I have a 67 Olds engine in a 53 Merc. It won't start! It used to run, but would burn up the points. I replaced the points with a Crane electronic conversion, new Accel coil and plug wires.  Also a rebuilt 1850 carb was added. Now just a pop or two. It is getting new gas, the timing light shows 4 BTDC and I tried starter spray.  Still nothing.

Suggestions?    

So it's getting fuel, and begins to start, then it dies. Or is it not getting fuel at all?  

It is getting fuel and the timing light flashes at 4 BTDC.  It only pops, either through the exhaust or the carb. It doesn't try to start or run at all.
 

when points repetedly burn out... they may be getting too much running voltage...

gm cars with factory points use a bypass circut on the starter solenoid to power the points with full battery power only when the starter is engauged.. the gm ignition switch breaks the electrical contact to the coil positive when the key is in the crank position... gms use a resistance wire in the engine compartment between the bulkhead connector and the positive side of the coil... the other wire goes to the starter... 9.6 to 11 volts when the engine is running is the normal voltage..

i don't know what the old ford used in the ignition switch...


you need to use a test light on  the coil positive wire  to watch the voltage during rotation of the key to differnt positions... and during cranking...

this verifys the power is getting to the coil and is not shorted out down by the starter... or behind the motor where it is not visable...


also..is the engine and body properly grounded?????

pop out a plug... any easy to reach plug... use a remote starter switch to bump the engine over with your finger in the plug hole... when compression comes out using tiny bumps on the starter pull the cap and see if the rotor is pointing at that plug wire in the cap... this verifys that the dist is in the correct way.. not half a turn out.. that happens.. a lot... as the crank turns 2 times to one of the dist.....  

Hmmmm Waynep712, i'm starting to get the feeling you know what your'e talking about....    

Thank you Wayne,
It is getting spark.  The Crane conversion requires 12 volts.  A meter indicates it is getting all 12. The distributor wasn't removed or disturbed when the conversion was added.  The timing is at 4 BTDC with the vacuum disconected and plugged at both ends.  All 8 plugs flash the timing light.  The fuel level is at the bottom of the sight hole, both bowls. I am running the gas line from a 2 gal can of new gas, not the tank. Loosen the fuel line, crank the engine, and gas flows out. Usually starter spray will run an engine for a few seconds even with no gas.  Starter spray makes no difference.
It used to run, it was hard to start, but it ran well.  

well..was probable stock 6 volt..wiring can handle the 12 no problem..points..too much juice without a resitor kills them..points wont handle more than 20thousand volts  new electronics are 50 to 80 thousand i swithed a 69 chevelle to hei..was out a few teeth on distributor and had same problem..timing is big factor..cam is brains of the engine..fuel and spark..bingo bango.. put it to tdc #1  and check dist..  

Have you replaced the condensor with the points? What do you have the points set at? They should be set at .019". If you do not have a feeler guage, use a pack of paper matches. Flip open the lid and use the lid for a measurement. It is .019". This should give you 29 degrees of dwell, which is where a GM point ignition runs best at. Check your cap and rotor as well. Turn the cap over and check inside to make sure there is no arcing going on inside the cap. If cap, rotor, plugs, and wires are good, check your fuel system. You may have a fuel tank that has taken on water, a fuel filter that is partially plugged, a needle and seat in the carburetor that has dirt in it, or a float that may have cracked and has sunk due to being full of fuel. You may also have a vacuum leak around the intake, base of carb, or elsewhere in the vacuum system.  

i had a tech ask me to come over and try to get this sbc started... two of them had been working on it for an hour.. the new spark plug wires were installed counting the wrong way.... sbcs are clockwise...

and i have not installed the crane kit my self.... any possibility that the rotor was intalled backwards...  it has been done before on many chevys... jamming a square peg in a round hole....... there are little square and round pegs under the rotor to align it on the top of the dist shaft...
compair the bottom of the rotors if you can get it off easily... better  try below...

pull the number one plug.    (drivers side front)..   bump the motor over till you get compression ... bring the timing mark up to 4 btdc... see which way the rotor points....  follow the wire from the number one plug back... to verify it... then follow the wires around  clockwise....18436572....  

It is an Olds engine. The plug wires were replaced one at a time. The Crane conversion replaces the points and doesn't require removing the distributor, that is why I used it. I replaced the coil with a resistor Accel unit and used resistor wires as the directions called for.  I checked the voltage at the distributor for 12 volts in.  The fuel is coming from a can and not the tank to avoid any rust or water in the tank. I even tried putting the quadrajet back on it. No better results. I assume the reason the original points kept burning out was 12 volts in all the time and the old coil was NOT a resistor unit. The quadrajet had no choke hook up.  The Holly does and I close the choke when trying to start it. I have also tried with the choke open.  No difference.  

Starter relay? Ignition Switch? Bad wiring?  

12 volts to the distributor. Spark from the coil. All 8 wires light the timing light.  New gas to the carb. Fuel level checks out.  ??????  

see if the spark plugs are fouled out....

does the crane kit use a factory rotor????  any chance the square peg got in the round hole....the rotor on backwards from the orignal position...

pull the number 1 plug.. see where the compression comes up... see if the rotor is pointing at that wire...  takes 2 minutes... too many times this has been a fault...


all 8 wires light the timing light....hmm... but... how much spark is it putting out... will it throw a spark an inch?????  a bright spark 1/2 inch...

what about a ground wire to the breaker plate..?????? how it the crane plate grounded to the dist housing...   the points had a ground wire to the breaker plate... any chance that is broken.....  there might be enough to make a spark but not enough to fire a spark plug with compression in the cylinder...

it takes a lot of power to light the mixture...   i fix cars all the time that wont run do to coil failures that will light the timing light and the spark tester and fail the spark output test... autozone has hanging on the tool rack a spark output voltage tester... you plug the coil or spark plug wire to one end... ground the other end..  there is an ajustable screw to change the spark gap and a scale behind that to see how much voltage it should take to junp that gap...  it it wont jump 35kv... the coil or wiring is bad... not emough power to saturate the coil primary winding...


theory...

when the points close... the circut through the primary side of the coil is completed...  this allows the primary winding to saturate with electrons and builds a magentic field., when the points open the magnetic  field collapses through the secondary windings... since there are many more secondary windings than primary.. the voltage out of the secondary rises and looks for a ground .. the closest ground is usually... hopefully through the sparkplug...
do to resistance wires , resistance in the spark plug and the 2 gaps it has to jump the voltage has to be quite high to jump the gaps... the voltage peak then drops to a lower level while the secondary winding are  discharged...
the points then close and recharge the primary again...


there is a terrific inrush of current when the ignition coil charges as the points close...

electrons flow from - to + .....

the inrush flows from the engine block, through the dist housing.. (usually though the hold down clamp) through the lower breaker plate the ground lead to the upper movable breaker plate  to await the points to close...

if any of these ground side connections is weak or frayed there wont be enough current to charge the coil .......

for electronic ignition... there is a power transister that replaces the points... it still requires the hard ground to complete the circut...

i hope this helps.. and i wrote it for all the readers... not just you...  

if you didn't change the plugs,maybe the points fried them and they won't fire right