1948 Chief no spark

[jn1972]

Working on my 48 chief, that ran good when I put it away for the winter ,winter project to replace clutch that went well ,now I try to start and I do not have any spark. The battery is at 6 volts,I have 6 volt to the + side on the coil ,if I break the points I have 6 volts to the points ,I changed the condenser ,point are good not sure what I am missing any ideas thanks Jerry n

[tfburke3]

Unless the points are new I would clean them.Sometimes from sitting some oxidation can cause the symptoms if they were closed during storage.
Tom

[Arley]

I have worked on Wisconsin motors for years, that use a similar distributor. I recommend a new set of points for some reason never had much luck with filing the points, if you do use 600 sandpaper it will polish the contacts better.

[hairynob24]

I know that I have my earth wire on the back of the primary . you said you worked on your clutch , is the earth wire connected , no spark at plugs ? or dizzy ? check high tension leads , Rob

[jn1972]

Cleaned the points with 1000 sand paper ,I have good spark now the bike still will not start I am thinking maybe the carb also has a problem ,thanks for the help Jerry

[T. Cotten]

Cleaned the points with 1000 sand paper ,I have good spark now the bike still will not start I am thinking maybe the carb also has a problem ,thanks for the help Jerry

Does it fire at all, Jerry?

Or kicknkick without a pop?

....Cotten

[jn1972]

If I advance the spark retard it will kick back after 6 or 7 kicks but it wil not start ,I let it sit for a couple of hours I thought it might be loaded up with fuel and tried it again still no success

[T. Cotten]

If I advance the spark retard it will kick back after 6 or 7 kicks but it wil not start ,I let it sit for a couple of hours I thought it might be loaded up with fuel and tried it again still no success

Can we assume timing, valve adjustment, and other such things are in order?

Carbs are forgiving; Vacuum leaks ain't.

Perhaps your carb to manifold gasket dried out and shrank over the winter, who knows?
But you still must take it apart to let the gremlins out.

If you take the carb off, please test the manifold itself as discussed at http://virtualindian.org/11techleaktest.html to eliminate other possible leaks.
Good luck!


....Cotten

[Lipdog]

Are you getting fuel? If I kick mine a few times with the throttle on it’ll flood and when I take the air cleaner off I’ll see and smell gas. Maybe try checking that your carb is flowing. Hard to imagine your gas is so stale it won’t spark but that’s another idea.