Ignition cut out

German guy

German guy

Senior Member
I have driven my recently purchased A a few times without serious problems...aside from the insane amount of noise that a car with zero sound insulation can have. I finally took it on a 50 kilometer test run and it ran very well ...until...ignition just cut out completely. Without a multi-meter in the car I was left simply wiggling connections for a while without result. Checked fuel supply and delivery and that was fine. It would not start back up...for about 15 minutes...and then it did. Any suggestions? Plugs had just been cleaned, distributor cleaned and emery paper roughed up the contacts. Thoughts include defective coil. Can any 6v coil be used? Also, there is some carbonization visible in the cylinders as well as the plugs having been very black. Do I need hotter plugs? It now runs on Champion W14Y but seems to want a hotter plug. Local classic car places want ridiculous prices for OEM plugs....like €96 a set...that is over $110 for 4 plugs. Is there a modern equivalent to possibly something like a W18Y? Possible Bosch modern equivalent? Are mods necessary to accommodate Iridium or other HP plugs? Are they worth it.


Sorry. Maybe too many questions.
 
Coils can fail if they get hot. Test by cooling the coil with ice or a rag dipped in water. Modern coils that are liquid filled may not work up side down because the liquid, which does the cooling, flows to the bottom and does not cool the inverted bottom, now top, of the coil. Look for coils that are filled with a solid material. If you have a 6 volt system look for a coil that does not have the internal bias resister.

The plugs should be grey or light brown at the electrodes. If black they are too cold.

An adapter can be bought to fit modern plugs. Make sure the plugs extend into the combustion area. Read the plugs to determine if they are too cold or too hot. Black indicates too cold. Burned indicates too hot.
 
If you're running a late cheap condenser made in china most likely it's the condenser. The burnout proof condensers actually hold up extremely well. The coils can go bad overtime when they get hot also.
 
If it ran before and then ran again 15 minutes later, it is likely heat related. I would not focus on plugs just yet. I would look at the coil, the condenser and the wiring. I once ran into a situation where the terminal at the end of a wire was not soldered, but only crimped. Some corrosion had gotten into the terminal connection and worked fine when warm and then crapped out. However, I would look to the condenser before anything else.
 
I had an original coil which would run for about 15 minutes then konk-out. Replaced it on the road with a new coil and the car ran fine. About plugs: I've run Champion 14s, 16s, 18s. with poor results. I now use Motorcraft SP-488, also known as TT-10. They work for me in a stock, built engine. They were cheap also. Good luck, LRF
 
Condensor, coil, wrong gas cap, or the lead is screwed too far up into the distibutor.
 
I wonder if the “insane“ noise level indicates something wrong, not just the lack of sound insulation. If your car is a closed model with windows, is it fully upholstered and does it have carpeting? Or are there large metal panels that are bare? I think the noise level in a stock Model A with a functioning muffler should only be a bit noisier than an inexpensive modern car. My friend’s 1960’s VW kafer/beetle with stock exhaust is considerably noisier inside than any Model A I’ve been in. I will say my Wretched Roadster has a very loud, buzzing harmonic vibration at certain speeds or rpm levels, but it quickly stops if I drive a little faster or slower. How would you describe the “insane” noise?
 
Thanks for the reply. My "A" is a fully stock 1930 Tudor (3 doors) DeLux built in Berlin and delivered on 1 July 1930. It sat in a barn from 1945-1995 when it was sold and then sat in another barn from '97-2021. Apparently the barns were very dry and ventilated, so zero rust anywhere and the paint polished out beautifully. Mechanically, nothing was done since the war. It is fully upholstered...as far as door panels and seats, headliner, etc, but the gaps between the interior paneling and the sheet metal were completely without any sound deadening. Also the complete lack of insulation between the firewall and the interior allows me to hear every noise the engine makes....including a lot of rattling sounds until it warms up. I have now installed high density sound reduction material inside of the sheet metal and at the firewall and it has quieted down a lot. It has the original muffler ...soon to be replaced...and that is rather loud even though no holes. Yes, there are lots of buzzing, rattling noises, but I have been tracking them down one at a time and they typically turn out to be simple loose nuts/washers, etc. which come and go with speed/vibration. It may be a question of expectations. This is my first pre-war classic...and those engines just seem to be full of strange noises absent in 1950s and later autos. Since purchasing my "A" I have managed to get acquainted with some other pre-war cars and they all seem to be 'loud'. Also...my daily drivers are very quiet MBs.
 
If you are comparing the noise of a Model A to a modern car, yes they are noisier. But some sound insulation and chasing down rattles can help.

It sounds line you have a very nice original car. Post some photos when you can.
 
My first thought would be the coil is getting too hot. As far as noises go, it shouldn't be that loud. Its not going to be silent like a modern car, but you should be able to have a conversation with the passenger without raising your voice any

I'd verify you have a solid connection between the manifold and the muffler pipe. Its a tricky thing to get right. It really reduced the noise level on mine. Another thing that really tamped down the rattles for me was getting all the wood flooring properly screwed down. Idk what the guy before me did, but on the bottom flooring every single screw hole on the body was stripped out. I ran a tap through them and put new hardware in and it made a huge difference in rattles as well as road noise.
 
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