Congratulations if you havea spare distributor with newpoints, condenser, rotor andcap all ready to install! Ifyou followed the advice inPart One, you might havebeen able to buy it for fiftybucks, which may nowsave you a hundred-dollartowing bill and/or a longlonely night stranded on theroadside, plus many wastedhours trying to locatea replacement in someunfamiliar town, or waitingfor a buddy to send or bringyou one.continued from page 36Always turn off the ignition switch after performing a test andgetting ready for the next. Leaving the switch on when the engineisn’t running can burn the ignition points and/or damage the coil.If a loose coil wire or bad coil ground wasn’t your problem,break out your test leads... the ones I suggested you make, aboutsix feet long with alligator clips at each end. For pre M-series vehicles,clip one end of a lead to the coil’s primary input terminal,which comes from the ignition switch—NOT to the other smallterminal that connects to the distributor or you could damage thecoil and/or condenser—and turn the ignition switch on.Lightly brush the free end of the test lead across a knownground. If it sparks, this means you’re getting primary powerto the coil from the ignition switch and that part of the systemshould be okay. Alternatively, if you have a probe tester, clip itswire to the coil’s input terminal and touch the probe to a knownground to see if it lights up.On M-series vehicles, you will have to unscrew the primarywire from the distributor to perform this test, clamping the testlead or inserting the probe into the little female connector withinthe primary wire’s terminal. Make sure you have a good connection.Then, with the ignition switch on, try to spark the other endof the lead, or connect the tester’s wire to a known ground to seeif it lights.If you don’t get a spark, or your tester doesn’t light (be sure totest your tester occasionally), it means that there isn’t power comingfrom the ignition switch, which may indicate a bad switchor loose connections as discussed, in Part One. A simple way toconfirm this on pre M-series systems, is to connect your test leadto a known power source, such as the battery, and touch the otherend of the lead to the coil’s primary input terminal. It’s normal toget a small spark here if you do this.Now, with the lead connected between the battery and thecoil, try to start the engine. If it starts, then you likely have problemswith the ignition switch, its connections, or other wiringbehind the dashboard; but at least you can get your vehicle offthe highway and to a better place to work. You might even driveit to the nearest town hot-wired like this, but if you do, rememberthat there’s a problem in your wiring somewhere and be alert forsparks, smoke, or the smell of fried wires. And of course youwon’t forget to disconnect your hot-wire once you’ve gottenwhere you want to go.On the other hand, if you are getting power to the coil fromthe ignition switch, then here’s where we have to separate theWWII-style system from the M-series systems. We’ll start thethe WWII types.GOING DEEPERTurn the ignition switch off. Make sure the distributor is securelymounted to the engine and hasn’t come loose and slippedtiming. Then remove the distributor cap. Examine both the capand the rotor to make sure their contacts and terminals aren’tburned, broken, or eroded away. If so, replace them with yourspares and that may get you going.If the cap and rotor look okay, check to be sure the distributor’sdrive shaft, drive key, or coupling pin isn’t broken or sheared.Try to turn the rotor by hand...don’t use excessive force or youmight break the rotor. If you can turn the rotor more than about ahalf an inch in either direction (or all the way around) then checkto make sure its drive tang isn’t broken where it fits into a notchon the top of the distributor shaft. If the tang is broken, makesure the distributor cap fits properly on the distributor body andthe mounting clamps hold it securely in place. A loose cap will40 www.militaryvehiclesmagazine.com
Military Vehicles Magazine June 2013 41
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