I am a bit out of my depth here - sorry for the off-topic post. I crew on a sprint car, mainly carrying heavy things and such but with our crew chief out of town we are stuck with no spark. It is a very simple system, a Mallory mag and coil. The mag has a two-wire hookup and plain old points.

We are not getting any spark. Diagnosing this thing is pretty foreign compared to standard ignition systems, in that there is no current flowing through anything when it is not running. It appears that the magneto charge the coil when the points are open, and current from the mag is grounded when the points close.

The engine is shut down by grounding the + terminal on the coil. Unfortunately it seems like we are getting a ground from just about everywhere - mag body, points open, points closed, both sides of the coil, etc.. These things are voodoo compared to a std ignition system.

Web search shows me install diagrams for the mag and timing setting using a buzz box, but no diagnostic steps.

Any help appreciated

thanks

Brian

I would first check to make sure your points are not shorted to ground anywhere, then make sure they are opening and closing properly. you should be able to give the thing a good spin by hand and get some kind of spark out of it.

Grab the leads and have someone spin it for you. If your hair stands up, it works. if not, than she broken.:rasta:

I have never seen a magneto with points, but if there is no battery voltage at the coil, then it must be one. The only obvious reason to have points would be to vary the timing. The coil shouldn't be grounded with the points open. Do you have two coils so that you can compare it with a good one?

Im pretty drunk ,so dont listen too hard.

I THINK the points are normally closed ( touching) and when they open that drops the primary on the coil and induces the secondary , viola ya got magnetic induction.

adjust that point gap, and give it a go.

No idea what it should be, if I had to guess Id start at 0.030

man ozark you hit the nail on the head, ever tired to go to work drunk and see if you do any better?