Can't Start

[Tom Cavallaro]

My Coupe has been down or up on jacks all winter. I sand blasted the wheels, painted them Black and bought new tires and tubes. Rebuilt the steering column and gear box, and had the radiator repaired. Traded my 31 radiator shell with a friend in the club for a 30 shell, all of this over the winter. I tried to start the car and to no avail it wouldn't start. Seems that I have no spark using a test light. After trying for 20 minutes...I noticed the fuse was blown on the starter...so now the lights don't work either. Could I have blown the fuse pushing on the starter or do I have something else I should be looking for. For the first 15 minutes the fuse was not blown...I know that for a fact. I don't have a meter here at the house right now...so I can't go any farther. Could the coil have just quit over the winter...or are my tires too tight...LOL
Tom

[Tom Wesenberg]

First thing to do is put a charger on the battery to bring it to full charge. I'm not sure how much cranking you did with the starter, but when the car doesn't start within a few seconds, it's best to quit cranking and see what's wrong.

I like to check the spark first. Turn the key on with the points open, then short the contacts with a screwdriver. If you now get a good blue 1/4" spark from the coil wire, you know the points need to be cleaned. Not an uncommon fault with a car that sets long. My points oxidize after a couple months in damp weather.

I'm not sure why the fuse blew, but you could use a narrow strip of aluminum foil as a check for shorts. This will save the cost of new fuses until you are sure you have no shorts.

The coil check is easy to do now with no equipment, so start there and let us know what you find. Then we will know what to check next.

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Maybe your car just awoke from a long sleep & decided, "I don't want to run today, I'm just BARELY awake"!! That's what I tell Gregg, when he pops over in the morning, all full of p*ss & vinegar!! Like, "Talk" slowly!! Bill W.

[mass A man]

I highly doubt your coil gave up for the ghost over the winter by itself. Nor anything else by itself either. I would go back and check the things you had to have removed to change out your rad. shell and the steering box. Sounds to me the short, if it is a short, will be in the headlamp connectors, the switch housing on steering box. Anything that was disturbed. If these parts are repro's, be very diligent as to them making proper contact. As Tom said, "charge up battery", then verify points are open or slip a strip of business card between them, keep your foot off the brake pedal, all lights "off", turn ignition sw. "on" and watch the ammeter for a discharge. There should be none.

[Tom Cavallaro]

Thanks Gentleman, I will try to get back to it tomorrow, but being Mothers day...it might be Monday before I get an opportunity to test.

[sunnyorm]

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does it have an alternator? it may be shot?

[Tom Wesenberg]

BTW, I clip a buzzer in place of the fuse while I look for a short. When the buzzer stops making noise I know I've located the short.

Bulbs also work, but you have to be looking at it and also be sure the filament isn't burned out. If the car doesn't have a fuse then I can remove a battery cable and connect the buzzer in series at that point.

[Mike V. Florida]

Originally Posted by Tom Cavallaro

or are my tires too tight...LOL
Tom

Maybe it's embarrased to go out with white walls.

Won't start check list;

No Spark
Some possibilities are:
1.Blown or defective fuse (use of a fuse is an aftermarket item)
2.Bad connections at ammeter, or ammeter itself (t0 find out put a jumper wire from one post of the terminal box to the other to take the ammeter out of the circuit temporarily)
3.Bad ignition switch and/or cable, or loose cable connection at switch.
4.Loose or broken wires at bottom of coil
5.Loose or broken wires inside terminal box
6.Loose, bare or broken pigtail wire under distributor plate, or wire grounding to plate or distributor body
7.Points not opening, or point arm grounding to cam due to worn rubbing block
8.Worn electrode in underside of distributor cap
9.Loose or broken high tension wire from coil to cap
10.Condenser burned out or grounding (some condensers are too long and can touch the distributor body inside)
11.Weak coil
12.Rotor not turning due to loose cam screw or bad timing gear.


Ok now break out a volt meter (a light bulb can give false readings).
Start at the fuse block, you should have voltage on both sides of the fuse. If you only have voltage on one side, replace the fuse or fuse block.

Now with voltage on both sides of the fuse, move up to the junction box. There should be voltage at both terminals. If voltage is present only on one side the problem is at the ampmeter and you should Jumper the ampmeter for now.
You should have voltage on both sides of the coil. If not,
remove the red wire on the coil and check again. If you now have voltage on both sides, you have a problem further on. If the voltage is still only in one side you have a bad coil.

Open the points with a piece of paper and remove the condenser. Turn the key on and you should have voltage at the points.
Replace the condenser and you should still have voltage.

If voltage is missing, remove the top plate and check for voltage on the bottom plate.

Check is the connector from the ignition switch screwed in to far? Do you have voltage on the wire to the upper plate?

Is this wire shorting to ground or broken?

Remove the paper from the points and see that the points are closed. You should not have 0 volts at the points. If not,
The points are dirty or the distributor is not grounded well to the engine.

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

And remember, that a SHORT causes hot connections, burns off insulation on wires, "frys" things, etc. ALL electrical problems are NOT necessarily "SHORTS"! A true short is negative current being "short circuited" to ANY metal part of the powertrain/body/chassis/etc. Bill W.

[Tom Cavallaro]

Ok, it seems it may have been the points. I removed them, they looked fine but polished and re installed. I replaced the H V cable too. Turned the gas on, turned the key and Viola..she started right up! I'm glad it wasn't the tires too tight...I didn't really want to loosen them up again. Thanks to all who took the time to answer.
Tom

[whirnot]

Technically, a short, is a false circuit around a component. It won't cause a problem except the component has been eliminated from the path. Anything going to chassis is a grounded circuit. A ground can and will cause a problem in a hurry. Grounds are often called shorts but in the lectronic world it is not correct. Semantics

[joe 1950]

you guys are all in the ball park ,i stored my 31 A in a barn for the winter, my wife dropped me off with a fresh battery, she said should i wait till it starts, no dear my A always starts, little did i know it did not start, well checked out no spark ,points are all coreroded, no point file, looked all over the barn, only to find a match book, tore off the stricker, and filed the points ,the old girl started perfect,when i arrived home the wife asked if i had car trouble, what could i say

[Phil]

Originally Posted by whirnot

Technically, a short, is a false circuit around a component. It won't cause a problem except the component has been eliminated from the path. Anything going to chassis is a grounded circuit. A ground can and will cause a problem in a hurry. Grounds are often called shorts but in the lectronic world it is not correct. Semantics

Wow where did you get your information? A short circuit is now and has always been a low resistance path between two electrical nodes of different potential. You are saying shorting across a component will not cause a problem? What do you think would happen if you short a around a resister, or a fuse in a circuit that is overloaded? You let the smoke out, that what happens.