Start/run problem
- Thread starter Ross Wooldridge
- Start date
cbarge
World Famous Barge in a Budget
Ross is busy playin with the band.. LOL!
There ain't no grey in that hair... you need to airbrush me another 10 years older Leaburn!!
Newport 66
Old Man with a Hat
Here's the fuel pump pushrod that I removed (with much time and effort...grrrr) from the Newport and the new one next to it (made in the good ol' USA) Big Red is happy again and so is its caretaker...too bad it took me 2 1/2 days to get it repaired. Missed Volo...again!
RagTop66
Active Member
Well, I think you found your problem! Holy cow that thing got eaten!
Ripinator
Old Man with a Hat
Dayum!
livininharrow
Senior Member
looks like ross was playing with his band while newport was playing with his rod for days.
I wish - no gigs going on at all these days! 
Nope, just been away for a little while. Getting to the repairs within the next day or so hopefully!
Nope, just been away for a little while. Getting to the repairs within the next day or so hopefully!
Update - change out the fuel pump and filter yesterday. Pulled the pushrod to compare to my NOS ones, no wear detected, so the NOS ones will go back into the box. Replaced the rubber lines from the stub-frame hard-line's nipple to the pump and the unions to the fuel filter. All the other rubber lines from the rear of the stub-frame and those at the tank were nice and supple and dry - no evidence of checking or seepage. Check out the rubber line I replaced though - yikes!!
I figured "Well, there's your issue!", as the fuel pump seemed to be just fine (but I replaced it anyhow - it's at least 25 years old)...
I'd spilled a bit of gas doing the repairs last night, so I let the fumes dissipate until this morning before firing it up. And...
Same ****, different day and fuel pump and lines and filter.
Still seems like it wants to fire, but when I release the key it dies. Do this a few times then it finally catches and goes. This time it idled fine so I was able to back it out and go for a short drive with no trouble. I thought perhaps it was OK, and that I'd only been dealing with the last few air pockets in the line from yesterday's work, but halfway through the drive after a little application of throttle it died on me again. Fired right up in neutral, and no problems getting the rest of the way home. Parked it in the garage for a cool-down period.
Tried it again 3 hours later. Same ****... wants to catch, release the key, dies. I didn't even wait to see if it would finally catch and go, I just walked away.
I've decided to gut the ignition, and I've ordered a kit from Ehrenberg - diz, box, harness, ballast etc. That should cure it.
I figured "Well, there's your issue!", as the fuel pump seemed to be just fine (but I replaced it anyhow - it's at least 25 years old)...
I'd spilled a bit of gas doing the repairs last night, so I let the fumes dissipate until this morning before firing it up. And...
Same ****, different day and fuel pump and lines and filter.
Still seems like it wants to fire, but when I release the key it dies. Do this a few times then it finally catches and goes. This time it idled fine so I was able to back it out and go for a short drive with no trouble. I thought perhaps it was OK, and that I'd only been dealing with the last few air pockets in the line from yesterday's work, but halfway through the drive after a little application of throttle it died on me again. Fired right up in neutral, and no problems getting the rest of the way home. Parked it in the garage for a cool-down period.
Tried it again 3 hours later. Same ****... wants to catch, release the key, dies. I didn't even wait to see if it would finally catch and go, I just walked away.
I've decided to gut the ignition, and I've ordered a kit from Ehrenberg - diz, box, harness, ballast etc. That should cure it.
67Monaco
Old Man with a Hat
Still havent pulled the ballast yet eh?
OK, here's the latest and greatest...
About a week or so ago I pulled the ignition switch in case it was worn out and allowing the ignition to turn off. I found the ground pin loose against the rivet, so I replaced the switch assembly with a spare. The car started right up and idled smoothly, with no shutting off. Took it for a short test drive, no problems. I thought "Woo hoo, I've found it!"
I then took the car for a longer drive into the city, and it died about 5 miles from my house. This time it would not start, and in fact there was no cranking from the starter either - the amp meter would simply pin to the discharge side, but nothing from the starter. I had to call the auto club for a roll-back to get home. Pushed it into my shop and walked away after disconnecting the battery.
