Car will not start.

Jim M

Jim M

Senior Member
Had my 29 Roadster out last week for a ride and it ran fine. Parked it and went to take it out yesterday and will not start. Checked everything I could think of and went through previous posts. One thing I saw mentioned was a bad kill switch. I had put one on a number of years ago as a simple solution to a small drain and dead battery if I left it sit for long periods of time. I bypassed the kill switch and still no start. One unusual thing I noticed is when I turn the key on the ammeter hand on the dash does NOT move at all. As I remember it usually did move slightly to the negative side when I turned the switch on but immediately showed charging when the car started up. Now there is no movement to the left and NO start either. Cleaned the points and set them and still nothing. Not sure what I am missing or where to go from here. It is really eating me up as this was a REAL barn find many years ago and some new plugs, new battery and fresh gas and it fired right up and ran like a champ. Any suggestions to the next strategy would be greatly appreciated. This is my Florida winter toy and I am missing the beautiful sunny afternoon rides
 
What does no start mean ?
Does it turn over or not ?
If not, maybe the bend is stuck, put in high gear and rock vehicle.
If it does, does it have fuel to the carburetor? Do you have power to the moveable point arm when open and no volts when closed ?
Does the ammeter show discharge when the lights are turned ?
 
Patrick,

The engine turns over fine and there is fuel to the carb. There is NO power to the moveable point arm. The ammeter shows slight discharge when the lights are turned on.

Tom, I just printed out the article you sent and going to go through it in the AM.
I am thinking it might be a bad coil.

Right now I am going to kick back and have a Friday evening cocktail and hope things work out better in the AM....lol

Thanks guys for the help. I will report back in the AM.

Jim
 
Exact same thing happened to me. Went through the correct procedures via the 'Red' book, when I got to the coil...not enough Ohms. Changed it and 'Bessie' started right up! Can't hurt to try since it's easy to swap out.
 
I commend your patience, and have been known to enjoy a cocktail myself. Mr. Endy's article is a winner. When our coupe doesn't indicate the "Henry Jiggle" when the starter is engaged, I usually forgot to install the safety fuse or failed to turn the ignition key on! LOL

Luck to ya in the a.m.
 
I've been stranded several times over the years due to bad condensers. I finally bought one of those $20 capacitor testers on Amazon and carry it with me along with spare condensers.
 
I'm assuming the first thing you checked was spark and there isn't any. Use a voltmeter, check each side of the coil. Crank with the hand crank. When points are open should be battery on both sides of the coil, when points close the dist side of the coild should go to ground, batt side should stay at battery. If Either of these conditions are not happening, get a wiring diagram and trace the problem. DON"T start replacing parts until you figure out what is wrong. Part shotgunners usually end up introducing more problems than they fix.
 
eagle said:
I'm assuming the first thing you checked was spark and there isn't any. Use a voltmeter, check each side of the coil. Crank with the hand crank. When points are open should be battery on both sides of the coil, when points close the dist side of the coild should go to ground, batt side should stay at battery. If Either of these conditions are not happening, get a wiring diagram and trace the problem. DON"T start replacing parts until you figure out what is wrong. Part shotgunners usually end up introducing more problems than they fix.
Click to expand...

Yep.

A wiring is available easily. Its simple, its a Model A. Start at either end and work until you find or loose power depending on where you start. A basic test light works fine for this, the light will just be dim if its 12v.
 
Since you noticed that the Amp meter didn't move when you turned the switch on I would start by checking the switch.
 
It depends on what ignition switch a person has. If a person has the Electrolock switch, then the coil has power to it at all times. The ground path to the breaker points may or may not be there depending on the position of the breaker cam. If points are open, the coil will not energize until they are closed. Ford made the change to the coil power in a service bulletin to aid in this type of trouble shooting by moving the coil power from the battery side of the amp meter to the generator side in the terminal box. This way the operator could read the charge and discharge of the amp meter during cranking of the starter when the points would open and close. Some folks use the old diagram and don't get it connected the way the bulletin instructed.

With a modern type switch there are two ways they can be connected. One is to control the ground path from the coil to the distributor which is what I would recommend and is the way the Electrolock works. The other is to run a power wire from the terminal block to the switch and another wire to the power side of the coil and control the power to the coil. This will work but it still may not be connected so that the amp meter will read the current flow to the coil. It also puts another hot wire in the bundle that really doesn't need to be there. This is why I don't recommend it.

Tom's check procedure will still work but the amp meter jiggle depends on how the wiring is connected. The model A engine should at least fire off a cylinder or two within moments of a start attempt if the spark is retarded and fuel air mixture is enrichened by it's normal methods. Start troubleshooting right away if it doesn't fire after a number of revolutions of the engine. Insure spark first and then start checking to insure spark timing is solid, ie points cam has not moved and spark control is still within specs. From there it's on the fuel delivery. Check the easy stuff first before going on to other more difficult checks.
 
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One thing i would if mine did not start was pull distributer body off, check to see if points are closed, hold coil to dist wire abt .03 from the head and open and close points to be sure ign was working.
 
I just plug the Nu-Rex polarity tester in there and hand crank to look for a spark. Sometimes it starts with the hand crank.
 
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