So my car has been sitting for about 8 years, with the regular startup and drive around for a bit to keep it all good. I went to start it up about 3 days ago, and it wasnt getting a spark from the coil. I thought easy fix, new coil! Wrong. checked all wires, they were fine fuses and fuse box is fine, solenoid is fine.. so what the HELL is the problem?

Again, Coil is NOT sparking, NOTHING has changed in years.. im stumped.

Edit: its a 1967 pontiac firebird, inline six OHC engine. Came with the quadrajet.

Are you getting good 12 volts to the coil? Have you tried replacing the condenser? You could disconnect the condenser to see if it's shorted. What about the gap? You won't get spark until the points open. Closed points charges up the magentic core with energy and when the points open, that lets the field collapse and cause a spark across the plug. If the points don't open circuit (for instance shorted condenser or lost gap) the field can't collapse and there won't be a spark. Check the points for corrosion too. The points need to close to charge the coil's core and then open for the energy to discharge into the plug. You are so close to running, since you know there's no spark. This is an easy problem to fix.

My guess is you need a new points and condenser
But it could easily be fuel related too, is there gas on the carb?

@ 68bigbird, not sure about the volts to the coil, condensor is new, and got new points, gapped at 19 umm

@ bastereo, just had my carb rebuilt, to my knowledge it shouldnt matter if the carb was working or not, i should get a spark, correct?

Also, i just realized i MAY be gapping my points wrong, if they are touching, shouldnt it still spark?

But, i tested for a spark straight from the coil.. so it shouldnt matter about my points at all? or am i wrong?

Explain to me, if you could, how to gap points correctly.


Just so you know, my contact points are touching, and i gapped it by the rubbing block, on a flat side of a cam. Would this make the COIL not spark? let me know, thanks.

The rubbing block need to be at one of the peaks of the cam so you can measure the the gap between the point contacts.

Like Tom^ said. Gap it just like in your picture. The points are supposed to be closed on the flat. It would be better to check for spark at the spark plug boot. Stick a screwdriver in the boot and near a solid ground source. Did you change these points before of after you started having problems?

The opening and closing of the points is what allows the coil to generate the spark. The points must be gapped while at the high point. If you gap them on the flat, they will never close and the coil will never release a charge.

With the rubbing block on a high point, set the gap so that a .019" feeler gauge barely slides in. When you crank the engine so that the rubbing block is on the flat, the points should be closed.

Been 20 yrs, but shouldnt the dwell be 28-32?
I used a meter cause the blocks were aways worn.

You and I have been down this road before...

Yes, rough in the setting with point gap, and adjust for specified dwell. Specified dwell for this engine is 33 degrees. (6 cylinder, two less lobes)

Missed the 6 cyl part.
Never mind.

i gapped it at the rubbing block, not at the points.. was dumb of me. rubbing block snapped a little bit so i will have to go get a new one. it should still be coming apart though? even if it ran like complete [censored].. should spark?

My points were touching, just like it came in the box, and i left it like that, put the .019 gap at the rubbing block on the flatside of cam. Shouldnt it still be sparking even if badly?

@ fbody, i newly rebuilt my carb. and i had noticed somebody took off distributer cap and points were loose. So i bought new points and didnt know how to gap them, i just hope this is the cause of my problem.

If the contacts don't open and close or you don't have a complete circuit when the points are closed or the points are grounded to that they never cause an open circuit, you'll have no spark. Hard to say whether the points will actually open the way you have them set up, I've never tried that.

When the points are closed, the coil is charged up with 12 volts. When the points open, the circuit is also opened and the electrical field inside the coil collapses, causing a transference of the electrical energy to the secondary side of the coil and generating a high voltage surge that is distributed to the appropriate spark plug.

The coil does two interesting things when the field inside it collapses. First, the collapse of the field causes a voltage spike that is about ten times higher than the voltage that was charging the coil. Second, that voltage spike is jumped up farther by the difference in the number of turns of wire on the primary side and the secondary side inside the coil. This is usually about 200:1.

That's how 12 volts gets to be a 25,000 volt spark, by jumping to about 120 volts with the initial voltage spike, then essentially running through a transformer (primary and secondary windings) that takes it the rest of the way.

The rubbing block is normally in constant contact with the points cam, so if there is a gap on the flats it's not going to end up right.

Let us know what happens when you put another new set of points in, or the old ones back in (gap the old ones at .016" for starters). Be sure the new points look just like the old ones. And if you were cranking the engine with the cap loose, check for rotor and cap terminal damage, and be sure the rotor is installed.

The point set I got for my cammer doesn't have a dwell screw. And the distributor cap doesn't have a window. So setting the points has to be done with a feeler gauge.

just wanted to tell everybody, my points were the problem, the way i had it gapped was causing it not to spark. Thanks for all your help.