My '50 Shoebox just puked on me in the middle of the street - I'm getting gas, and spark at the points, but she won't start! Can the overdrive cause the car not to start? HELP
Come on somebody help me - I had to leave the car out on the street - we've got thunder storms and tornados in the area.
there is a switch on the throttle linkage, that when the gas pedal is floored to pass a car, it temporarily grounds the coil and kills the engine for a second or two. see if you're getting spark by removing a plug wire and holding it close to the engine and look for a spark when turning the cranking the engine. another way is to remove the distributor cap, turn the ignition on, touch a screwdriver to the points at the contacts and look for a spark. thats the easiest way if you are alone. if there is no spark, you can remove the small ignition wire from the coil and use a jumper wire from the battery or another source of voltage and try to start the engine.
the overdrive works as described above, check for spark at coil and at cap. if not spark check for signal at coil with a test light on neg side, hook test light to power and touch neg side of coil, crank motor and light should go on and off quickly.
My overdrive kickdown switch grounded out and stopped my 49 dead on the road. I was getting no spark from the coil. There are two wires going to the negative side of lthe coil, one from the ignition switch and one from the overdrive kickdown switch. Disconnect the one coming from the kickdown switch and see if you now have spark. The easiest way to check for spark is to remove the coil wire from the top of the distributor and hold it to a good ground and have someone crank the engine. You should get almost a continuous spark jumping to ground. I got a new kickdown switch on e-bay.
Blu: Teh posts above are correct, but why would you suspect the OD unit in the first place? Check for spark at the plugs, not the points.
I had an issue similar to this, it wound up being a faulty condenser. Acted like a fuel delivery issue, but fuel was good, spark was killer, the damn condensor, seemed to be a real issue on Mallory dual points for a while there, but I dunno, did he say ignition was stock, I wasn't listening. Sincerely, Cheatercarl
The car is stock - spark at points, gas is flowing, did not check spark at plugs. I have heard that a problem with the overdrive can cause the car to die or not start. Just got the car 2 months ago, still sorting things out - wiring is in bad shape so a short at the kickdown switch is possible. Anyway I ended up leaving the car out that night. Next morning I tried to start it and it fired right up - no problems since - I think it's a female car - I won't say why! So if the car won't start - and I suspect it's the overdrive - if I disconnect the wire on the coil to the kickdown switch - then the car will start if it was the kickdown switch - right? Can the governor, solenoid, or a relay keep the car from starting? Can the overdrive be modified so it can be activated manually by a switch - on / off - to eliminate the kickdown switch? Thanks to everyone that replied to my questions.
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