I caught my distributor on fire

[lew_sa]

While driving around town over the 4th of July, my '65 Dormobile died at a stop light. A few minutes of troubleshooting pointed to having no spark so I swapped my Pertronix out for the points, but still no spark. I pride myself on being prepared for most field repairs, but I couldn't get the truck running and ended up being towed home. After a month of sitting in the garage, I finally had a chance to look into the problem.

So, the Pertronix is definitely dead (I'll spare you the details of the diagnosis). With the points installed, I get no spark from the coil wire to the engine block when I turn the engine over. I pulled the cap of to make sure the points are closing properly. When I pulled the cap, the points were open. Using the hand crank, I turned the engine over. When the points closed, the spring that holds the points closed began to glow bright orange. All the plastic parts & wires attached to the points melted and then caught fire before I had a chance to turn off the ignition.

I've traced all the wires in the ignition circuit & everything checks out with the green bible. I have my original coil & a new coil. With the ignition leads attached I measure 12V between positive & negative of the coil & measure 3.5Ohms between positive & negative with no wires attached. I plan to order two new sets of points tomorrow, but I'm still stumped at this point. Does anyone have any thoughts? Thanks.

R/,
Lew

[SafeAirOne]

I got rid of the coil, distributor and spark plugs in my rover years ago, so I'm working with a very fuzzy, faint recollection. My initial thought is that there is commonly an insulator that goes between...I can't remember what, exactly...I'm sure someone on the list will know. Anyhow, It sounds as if you have a short within the distributor. Are you certain you put all the bits of the old points back and in the right place/order?

I think that, providing the new point set comes with decent instructions, your problem will be solved with the new points.

BTW, why did your electronic ignition fry in the first place?

[lew_sa]

I'm not sue why the points fried. I took a short overnight trip in the rover and while I was at a stop light on my way home, the engine died. I haven't been able to get a spark since.

Attached are the burnt remains of the distributor internals. Did I manage to make a simple process like installing the points a difficult one & install them incorrectly

R/,
Lew

[SafeAirOne]

Attached are the burnt remains of the distributor internals. Did I manage to make a simple process like installing the points a difficult one & install them incorrectly

Is there usually a sleeve that slips over the spring to prevent shorting on the other bits? I am certain that my old truck (non-rover) had one to prevent shorting.

[thixon]

Is there usually a sleeve that slips over the spring to prevent shorting on the other bits? I am certain that my old truck (non-rover) had one to prevent shorting.

Yes, there is an insulator but I can't see his photo well enough to tell if it was installed. The symptoms sound like a short to me.

[jp-]

Yep, you shorted it out. There needs to be a top and bottom non conducting spacer and an inner round non conducting spacer.

You should get everything you need if you buy a new set of points. Maybe you got a set that was missing one of these parts?

I went with a completely new electronic distributor so that I didn't have to mess with the points ever again. There is a thread on them, just search for electronic distributor.

[lew_sa]

I ordered new points, condenser, rotor & cap. I replaced my tired 25D with a new 45d this past winter and installed a Pertronix before trying the points that came with it. I don't know whether the distributor was missing some bits or if I lost some. Anyways, my Pertronix died & left me stranded. I bought it from Retro Rockets & they are honoring the 30 month warranty.

R/,
Lew