Need Help!!! 72' Newport

DasBoot70

DasBoot70

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1972 Chrysler Newport custom 400ci ....Long story short Siemens shutting us down here in NY and I sold my 2018 Ram 2500 due to losing of job i have to resort to driving something in the meantime to get me to work while the doors are still open. I refuse to drive my 70' Fury so the 72' Newport was suppose to be my daily till weather and salty roads clear up.

I bought this Newport last year before covid started and it didn't run... No big deal right? Well PO stated it died on him on day and never would start after that. The even wired in a electric fuel pump and had a glovebox full of extras. I ditched the electric pump and went back to the mechanical pump and checked timing. Timing was off, reset and boom she fired and actually ran great... until the mysterious no start issue happened. The engine fired up ran for bout 5 seconds and shut off...We replaced multiple coils, ballast, points, condensers i tried two different caps and two rotors rebuilt the Holley 2210 carb also. Still no spark at the points. I went through with a multimeter and had power till i got to the dizzy.... fast forward a week... The car started and ran and i drove it home 5 miles. Then this issue happened again. So i went and bought another set of points and condenser and just replaced the condenser this time and the car fired up! I tool it for a spin which left me stranded on the side of the road about a mile from home. crank crank crank no start. I had a buddy tow me home and the damn car started back up again. Winter 2020 came and i parked the car.

Well now i need it more than ever and this ol girl just wont let me get a mile up the road till she sputters out and dies... Friday 19th i drove her all over town no issues, parked sat, went to take her out Sunday and she died 3 times within a mile and i was fortunate enough to be able to limp her home once she fired back up. Monday morning she sputtered and chugged on my way to work so i just turned around and limp her home again. After work i replaced the old mechanical fuel pump thinking maybe it was tired. Once again i went up the road and she died on me. This time she would just crank crank crank. So i sat on the side of the road for about 10 mins and she fired back up and ran her home. she sat and idled for over half hour, very responsive on the gas pedal not missing a beat.

Im lost at this point on what the issue could be. Its driving me crazy knowing this simple points ignition is giving me this much trouble. I ''believe'' i have it narrowed down to a intermittent spark problem but what would be causing it to act like this?

Im open to any suggestions
 
Thats awful about the job. The cars are nice. Have you checked the ignition switch, maybe there is a short when it gets hot and you loose voltage to the coil.

Another thought, Check the wiring harness on the steering column, there is weak spot there where the main power wire to/from the ignition switch melts and shorts out. I had to snip the wire on the harness and bypass it when i had an intermittent no start on my 71 town and country and that fixed it.
 
You might consider tasking one of the extra ballast resistors and wiring it from the battery to the coil. Disconnect the existing low voltage lead. This eliminates any wiring issues that are present in the harness, ignition switch and firewall plug. If the car runs down the road this way, you will have established that there is no problem with the distributor or the coil and the problem is somewhere upstream from the coil. Be sure to tape the connections to the ballast resistor so you do not get an accidental short. Check the distributor bushings for excessive play.

This car sounds like it sat for a long time before you bought it. Have you checked the sock on the fuel pickup in the tank, these sometimes get clogged with rust or other debris on the bottom of the tank. Crud reduces the fuel flow gradually until the car quits. After the car quits, the crud drops back off the sock and the car will again run for a short time. If that is what is happening, you will probably need to remove the fuel tank and have it cleaned.

Dave
 
I agree with these guys. When it does, hook up a new ballast and wire from the battery ( with a 20 amp fuse, insulated well), to take wiring out of the equation, wired to + of the coil, check both wires to the coil too

Also, put a inline fuel pressure gauge on to check pressure

I've heard story's of the fuel pump pushrod doing strange starting issues
 
Check the wires going to the coil. I had the same issue. I thought I was going to lose my mind.

Replaced the fuel pump, ballast, ignition switch, coil, diz, yadda yadda. It would run one minute, and die the next.

Turns out it was the 12V feed to the coil. As it runs across the top of the passenger side valve cover, there are little metal tabs that hold the wires down. In my case the tabs had worn through the insulation, and it was grounding out the wire to the engine, cutting off the feed to the coil.

I fixed the issue, and all good.
 
Lets see if I can help you. Check your bulkhead connector for poor terminal connection, corrosion build up at the terminals. Were your ignition parts US made. There are a lot of China crap made parts out there. They have huge reliability issues. Second you will need a test light, a roll of duct tape, a 16 ga. jumper wire 3 ft. long w/ alligator clips on each end. Tape the test light to your windshield. Secure the test light ground wire and clip the jumper wire to the test light as in the photo below. Route the jumper wire pass the engine cowl and attach the alligator clip to the ignition side of the ballast resistor. This set up will allow you to monitor whether there is a loss of power to the ignition coil the ignition switch or in the wiring harness to the ballast resistor when it dies. If the test light remains on the ignition switch and the associated wiring. PM me if still need help.

20210222_215222.jpg
 
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I didn’t have much time today to try any of those tricks (working outside in the winter isn’t fun). But I did pull the dizzy and found this crack in the wire with this little metal piece.
 
Being put onto daily grinder duty, and the distributor already out.....
Now is the time to install a Pertronix electronic conversion kit in the distributor.
Worth the expense now and less headaches later.
 
Looks line somebody re-terminated those wire ends and didn't bother to put a drop of solder on the bare wire ends and the new terminal, for good measure.

Would be a good time, as mentioned, for that internal electronic upgrade kit, if desired.

Just a thought,
CBODY67
 
I agree with the comment on checking the column for the ignition harness.
Happened to me, I used bullet connectors
Made my bypass harness about 7 inches
Long or so just enough to eliminate the burnt connector. It wouldn’t hurt to check that
before you start a fishing expedition.
If you do mess with the bulkhead, be careful & use electric grease & pray you never have to dig around in there again.
 
ok 1972 newport dont have points its electronic . did someone change it over to points
 
Seeing the comment about the fusible link, I agreed. The non-firing/non-running issues I've experienced over the past 15 months all traced to that; the one on the positive battery cable. I ahve not replaced it yet, but when my car won't do anything, I open the hood, push the link together at the connections, and viola! It starts!
 
Little Update... I repaired the wire in the dizzy, and found one coil wire that looked crappy and fixed that, put it all back together and haven't had an issue since Tuesday! I've been daily driving it and I've actually been enjoying it. Once this weather breaks and I'll drive my Fury and the Newport will get little more love this year.

I appreciate all the helpful ideas and will keep those in mind for future references. Thank you all
-Dylan-
 
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