Macculloch won,t start

[Mel Ruffner]

Hi everyone, I finally getting close to finishing my dart a bone with mc 5 motor, but can,t get it to start. It seems to be getting no spark. Checked timing ,26degrees, ok . I tried about 30 times to try to start it and all I got was a backfire 2 times. Points and condenser look good but how do I know if there good ? Also coil? Is there any way I can test them? I need HELP

[steve miller]

..seems to be getting no spark ..??? cant ya take the plug out set on head and spin it by hand watch it spark ..?? I can on all mine ..

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..you prolly already did this but ..
I file the points set gap at .014 that's just base start ..
take a business card slide under one leg of coil roll till magnets under leg with card unloosen bolt till it clamps down on flywheel snug up bolt go to next leg ..spin it by hand with plug on head or someythin metal .. if it don't spark you got prolly bad condenser ..
but ive always used that as starting point see if they spark ..

[Mel Ruffner]

Thanks Steve for the quick reply. Yea I tried the spark plug against metal and no spark. Is it hard to find a condenser for early macs?

[steve miller]

im not sure never bought one ..I have whole box with like 25 in it ..if its trouble I can send ya one ..
my method is just what I do for quick test ..
im sure you can put meter on coil..?? I have no idea what it would read ..lol..

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if you were spinning it with electric im thinkin it backfired couple times from maverick spark ..

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if its not condenser then you have make sure points wire is insulated where goes threw case..test coil all the good stuff ..

[David Luciani]

mallory 500 i think is the condensor you use to replace.
will look at them in morning if i remember.
cost about 8 bux or 14 if you just buy first ones you see.

typically i test coils with known working set up.
if yopu want to try a good coil i can send ya a tested one.
points can be bad too if you need a set i got them.
pm me

[Mel Ruffner]

Thanks Dave and Steve for the offer I will let you know. I ,am going to go out to the garage and double check timing and all connections, and hope I find something that I missed. The trouble with electrical,is it looks good but you don,t know if it,s bad. Thanks again you guys are so helpful

[Vern Bergman]

If you have painted the side cover you may want to clean off the paint under the condenser in order to make sure it is grounding well..

[David Luciani]

look for frayed wire cover that may allow points to ground out.
make sure points themselves aren't grounded out that can happen.
also, there should be a small piece of cardboard material where coil wire passes into points area.
the wire loves to fray and ground out there.
a match book cover always worked well as replacement.
and check that the pressed in wire clip is solidly pressed in a bad connection and you are sunk!

very rare so much it's unlike check flywheel mags and be sure they are still strong.

[Billy Hoke]

If you have a kill switch, make sure wire to it is not frayed. It can cause a backfiring situation.