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| | | Joined: Mar 2002 Posts: 553 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Mar 2002 Posts: 553 | Help! I've done this many times before but sometime I have "brain fade". Ime getting to fire up my motor gor the first time and I forgot where the side wires go on the distributor (GMC 248). The wire that comes from the condenser goes to the coil neg. wire, but where does the other wire on the distributor go? Is it a ground wire? | | | | | Joined: Apr 2009 Posts: 554 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Apr 2009 Posts: 554 | The condenser should be connected to the points and that wire goes to the coil negative as you indicated. The wire going to the positive side of the coil is your 6 or 12 volt power source. To just fire up the engine you can pull the power from anywhere- the battery, starter, ignition switch.
Chuck | | | | | Joined: May 2001 Posts: 7,438 Extreme Gabster | | Extreme Gabster Joined: May 2001 Posts: 7,438 | If you are using a stock distributor there should only be one wire. Maybe someone has added a ground wire but it shouldn't be necessary. | | | | | Joined: Mar 2002 Posts: 553 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Mar 2002 Posts: 553 | Thanks for the info. I was puzzled 'cause on the outside of my (stock) distributor, there's another terminal stud on the opposite side as the condenser terminal stud. On the inside of the distributor it's connected to the inside base plate. | | | | | Joined: May 2001 Posts: 7,438 Extreme Gabster | | Extreme Gabster Joined: May 2001 Posts: 7,438 | Sounds like it would be for a ground then. I don't recall ever seeing one like that. | | | | | Joined: Jul 2001 Posts: 3,887 Cruising in the Passing Lane | | Cruising in the Passing Lane Joined: Jul 2001 Posts: 3,887 | sometimes these old distributors need to have grounds added when things get worn so the body isn't getting a consistently good ground - my 46 GMC w/ a 228 needed that
Bill | | | | | Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,771 Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) | | Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,771 | It sounds like you've got one of the very scarce distributors that switched the polarity on the points every other startup supposedly to prolong point life, along with a switching gear on the stomp start switch. Most of them got disabled by simply connecting the second wire to ground or grounding the breaker plate to the distributor housing.
Jerry
Last edited by Hotrod Lincoln; 04/21/2011 1:06 AM.
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