shouldn't I at least hear a buzz? Put the engine and electrical together and still no buzz when I slowly turn the crank.
Eventually there will be a starter and 6 volt battery.
It should be able to crank over on mag though without a battery, right?
Engine rebuilt about 10 15 years ago. Mag is good. Coils are good per the Coil Dr last Hershey.
You need a battery to get a buzz. Just a click on MAG.
Don't know about Heinz switch, is there a battery and magneto position for the handle? Might be on Bat and since no battery wire to the coil box, maybe you can't get magneto to fire because of switch position?
You could check for fire at the plug, by removing one and lying it on the cyl head when you pull over the crank.
Maybe early cars are different, but are you sure you have the plug wires hooked up correctly? Here is a photo of the engine in my 1924 touring / pickup conversion:
Also, check the routing of your timer wires against this drawing, note that the black and blue wires are routed over the top of the timer, while the red and green wires route from underneath:
Temporally connect a battery to the battery terminal on the coil box and ground and then you should hear a buzz.
Oh thanks, my plug wires are on backwards!
Robert : If you wired as original, then you have to pull the switch to the other side [bat side] Now your switch is on the mag side [first picture].
Toon
The Heinz coil switch does have a battery side but you need a battery to get the coils to buzz. Just be sure you hook it up right or you will mess up the magneto. Your box is a repro resized to use standard coils so you can easily use a 12 volt battery for starting without damaging the coils. I use a small motorcycle or lawn mower battery on my '10 and it works just fine. In a pinch you can even use a lantern dry. Cell. It does not take a lot to make the coils buzz
One other subtlety about the spark plug wires - the shortest wire works best on cylinder #3, not #4.
Robert,
On the second and third photos, it seem to me your battery connection is still free.
You need to connect this post to a 6V battery and the - of the battery to the frame as shown in Jim's diagram.
You should hear a buss as you turn the engine with the contact on the battery stand.
Good luck
Andre
Belgium
Be very carefull when hooking a battery to the coil box. Make sure there is no way to back feed voltage thru the magneto. When testing, it is best to unhook the wire at the mag post on top of the trans cover(hogshead) till you are sure of everything. You can also use a battery charger for your power source to power the coils, it does not need to be a big battery when testing for buzzing, or even starting the car. The coils do not care what voltage they get. 6 volt or 12 volts is OK.
A dumb question from a newbie.
I'm not getting any buzz from my coils either.
I can't see a battery AND a magneto post. Only one with a wire which disappears through the firewall to the switch.
I'm yet to trace it properly.
(I can't find my multimeter but that's another story and if it doesn't turn up soon I'll have to buy another one.)
My car is a1925 Australian (Dalgety) Tourer so is the post that I can see on the LHS (Australian passenger side) of the car (RHS of the photo) a battery or magneto post?
Mark, on later cars like your 1925 and my 1924 touring / pickup conversion, the red mag wire went to the ignition switch on the dash and a blue & yellow wire from the ignition switch went to the coil box terminal, see the attached wiring diagram:
Mark
This diagram will show the wire to the coilbox goes to the switch.
The switch provides either battery or magneto power to the coilbox via this wire depending upon the position of the switch "Bat" or "Mag".
be sure the brake lever is pulled all the way back and set. Simply place the switch in the Bat position and hand crank the engine. Each individual coil should buzz based on the position of the crankshaft as you turn it through two complete turns.
Ron the Coilman
Thanks everyone. There was a loose connection at the terminal box - the yellow wire. Once I fixed that I got lights, I got buzz from the coils and I managed to get her to start and on my second attempt I even kept her running!
I guess the next step is to attempt to drive and put all that theory into practice.
Mark,
They seem to start and run better each time you do it.
Here are a couple more diagrams. I don't have all the wiring memorized, so I've saved several of the various diagrams that have turned up on the forum and I keep them in a wiring folder for reference.
Mark W.
Swing your plug wire away from the battery terminal.
Thanks, Jerry.
Done!