Distributor problem

Unknown
Unknown
edited November -1 in HUDSON


Hi , I need some advice and I'm sure that there is someone out there who can supply it! I recentlly purchased a 1939 Hudson 112 in the UK which I owned about 25 years ago and I'm having a a proble with her at the moment. A while ago she started misfiring and then just stopped - I quickly identified the cause as being electrical and replaced the condensor as a starter. I was still getting no spark but what was odd was that the whole distributor appeared to be live when power was on - is this correct?



I've now replaced the points , coil but I'm still not getting a spark and the distributor still seems to be live.



Any clues as to what I could look at next?



Thanks,



Paul

Comments

  • Jon B
    Jon B Administrator
    Not quite sure what you mean by the distributor being 'live'. Is it short circuiting? Take a close look at the terminal coming off the side -- by any chance has the insulation broken down around it, causing it to ground?
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    Hi Jon,



    Thanks for your reply. I put a test lamp on various components such as the terminal , breaker arm etc. and I found that when I tested the distributor body itself this showed that it was live. I was pointed in this direction by the fact that after I had taken the distributor out for ease of checking that when I accidentally brushed it against the car it sparked quite nicely!



    I completely dismantled the distributor a little earlier and two things happened. When I was taking the terminal out there was what I assume to be a cork washer between the nut and distributor body that fell in two. There is also another insulation strip inside the distributor that ensures that the breaker arm doesn't contact the body and where this fits over the terminal this also fell apart! I'm guessing that this might be where I'm getting the power going to ground in the distributor? What I'm unsure of however is if there is any insulation that gores into the hole where the terminal fits in? I'm also not sure where in the UK i can source replacements for these as well?



    Would this make sense to you as to why the distriubutor is showing as being live and why I'm not getting any spark?



    Again thanks for your help on this.



    Paul
  • Jon B
    Jon B Administrator
    Although it would be fine to have a ready source of original distributor parts at hand I think you can rely on your common sense and creative ability to come up with substitutes for non-conducting washers, sleeves, etc. Just examine the terminal as it passes through the wall and you can pretty readily see how and where it might brush against the body of the distributor. For example, you could purchase a short section of neoprene tubing, slice off an 1/8" segment and slip it around the shank of the terminal where it penetrates the distributor side, thus creating insulating it.



    You might check with various British antique car parts suppliers and find someone who rebuilds distributors, and they may have exactly what you are looking for, on your side of the Pond.



    Just be sure NOT to insulate between the arm on the points, and the terminal. You DO need to have an electrical connection there!
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    Jon,



    Hadn't thought of neoprene so I'll give it a go - thanks for your help on this. I'll get the old girl running again soon!



    Paul
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    mercw125 wrote:
    Jon,



    Hadn't thought of neoprene so I'll give it a go - thanks for your help on this. I'll get the old girl running again soon!



    Paul





    I just went thru a similar exercise with my 49. The bottom line is the contact that goes to the coil can not go to ground when the points are apart. It doesn't matter how you get this to happen. The dist will be "live" as you say for most of the cycle, until the points are opened at which point the dist will not go to ground, i.e. no power.



    I rebuilt my breaker plate after attempting to mount a Pertronix Ignitor. I went back to points cause the Ignitor won't fit. I had to rivit the small metal bracket that the points screw on to to the breaker plate, but that mount had to insulated from the rest of the plate. Tricky. So what I did was glue gasket material on to the breaker plate, both sides, drilled 2 holes, wrapped the rivit shafts with several winds of electrical tape, and popped them in. As the rivits crushed, the tape expanded in the holes and acted like rubber washers The gasket material insulated the top and bottoms of the rivits. It worked great. Nice and tight, with no path to ground.



    Testing your distrubutor:



    If you don't have a volt ohm meter, you can use a 6 v light. Assuming your 6 v positive ground, connect one end of the light to battery -6 terminal, and the other end to the lead where the coil is hooked up to the dist. The light should be on if the points are closed. Now open the points. If the light goes off you are good to go. If it says on you have a short.



    Gap the points from .015 to .020 inches using a feeler gauge.



    Best of luck;

    -Chris
  • Geoff
    Geoff Senior Contributor
    And of course remember the Lucas maxim - electrical circuits work by the smoke that is injected during manufacture. If this smoke ever gets out the circuit will not work again. Conversely, if enough smoke is not put initially, the circuit will be suspect. Seriously though, Jon is right track with ensuring that the input to moving arm of the points is insulated. On this particular distributor the fixed point is earthed, and makes the contact through the coil when the points are closed. I make small insulating collars by cutting short lengths off hard plastic irrigating hose, as used in my wife's garden sprinkler system! and a selection of small red fibre washers always comes in handy. Good luck,

    Geoff.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    Thanks for the advice guys - I'm getting ready to cut bits even as I type!



    Paul
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