Arne]

Check the insulation on the wire that runs from the points to the terminal in the side of the dizzy. Make certain that it isn't shorting out there.

[Z-Luke]

the insulation appears good. The points spark when I pry them apart with the ignition on. The coil gets warm with the ignition on. How do I test spark from there?

I tried shorting the coil to ground (top of the coil that goes to the distributor cap) with a piece of wire, but there was no spark. I tried shorting from the rotor to ground with the points closed, again no spark, but I have no idea if I'm doing it right.

This frustration level! It was just running fine! Wont even cough when cranking over now. I'm certain I have no fuel delivery problems.

EDIT: SOLVED

Man these things are sensitive. Let this be a lesson to everyone. Points are not to be mucked with. You can't just fix worn points by moving them apart.

I took the distributor out and had a close look at it on my workbench. I took the points out, reinstalled them, and noticed that there was basically only one position in which the points would close and open consistently because the rubbing block is so worn. There is nothing to play with there. I installed the points in the only position where I could turn the rotor shaft and get a nice tick-a-tick-a-tick-a-tick-a from contact.

This difference in thousandths (and I mean invisible amounts) of a inch was the difference between the car running fine to not at all, with all kinds of poorly inbetween.

Edited April 22, 2010 by Z-Luke

[zKars]

And this is why so many of us have abandoned points and gone electronic. There are several options open to you. Do a little searching hear for E12-80, GM HEI, Pertronix and MSD and you'll have lots of information to mull over in deciding which way is right for you. Post your observations and questions here and we'll help you decide and source the parts you'll need.

Oh, and "GO RIDERS!" Yes, I bleed green too.

Jim

[Z-Luke]

Yeah, I've been looking at ignition upgrades for a while. I think Pertronix seems the simplest, but I'm worried about 3 things that I've found while searching this forum. These may be isolated incidents and thats why they are on the help forum, but here they are:

1) People reporting RPM/revving problems when pertronix is installed, which doesn't happen when they put their points back in.

2) Pertronix ignition module burning up if the ignition is left in the on position by accident for too long, causing a failure or breakdown.

3) Tachometer problems

The GM HEI module upgrade I'd rather not get into, and the E12-80 upgrade requires wire hacking that I should probably avoid at my skill level. My distributor seems solid.

Right now my car won't rev past 5000 rpm anyway which I would attribute directly to ignition problems. I'll continue to search and weigh my options.

[oldhemi]

Zluke, you can add cost and availablity of GOOD E12-80 modules to your list of concerns.

I have done the same searches and have the same concerns as you do. However, my points dizzy in my 260Z has maybe 30,000 miles on it and was in good shape. Yeah, I converted to points way back after suffering problems with the Z's 1st "transistor" ignition system.

[Z-Luke]

The only thing I know for sure is that my ignition could sure use the extra voltage. Need some 12V points