Had my hands full with a few other old Mercedes. Getting back to the 280se 4.5 (which did run a few years ago). Now, there is no spark coming from the coil to the distributor. Still has the factory points-ignition set-up, so I ordered new points and a condenser. Didn't cost much so no biggie.

My question is, even with a lame condenser, shouldn't the ignition still spark?

Tested coil with volt-meter and it's in the appropriate range - 2.8 to 3.0

I'm just hoping it's not the switchgear, ICU, spark box, or whatever else I've heard it called.

Guess I could have posted this after I installed the new parts, but I'm looking forward to learning how all this ignition units function together.

Thanks for any response!
Todd