Help, Start Problems

T

Tubby

Senior Member
I have finally gotten my 1939 Deluxe Tudor on the road. The car is original equipment, good compression, good vacuum, six volt system. Drives fine, but after driving a while, when I come to a stop, sometimes the car stalls and wont start (turns over well). Poured a bit of gas in the carb, still wouldn't start. I replaced the coil with a rebuilt Ford script coil from a reputable dealer. Had the same problem.
Looking for suggestions on what to try next.
 
Intermittent open in the ignition circuit? Check/tighten/clean all connections in that circuit, especially the ignition switch. Take a voltage reading from the coil to ground....
 
Could be the condenser, they act just like a bad coil when hot. Who
rebuilt your coil?? G.M.
 
It has happened twice (unfortunately away from the house). The first time it didn't start during a 24 hour period, then did after I replaced the coil and condenser. The second time it started after sitting for 3 hours.
 
check the points in the distributor since you don't likely have one of the machines to do it with I suggest if the points gab is in the range of .013 and .015 set them to .019 and see what happens.
 
Sounds like a weak spark issue to me. You said you had the Ford coil rebuilt. Next I would go through the distributor and its associated parts.
 
G.M.; I'm not sure who rebuilt it. I bought it at All Ford Parts in Campbell since I live quite close. I have come to trust the folks there, as they have helped me a lot. They would have sold me a "new" coil but recommended the rebuilt for reliability. The coil had markings of the test voltage after rebuild and the name: PERRY. Hope this answers your question.
 
next time it happens try jumping the resistor on the inside of the car, above the steering column. By pass it with a jumper wire, sometimes they have too much resistance when warm, good luck Chuck.
 
Tubby said:
G.M.; I'm not sure who rebuilt it. I bought it at All Ford Parts in Campbell since I live quite close. I have come to trust the folks there, as they have helped me a lot. They would have sold me a "new" coil but recommended the rebuilt for reliability. The coil had markings of the test voltage after rebuild and the name: PERRY. Hope this answers your question.
Click to expand...

There have been a lot of people who CLAIM to have rebuilt coils over
the years. But the only consistently reliable one is Skip in Florida.
G.M.
 
There have been a lot of people who CLAIM to have rebuilt coils over
the years. But the only consistently reliable one is Skip in Florida.
G.M.

George, You shouldn't make such CLAIMS! Flatheadted here in NZ is consistently reliable too, which discounts what you've said!
 
Tubby, next time your car stops, jump out and pull a lead off a spark plug and hold the lead end close to the cyl head and crank engine over with ignition ON and see if there is a good spark. Your problem my or may not be ignition and you need to establish this. Might be a fuel problem. No good just guessing by replacing parts all over the place. Regards, Kevin.
 
I agree with Kevin. You have to establish whether it has spark or not after one of these type episodes. If no spark or very weak spark, continue with further ignition checks. If good spark, you have to start back with the fuel delivery and make certain that the accelerator pump pumps fuel with throttle action and on, etc..

A person can chase their tail if these simple tests aren't performed.
 
My 41 coupe does the same thing after 4 or 5 mi. After it sets for a while it starts up fine. There is a inline gas filter in front of the fuel pump, which I've noticed has very little fuel in it after driving. After setting for a while (over night ) there's more fuel in the filter and it starts up. Going to remove filter and put it between pump and carb. to see if filter stays full of fuel. Maybe the pump can't pull fuel through filter, or it's bad pump. Let you know what I find. Al
 
I have had faulty distributor caps and rotor arms give similar symptoms. If when it starts to fail, it sort of peters out at wider pedal angles and just about manages to run with just a little gas, and then stops completely, look at the HT side of the ignition. (cap and/or rotor)

Mart.
 
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