The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop M 1950 3600 Runs then Doesn't Run

Its weird. Sometimes it fires right up and I'll take it for a ride, park and start it again, drive home and park. A half hour later it won't start. Other times it will not start at all even with ether. So I guess I have a weak spark or no spark. I've changed the points, condenser and coil trying to solve the problem but it remains. Plug wires are the type designed to eliminate radio noise but I have no radio so not an issue. Are there plug wires available without that feature?
Thanks for any advice!

When it doesn't start does it crank but not fire, or try to fire but off time into the intake or exhaust?

Assuming that it is a crank and not fire the only common "plug" wire is the one from the coil to the distributor, it would be extremely strange for all the indivdual spark plug wires from the distributor to the plugs to fail and recover at the same time.

Just because you have installed new points doesn't mean whatever was causing them to fail (oil film or ?) isn't still happening. Next time it doesn't start inspect the points carefully for any indication that they are not opening as intended (meaning breaking the electrical circuit).

It was cranking over fine but would not fire. I did buy a 12v battery pack gizmo from HF and connecting it (which showed my battery at 6v), switching it on it fired up immediately and I took it for maybe a 20 mile drive on the back roads. That was a few days ago and I went and tried it today with just its own 6v battery and it fired immediately. I'm perplexed.

Your battery is probably weak. Check the cells and make sure the water is covering all the plates up to the bottom of the plastic rings on the cap. How old is the battery?

If this is a vehicle that almost never gets driven and the battery sits around for long periods of time without use, and it's not plugged into a battery tender/maintainer, you'll be lucky to get two or three years out of it.