International 444 - No Spark

[Crashcup]

Hi, having trouble with my 444 not starting and wondering if anyone here has any ideas.

It looks like I'm not getting any spark. Checked by taking one plug out, connecting to its wire and holding up against the block, and could not see any spark while cranking. Also got a spark tester at the auto parts store to make this more visible and still not showing that it's getting any spark.

I do have voltage at the coil (+) terminal (same as battery voltage, about 13.4V).

I haven't replaced the points or condenser because I don't have one on hand, but I did check the points gap: 0.024, spec is 0.020.

Sounds unlikely, but I did turn the engine over by hand with the dist cap off and made sure that the shaft is turning and the points are opening and closing.

Based on the above, I replaced the coil, but still no spark.I haven't been able to find the specs for the coil windings, but the old coil measured 1.1 ohms on the primary and 5500 on the secondary. The replacement coil measured 1.3 ohms on primary, 13,000 on secondary.

What the heck am I missing?

It seems like if the points are opening and closing and the coil has voltage at the (+), it should be generating spark.

Has anyone tested a coil directly by disconnecting the wire on the (-) terminal, then connecting a jumper from there to ground, then breaking the connection to ground to force the coil to generate a spark?

Thanks for any ideas.
Keith

 

[Crashcup]

Hello again... in the interest of not wasting anyone's time, I thought I'd add that I posted the same question on yesterdays's tractor forums, and got some good suggestions already.

One was to take off the dist cap, hold the coil wire 1/4" from the block, and open/close the points with a small screwdriver to see if it forces a spark. (narrow down to coil or instead points/dist ground connection)

The other was taking the coil wire off the side of the distributor, then checking continuity of that to ground, while turning engine over to see if continuity is off and on as the points open and close.

 

[Quebecguy]

Hello Crashcup,
Before I started using dielectric grease to coat all distributor cap terminals on my old International I used to often have no start/poor running problems. Why don't you remove the points and give them a good filing/cleaning? I have never had coil problems, all my ignition problems have had to do with corroded distributor cap terminals, moisture from condensation in the cap, faulty secondary wiring (coil to dist.cap cable) or dirty points.

 

[DJ54]

I'll second the corroded dist. cap internal lugs. Especially the aluminum ones. Oxide buildup on the pins will cause misfire, or not spark eventually. I scrape it off with my knife, and continue on. Had the same cap on my Super C for near 25 years now.