Today I dug into it a little, and at the same time my brother-in-law was able to come and help. As I waited for him to arrive I replaced the positive battery terminal on the cable just to be prudent, and went through all the connections from the starter relay, coil, distributor cap, yadda yadda. My B.I.L. was still not here so just for a laugh I tried the key, and it cranked. I left it cold so that he could experience the full gamut of issues.
He arrived, and with a multi meter we checked the voltage at the coil. 12V. I cranked it until it started, and of course, it ran smooth and with no issues. We were scratching our heads on where to look next when all of a sudden it died. Checked the voltage at the coil, and we only had 0.5 Volts. Bingo - at least now we were getting somewhere.
We started tracing wires from the coil and found a frayed wire under the hold down tabs on the valve cover. I never would have seen it or have been able to see that it was arcing, as I would not have left the key on while looking at wiring... but he saw it arc to the cover, and sure enough it was the 12V feed to the positive side of the coil. I repaired it and the car has been running smooth and powerfully all day.
So far so good!
Something simple... go figure!!
About a week or so ago I pulled the ignition switch in case it was worn out and allowing the ignition to turn off. I found the ground pin loose against the rivet, so I replaced the switch assembly with a spare. The car started right up and idled smoothly, with no shutting off. Took it for a short test drive, no problems. I thought "Woo hoo, I've found it!"
I then took the car for a longer drive into the city, and it died about 5 miles from my house. This time it would not start, and in fact there was no cranking from the starter either - the amp meter would simply pin to the discharge side, but nothing from the starter. I had to call the auto club for a roll-back to get home. Pushed it into my shop and walked away after disconnecting the battery.
Today I dug into it a little, and at the same time my brother-in-law was able to come and help. As I waited for him to arrive I replaced the positive battery terminal on the cable just to be prudent, and went through all the connections from the starter relay, coil, distributor cap, yadda yadda. My B.I.L. was still not here so just for a laugh I tried the key, and it cranked. I left it cold so that he could experience the full gamut of issues.
He arrived, and with a multi meter we checked the voltage at the coil. 12V. I cranked it until it started, and of course, it ran smooth and with no issues. We were scratching our heads on where to look next when all of a sudden it died. Checked the voltage at the coil, and we only had 0.5 Volts. Bingo - at least now we were getting somewhere.
We started tracing wires from the coil and found a frayed wire under the hold down tabs on the valve cover. I never would have seen it or have been able to see that it was arcing, as I would not have left the key on while looking at wiring... but he saw it arc to the cover, and sure enough it was the 12V feed to the positive side of the coil. I repaired it and the car has been running smooth and powerfully all day.
So far so good!
Something simple... go figure!!
RagTop66
Active Member
I don’t know about you, but for some reason, I always assume the worst and it usually ends up being something simple, but takes a long time to find. Great job getting to the bottom of it!
cbarge
World Famous Barge in a Budget
The simple ones are typically the biggest head scratchers..
Glad you found it!
That had potential to fry the rest of the car.
Glad you found it!
That had potential to fry the rest of the car.
Mike66Chryslers
Senior Member
Glad to hear you got it figured out. In retrospect, the ammeter pegging full-scale discharge during cranking was a big clue that something in the ignition circuit was going dead short when you hit the key. Makes sense, because the ballast resistor is bypassed when the key is in START position.
That's why I only tried a couple of times at the side of the road... didn't want to fry things or start a fire.
live4theking
Old Man with a Hat
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2014
- Messages
- 12,697
- Reaction score
- 8,900
I'm glad that you found it. I few years ago my car would randomly not have power to anything. Put the hood up go back and open the door lights would suddenly be back on. I scratched my head for months because it wouldn't break hard. From looking at the FSM I had it narrowed down to the amp gauge or the welded splice, but it wouldn't break hard. Well, it finally did in a toll booth outside of Carlisle. It turns out the the insulating washers on the amp gauge had shrunk with age. Tightened the nuts up and all has been fine since then,
Mike66Chryslers
Senior Member
Dashboard fires have resulted from that problem, which is why some people bypass the in-dash ammeter or find ways to reduce the load on it.
live4theking
Old Man with a Hat
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2014
- Messages
- 12,697
- Reaction score
- 8,900
I did the bypass.
Similar threads
