# 8N has spark but will not start



## hwkeye1911 (Jun 10, 2015)

Hi Everybody,

I have an 8n that has spark but will not start. It is a 6 volt system, side mount distributor with zenith carb. It has a new battery, plugs, wires, rotor, cap, points and gas. 


So I purchased a used 8n a few weeks ago, it was hard to start but ran just fine at first, I’m an ER nurse so I work nights and don’t see the light of day for a good stretch of days and left her parked in the driveway waiting until my next day off. Went to start her and she cranked slow as normal but would not start. I checked the battery and found it was dead (6 volt system) so replaced that and the solenoid but still a no-go. I have replaced the cap, rotor, points (gapped to 0.25), coil and wires due to the wire from the coil grounding out against the distributor; all parts came from Napa except for the wires, which came from TS. I have verified electricity to the plugs with a spark-plug light tester as well as the ¼” plug gap test (yellow/orange spark), but still it will not start. I’ve changed the plugs to autolight 487’s and even tried starter fluid with no luck. I have good gas flow to the carb and am assuming this is a fuel issue but the no start with starter fluid is what is confusing me. All cylinders will blow my finger off verifying some sort of compression, but as of now I am out of ideas. I will eventually swap her over to the 12 volt but that will be a while. I’m off for the next few days so I’m hoping to get her running with some help, thanks to everyone who looks and takes pity on me! Cheers.


----------



## Fredneck (May 25, 2012)

welcome to TF, hawkeye 

a yellow/orange spark is weak. a good spark should be blue-white. between that, and not firing with starting fluid, i'll guess fuel to the cylinders is not your problem.


----------



## BigT (Sep 15, 2014)

hwkeye1911,

I concur with Fredneck's comments. 

Try running a wire from battery hot terminal to the coil input terminal (called "hotwiring") to see if the spark improves. This isolates/eliminates the keyswitch and wiring to the coil as a problem.


----------



## billthekatt (Jul 2, 2015)

You can also go ahead and put in 12 volt battery just to get it started it will crank it over lot better. The short amount of time won't hurt the system. It will make you wanna throw that 6 volt in the garbage..


----------



## pogobill (Jan 31, 2012)

Make sure it has plenty of gas as well.


----------



## jhngardner367 (Apr 5, 2011)

When you replaced the coil, did you use one with an internal ballast resistor,by chance ? If so,it will cut the spark by 1/2 . Use an unballasted coil,unless you change to 12v system.
Also,check to see if the exhaust is plugged(mouse nest?),as this will prevent it from starting .
Make sure the clam holding the coil is bolted to a good ground area. Coils get their ground through the casing.
Check the wires from ignition switch to the coil,and from the coil to the points,to make sure they are on the correct terminals.
Have you changed the condenser,as well?


----------

