The Ford Barn

KMBeers · 05-18-2025, 06:53 PM

I took my car out this morning, got a mile from the house and the car stalled at a light and would not restart. I pushed her into a parking lot, with the help of a policeman and started lo look at what may have gone wrong. To give everyone the recent history of the car, the engine was rebuilt over the winter. New bearings, timing gears, reground crank and cam, rebuilt distributor, new generator, rebuilt carburetor, and for the last 350 miles it has been running great. No issues, period. I have been getting it ready for the MARC meet in Gettysburg next month. I had painted my speedo cable and installed it along with a new grommet in the firewall just last week. I had the car out for a quick ride around the neighborhood after that to make sure everything was working properly.
While in the parking lot I went to cheek timing to make sure nothing came undone in the engine or distributor. I used the volt meter in my tool kit and found 6.3 volts at the battery but 1.7 volts at the points during the timing check. Being relatively new to the Model A, I went to changing the condenser and coil. No change. I did notice there was a current drain on the ammeter when the key was on, about 4 amps. That was the clue. I needed to figure out where the power was going. I pulled the cover off the terminal block, looked good, there was 6.3 volts on both terminals. There was also 6.3 on the negative side of the coil and 1.7 on the positive side. Another clue….
So I have a low voltage at the coil and points and a current drain and I can see it on the ammeter. I remembered I had removed the instrument panel previously so I removed the 4 screws and left it hang and turned on the key. No current drain. I double checked everything was reassembled, closed up the hood, and it started right up.
I learned a lot in this situation and felt I should share it with the rest of the Barners. Every detail matters while troubleshooting an issue with your car, so always follow the clues. I will be driving my car from Philly to Gettysburg and there are a few things I will need to add to my kit to make things easier if I have an issue on the road. As P.S. always says, “I am the warranty”!

05-18-2025, 06:53 PM	#1
KMBeers Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2021 Location: Havertown, PA Posts: 104	Follow the clues…. I took my car out this morning, got a mile from the house and the car stalled at a light and would not restart. I pushed her into a parking lot, with the help of a policeman and started lo look at what may have gone wrong. To give everyone the recent history of the car, the engine was rebuilt over the winter. New bearings, timing gears, reground crank and cam, rebuilt distributor, new generator, rebuilt carburetor, and for the last 350 miles it has been running great. No issues, period. I have been getting it ready for the MARC meet in Gettysburg next month. I had painted my speedo cable and installed it along with a new grommet in the firewall just last week. I had the car out for a quick ride around the neighborhood after that to make sure everything was working properly. While in the parking lot I went to cheek timing to make sure nothing came undone in the engine or distributor. I used the volt meter in my tool kit and found 6.3 volts at the battery but 1.7 volts at the points during the timing check. Being relatively new to the Model A, I went to changing the condenser and coil. No change. I did notice there was a current drain on the ammeter when the key was on, about 4 amps. That was the clue. I needed to figure out where the power was going. I pulled the cover off the terminal block, looked good, there was 6.3 volts on both terminals. There was also 6.3 on the negative side of the coil and 1.7 on the positive side. Another clue…. So I have a low voltage at the coil and points and a current drain and I can see it on the ammeter. I remembered I had removed the instrument panel previously so I removed the 4 screws and left it hang and turned on the key. No current drain. I double checked everything was reassembled, closed up the hood, and it started right up. I learned a lot in this situation and felt I should share it with the rest of the Barners. Every detail matters while troubleshooting an issue with your car, so always follow the clues. I will be driving my car from Philly to Gettysburg and there are a few things I will need to add to my kit to make things easier if I have an issue on the road. As P.S. always says, “I am the warranty”!