# No spark on 8n front distributor



## Steve Stiefel

I haveh anc 8n Ford with a front distributor with no spark. Gentleman had it switched to 12v and has been using it, he would start every couple of weeks in the winter and the last time he tried it, it wouldn't start and had no spark. So I pulled the distributor out of it and took it apart and I noticed the spring on the bottom of the coil was burnt in two so I figured that was my problem. He had another coil that he brought me and while I was putting it together I noticed then that the points were burnt and it had burned a hole thru them. So I put new set of points in, gapped at .015, put the coil on and hooked a battery to it and spun it while it was in the vise and still no spark. When I hook up the 12v to it, if the points are closed I get a little spark when I hook up the jumper wire to the hot terminal on the coil and the coil will get warm fairly quick. If the points are open there is no spark when I hook the jumper wire up. He claims it ran fine off straight 12volts but I'm kinda off at a loss. I'm thinking both coils are bad possibly. I manually open and close the points and I get nothing out of the coil. The one thing I noticed that someone has added is a small Cooper strap from the screw on the end of the points to the screw that the spring on the coil makes contact with. I tried with that out and still nothing and it doesn't matter then if the points are opened or closed when I hook up the jumper I get no spark. Any ideas by chance since you guys mess with this old tractors?


----------



## RufusMax

Sounds like a lot of things burnt! I had a no start somewhere in the distributor (front mount) and it was really puzzling until I looked at the breaker plate (where the points mount to) and found a rivet hole that was originally insulated had worn the insulation away. I rigged it to work temporarily and later bought a new breaker plate. 
Not sure what you mean by "both coils", mine has only one. Is this a stock 8N? A 12V coil can be had cheap enough from Amazon or Tractor Supply, but look for a way to test the coil first. An automotive electrical place may be able to do that for cheap. Good luck!


----------

