hey guys, im back at my parents house on my final chance to get my car running and home to shake down before back to the fifties and ive gota problem,,,of course. ive figured most of my previous problems out and if they still tweak, well i realy dont care as long as my head lights dont shut off i dont mind the park lights having a mind of there own. even figured my brake issues out. now heres the problem. as previous posts would tell you im having ignition troubles. car starts GREAT and runs great only problem is 99% of the time ive gota hold the key inbetween the on and start positions to keep it running. i put a brand new switch in to no avail so we figured the only other thing it could possibly be in the wire running from the switch to the coil. we put a jump cord across from the coil post to the battery and it fixed everything. so i run a new wire from the coil to the switch, and since some one said if i didnt itd fry my points i put a balast resitor in the line. though after looking i cant see that there was one there to begin with. i get it all wired up and turn the key and ive got ZERO spark, its not even poping over a little bit. all i can think of is that my new balast resistor is A: the wrong one, i just asked for an ignition balast restor at the parts place.maybe its dropping the voltage to much? looks like a ceramic coat hanger with a cord thing inside it and two tabs hanging off it. B: i put it on backwards? there arent any markings or instructions so i figured it must be fine either way or C: i didnt need the resistor in the first place. im going to try and run a straight line with out the resistor in and see what it does. thanx guysm trying to get it on the road tomorow noonish and this is preety much all thats stoping me tim
did you replace the part with the key (tumbler) or the part with the electrical plug on it (switch). because it sounds like the switch is going past the "on" connection.
look at the dist. wire that goes from the little bolt to your points... those wires are NOTORIOUS for going bad at that age... if the wire is shorting out the points you wont have spark. It could have a messed up insulator. You may have bumped or ripped that wire when changing your old wire?
hmmm ill check that wire tuck, i also think i may have accedently ended up with a 6 volt balaced instead of a 12 volt? im preety sure i didnt tell the counter guy i needed a 12 volt one, just that i needed the old two prong stle one cus its a early 50s car. he probably just asumed i needed 6 volt. if thats the case im stuck wondering how to get a 12 volt one with the nearest open parts store 45 miles away in sioux city :S give me a hollar tuck, ill pm you my number you didnt answer the number ive got tim
alright so semi update with backstory its been two weeks since i touched the car and this afternoon i got home and went to drive the car the 1/2 mile from were its stored to my parents house. i go to start the car and it wont do anything, so i prime it a bit and have some one put there hand over the carb whenit starts to kinda get the suction going. the car starts and it runs just perfect. i figure even though its got a good as new tank, new fuel line and a rebuilt pump. maybe it just needs it after sitting for a few weeks. no big deal. i get the car home and start tearing into it and as you can see above nothings working for me. so i put it all back together how it was mystery wire with no veiwable resistor between the switch ( totaly new tumbler and all > and the coil and the ******* still wont start. so i prime it with some gas in the carb and it runs until the gas i poured in is gone. i dont have any one to give me an extra hand to "choke" the carb with there hand so i started wondering maybe my resistor is fine and i just needed an extra hand to help prime it to get it to start? im preety lost here guys with real impending dead line, this is my only car and ive got to get back to school tomorow afternoon to start cl***es on monday. anythoughts? it doesnt say 6 or 12 on the box anywere maybe i can have some one run the parts number to see if its a 6 or 12 and my problem was just this mystery suction proble,. the wire from the coil to the dist is fine. sorry i didnt mention it before but its a 1953 ford customline v8 with new wiring buy previous owner in the stock layout, i just changed it over to twelve volt. so anybody want to run the number for me? anybody have any other ideas? anybody have any idea why im having to "hand choke" the car to start it? it was fine before i left, firing off just looking at the car wish the nearest open parts store wasnt 45 miles away sorry forthe drama and thanx for the help tim
It starts and runs when you pour fuel in the carb? Why are you chasing ignition problems if it'll run that way? Does the carb have a working choke? Sounds like that's all that's needed to fix it to me.
it will start when i pour gas in the carb, not continue running. the choke works as far as i know. im going to go scower the area for junk cars to snag a ballast off of. other wise im going to run it straight with no balast the 45 miles to the parts store and change it in the parking lot and hope i dont burn anything up in between. tim
Did you read what I wrote? If it'll start and run with gas poured down the carb, the problem isn't ignition related. Leave it alone and fix the fuel problem. The choke works as far as you know? Have you checked to see if it works? What type of choke does it have?
