Cant get spark!

[Ashton_1012]

Hey everyone... got a good one for you. Bought a 1954 m38a1, totally not ford related. however its equiped with a 302 and ford toploader 4 speed. So i randomly lost spark to my engine. its a 70's engine with electronic ignition. no key, just on off switch with a push button start. Here is where im getting frustrated. I have 12+ volts to my battery, the starter solenoid, the alternator, but not juice to the coil. I replaced the ignition module, still nothing. Back to the parts store to replace the coil. Still nothing. So my dad gets home, tries to help me out. The volt meter says the coil has 000 when i touch the + and - on the coil. When i touch the + and touch the ground to the valve cover, great, 12+ volts! touch ground to part of the frame, nothing. tried hooking a jumper cable up to the - and part of the frame, it sparks when i touch the ground to the frame, but go to test with volt meter, shows 0000 but 12+ on the valve cover again. I have checked all the fuses, and have traced every wire back to its start. Only thing i got left to try is replacing the toggle switch? if that doesnt work i have to rewire it all. Any suggestions?
Thank you,
Ashton

[1972hiboy]

The negative side of the coil is just the trigger. If your getting 12v to the positive side of the coil with your switch on then you need to look under the distributor cap. Sometimes the pickups go bad.

[Ashton_1012]

im not to familiar with distributors, never rebuilt one. if i replace the cap and rotor, would that solve my problem? or is there more to it

[Ashton_1012]

doesnt the distributor pick up spark from the coil? the problem im having it i cant get any spark sent out of the coil. yes i have 12v to the red wire, but no spark wants to come out. is the "trigger" bad? ive tried replaced coil and ignition module. im going to bring them back today to have them both tested, perhaps they sold me a bad one.

[1972hiboy]

well if your ignition coil is getting 12v to the positive terminal then the ignition coil is energized its waiting for the circuit to be broken so it can discharge. This is done in older cars with "breaker points" in a electronic distributor there is a pickup coil that replaces the old stlye points the disrupts the circuit and causes the coil to discharge. I would visually inspect the cap and rotor but it may be the pickup coil in the distributor or wiring between the module and the distributor. Which electronic ignition do you have? dura-spark 1,2,3? aftermarket like mallory msd ect?

basically the distributor tells the coil when to discharge not vice versa.

[tac]

The coil generates the spark when the ignition module or points grounds and then releases the "-" side of the coil.
You say that you get 0 volts measuring from the frame to the + side of the coil? Sounds like you lost the ground from battery to the chassis.
Is the electronic ignition contained in the distributor or in a separate box? If it's a separate box not grounded to the engine problem solved. Fix the chassis ground.