Moisture problem..??

bobpo1

bobpo1

Senior Member
My shop/garage building is large and very well insulated. What happens is during periods of high humidity (recently) the Model A doesn't want to start, no matter what. It is warm outside but chilly inside the garage.

I know there has to be a simple solution to this, I just don't know what.

Any help would be appreciated.
 
If the car has condensation on it, wipe off the spark plugs to dry them. Sometimes the moisture combined with any dirt on the porceline insulator will ground out the spark. I have had this happen in similar circumstances in my barn.
 
2manycars said:
If the car has condensation on it, wipe off the spark plugs to dry them. Sometimes the moisture combined with any dirt on the porceline insulator will ground out the spark. I have had this happen in similar circumstances in my barn.
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Thanks 2manycars, I'll try that...
 
2many,
In the "OLD" days & lots of fog, we'd lightly mist the COMPLETE ignition system with WD-40. Plugs, wires, everything, even the INSIDE of the cap, rotor & don't forget to mist the business end of the coil & the coil wire!
Bill W. (P.M. me, if it wurks)
 
My Model A did the same thing a few years ago after a very damp 6 weeks of being parked. I hand cranked it, and it started on the first pull of the crank. After running a few minutes all was well again. I can only blame it on light oxidation of the points, even though I cleaned them a couple times before finally using the hand crank.
 
BILL WILLIAMSON said:
2many,
In the "OLD" days & lots of fog, we'd lightly mist the COMPLETE ignition system with WD-40. Plugs, wires, everything, even the INSIDE of the cap, rotor & don't forget to mist the business end of the coil & the coil wire!
Bill W. (P.M. me, if it wurks)
Click to expand...

agreed, works well with modern cap and rotors when they get wet.
 
bobpo1 said:
My shop/garage building is large and very well insulated. . . It is warm outside but chilly inside the garage.
I know there has to be a simple solution to this, . .
Click to expand...

Yea, simple. Just a little HEAT. You've got that nice insulated building. Go for it!

If there's enough in/out temperature differential to cross the dew point it is doing more than just shorting your ignition system. Everything else in your car(s) and garage is slowly being affected by it. Why permit condensation to deteriorate everything you value?
 
I have a good garage, but also suffer this same "no start" problem from condensation when the weather conditions are just right. It happens maybe once every two or three years. I take off the distributor cap and lay a work light on top of the open distributor for several minutes to warm it up and dry it out. I then pull some plain dry paper between the points to clean and polish them just a bit. It usually starts very promptly after this treatment. I know when I have a problem because the steering wheel will be wet with condensation when I get in the car.

W. Michael
 
MikeK said:
Yea, simple. Just a little HEAT. You've got that nice insulated building. Go for it!

If there's enough in/out temperature differential to cross the dew point it is doing more than just shorting your ignition system. Everything else in your car(s) and garage is slowly being affected by it. Why permit condensation to deteriorate everything you value?
Click to expand...

Well today (and for the next several days) the temps are dropping down into the 60's and much dryer. I am going to open the big door and windows and get some air circulating and I will do the other things mentioned. After all, I have a Car Show to go to and Miss Tillie has to be there.

Thanks for all the input.....
 
Do the trick the old timers use; the business card trick. With the points closed, slide the card through them to clean them. Happens all the time.
 
Jacksonlll said:
Do the trick the old timers use; the business card trick. With the points closed, slide the card through them to clean them. Happens all the time.
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Well, from the feedback I'm getting, the culprit seems to be moisture/point related. I went out and threw the heat on a little while ago, and I will dry the points, distributor, coil, etc.

I'll let you all know, thanks again.........
 
If you are getting a lot of moisture on the floor of your garage during these high humid conditions, think what it is doing to the underneath side of your vehicle. As the moisture from the floor evaporates, goes up underneath the vehicle and rusts the bottom out. Have you tried placing a large sheet of plastic under the vehicle so the moisture from the floor does not go up under the vehicle. WD-40 stands for Water Displacement formulat 40
 
I like to lay down a large sheet of 8 mil plastic,then cover it with free used carpet. This makes a nice moisture barrier and gives you something nice to lay on when you work under the car.
 
Well, I always park the vehicles on Plastic, but maybe I'm not using enough. In fact the whole car will fog up if I open the large door on a warm day. It just seems to be this time of year.

I will try all of the ABOVE. Even turned the heat on in the shop today....

Thanks to all.... :o
 
I had a similar problem once,I found a hairline crack in the coil nipple where the coil wire plugs in,saw it sparking in the dark.
 
rocket1 said:
I had a similar problem once,I found a hairline crack in the coil nipple where the coil wire plugs in,saw it sparking in the dark.
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yes very possible or even a leak from the coil wire or cap. an easy test is what i do on modern hard to start wet / moisture problems is to spray down the secondary circuit with a spray bottle of H2O. then get a screwdriver with a wire attached using two alligator clips.. clip one end onto the screwdrivers metal shank and the other to a head nut. probe around the system with the car running, any spark leak will jump to the screwdriver. works everytime..
 
If you don't mind sweeping up once in awhile I found what works for me , as I see moisture on the cement floor under the Model A accumulating I scatter cedar wood kitty litter under the vehicle to absorb the moisture. The only kind I use is the cedar wood sawdust type as this is mostly cedar sawdust. I find it does a good job absorbing moisture and it can be reused if desired. Don't use the clay based kitty litter because it makes a soupy mess when damp.
 
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