its just a manual choke, looks like everythings working like its supposed to to me. im chasing this ignition problem because the car wont stay running unless i hold the key between the "on" position and the "start" position. when its there its actualy using a different relay to give the coil the 12 volts it needs to start the car. when the key isnt there but in the "normal" spot it would be when you drive a car it just shuts off. its a brand new switch so the only thing i can figure is that its the line from the coil to the switch. side note : one wire on the coil runs to the switch and the other runs to my distributor. with the switch held by my hand to keep it running theres no problems its got a new tank new lines and new pump purrs like a kitten. its just kinda of pain in the *** to drive a car with one hand holding the key in a certain position hopefully i can find a new part local other wise ill run a line from the battery to the coil and just hope it works till i get the new part tim
Tim, It sure sounds like you are not getting voltage from your run circuit to your coil. As you said if you hold the key towards start your getting voltage to the coil and it runs. What voltage do you read at the run terminal with the key in the on position? Where does the wire go from the ignition run circuit to a ballast or to the coil? Are you saying the feed from the igntion switch for run and start go to two different relays or did I read it wrong?
do you have a volt meter? I think thats the next thing I would buy before I spent another cent on parts.
I'll admit I only skimmed through your post, and everyone elses since I'm only taking a short break from painting the lead sled. Dude if your car only runs in between with the key on and start, then it's obviously a switch problem. Fix it or break out with the ole starter switch and run it until you do. If a jumper wire to the coil fixes it, then yeah you're right on to rewire it all and if it doesn't work then, then your rewire job ****s too. Someone asked if you have a multimeter. If you don't, get one. I swear if it wasn't for the bulky weight I'd ****in wear mine! I have 2 expensive *** Fluke meters, I keep one in the car and one in the shop at all times. Get one that reads resistance, as well as ohms and volts. Keep a poster of Ohms law, the triangle version, in your shop. With that, you have the tools to fix any electrical problem a car can ever puke in your face. Now if you're running 12V and everything you're running is 12V, then you have no need for one of those resistors. Buy internal resistor coils and more specifically, $45 and you can buy an MSD blaster 2 coil. They are some hot ****en coils and they have internal resistors. Are you running points? If so then yeah a resistor to stop from pumping 12V to your points will make them last longer but not really needed. Man it honestly sounds like you have a gremlin or two and when you get an infestation of gremlins there's only one thing to do... yank out all the wires and start over but start out with simplicity. Byp*** the ignition switch and use only a push ****on starter switch. Hook up a simple toggle switch to power the coil. Go from there and then if it runs, wonderful. Move on and start hooking back up one thing at a time. Or whip out your meter and check resistance for every wire. You should see zero across the board. My 2 cents, but then again, I've been in the shop breathing pearl dust for the past few hours, what do I know? Yes I wear a resperator, most of the time.... LOL
hey guys, i got ahold of some people and ran the parts numbers and i DID infact end up with a 6 volt reducer. ive got a brand new switch and it did the exact same thing as the old one so thats why im preety sure its not the switch. i went threw and tightend everything up and am about to go out and try this new resistor. if i can just fix this one problem i can get it home to lincoln and ill probably end up tearing everything out in the dorm parking lot and re wiring it. just trying to get home right now thanx guys ill keep you updated tim
if HAVE to get it back then you can run a wire from the battery to the resistor then to the coil (of course the car won't shut off with the switch) and rig up a manual choke cable......then do it right when you get it home.
triumph! put the new resistor in and it fired right up, drove it around for about 25 minutes in town and a little jaunt out onto the highway and its running perfect no smoke no overheating nuthin. and its like 85 deg out the choke is working fine linkage and everything else wise, maybe its just not sealing as tight as it needs to be? dunno but it should get me home now that it starts and stops alright. did discover i had a fan/radiator interferance problem at highway speeds but i think ive also go that remideed thanx guys, expect either another dramatic post in a few hours or a bunch of smiling highway photos later tonight tim
I have an idea, if you hold the key between start and run to start and run the car and yet not crank it continually, with a new switch........ I think once you leave the keyswitch to run the engine turns off because the ballast/run position is hosed... And you're just switching off the car. Some other things going on but this part should be handled so you can fix your fuel problems without holding the key........ Now I have to re read the post to remember your car and how to ***emble it right but the ignition problem is this once handled it should take off the load...........
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