1961 Buick Electra 225 Coil stays open

Asked by 61Electra Mar 13, 2011 at 10:42 AM about the 1961 Buick Electra

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I am restoring a 1961 Buick Electra 225 with an original 401 6.6L 445 Wildcat. The car was sitting in a barn for 20 years and had some water damage. I cant get a spark from my contact points. I replaced the coil, coil condensor, rotor, and points as well as points condensor. Both sides of the coil stay open, or hot, when points are open and closed, and dont produce a spark. Anyone have any suggestions or more experiance with this than me? Any suggestions would be helpful, Thanks!

Ron answered 13 years ago

Check to see if the points are shorting out inside the distributor, maybe due to the wires, connector or possibly the wrong point set was installed.

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brian56mc answered 13 years ago

You have an ignition side to the coil; (wire runs to the ignition switch), the other side of the coil should be a ground. You need a repair manual and should check it out, as you may have more problems than you are expecting. Just because your coil may not be wire right does not mean your coil is bad. You have a open circuit, and its needs a ground to the engine, On the other side of the coil. I hope this helps you as need to talk to a person who has experience with auto repair

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