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SDE, 1) If a condensor fails to where it becomes a dead or near dead (low resistqnce) short IT KILLS THE SPARK PERIOD i.e. no weak or wimpy spark, just NO spark at all. 2) If it looses capacitance it can become "weak" (less farads) but the coil can still produce a spark, albeit maybe a faint thin wimpy yellow spark as opposed to a good strong blue spark. 3) If its totally removed from the circuit, she can again, still spark, but a weakkkkk spark. Its possible to use an old fashioned analog ohmmeter (like my Simpson 260 or RCA WV 38A) to determine if a condensor is totally bad, however, it does NOT tell you if its totally and really good, i.e. even if it passes such low voltage low temperature checks, it can still fail under actual ooperating conditions . I have no luck nor would say any digital meter is a good way of checking them as compared to an analog meter and to really test them you need an actual condensor tester. I agree with Jims good advive on their failure mode, they can go quick or slow or in between. I test them similar to how he does with my Simpson, maybe a lil different but thats ONLY a preliminary test to show if they are totally baddddd ddd. Sitting here I cant be convinced if the condensor was all the problem or not as theres other variables taking place. Yes, a weak condensor can be the cause of hard starting but so can a bunch of other reasons. I dont necessarily change one when I change points unless I have reason to believe its bad. Their enemies are vibration, loose mounting to distributor, temperature fluctuations, moisture n humidity etc etc. One of their main functions is to greatly extend the life of the points as they would burn up very quick if none was in place but them and especially their capacitance rating affects the spark energy to a great extent; If its too much capacitance or they are a dead short either one, theres no spark at all, if too little theres still spark but weaker, if the right size the sparks the best plus the points last much longer..... .... John T
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