# Ford 3400 Electrical problems



## Tom_Carr (Dec 24, 2012)

My Ford 3400 started running rough and eventually quit. No spark. I replaced the distributor cap and rotor,but still no spark. Are there any other electrical components other than coil, pulg & coil wires, distributor cap, rotor, points and condenser I should be lookig at?

Any advice would be great-

Tom


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## sixbales (May 18, 2011)

Are your points in reasonably good shape, and gapped at .025" ?? 

The ignition switch can often be the culprit. To check for a defective ignition switch (or possibly a burned out resistance wire), temporarily run a "hot wire" direct from the battery hot terminal to the coil connection where the ignition switch connects. This wire bypasses the ignition switch and resistance wire. Crank the engine and see if you have spark. Don't leave this wire on for a prolonged period, because you can burn the points. But you can safely crank and start the engine and run it for a short period without concern.

If you get spark by hot wiring, check for a circuit between the ignition switch and coil with an ohmmeter (multimeter). The resistance wire will not read zero ohms, it will provide some some low-level ohms (~ 3 ohms) reading.

If that doesn't work, check the points to ground with an ohmmeter to see if they are making & breaking the circuit as you crank the engine. You may have a short to ground, or maybe a shorted capacitor. Or you may not be making a circuit to ground through the points (dirty connection). 

Hope this makes sense to you. Please feel free to ask any questions. We'll get it started.


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## Tom_Carr (Dec 24, 2012)

*#400 Electrical Problens*

Six Bales;

Thanks for the technical advice. Checked everything you suggested and all was ok. Interestingly the problem was original plug wires. After replacing the points condenser and checking your advice (Points Were fried like I've never seen), my brother and I started it up in the barn and the #3 cylinder plug wire at the distributor cap was arcing to the clip that holds the the d cap on. When we started it with all the new stuff on it ran great, then started to act up which was when we noticed the arcing. I replaced the plug wires (Full set) and everything is working great. It must have been the insulator around the wire at the cap that had lost its protective quality after 40 years. Not a bad life-

Thanks again.

Tom


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