Put your thinking caps on. 272 won't run.

Tom in TN

Tom in TN

Senior Member
1955 272cuin.
3K miles since an overhaul.
Has been running great except for a stopped up carb. Changed that and it was fine.
Ran it 50 miles away Saturday..on the return trip, it started burping... and run ok..then burping some more..then run ok...then more steady burping...by the time we got home, it almost would not run. Will not crank now.
Have checked: Gas- by pouring some fresh down the carb- still no fire.
Points: found them closed (thought that was my prob) opened them to .015 and still no fire.
Dist wire to coil - got continuity
Ignition on- got 7+ volts on hot side of coil.
Changed the condensor.
Rotor- changed it
Dist cap, looks good
All plug wires are in place.

Doers anyone have an outside the box solution...other than blowing it up? :(
 
Mark the dist rotor point it to fire wall mark.Take the dist out.get all dirt off under side around shaft.Turn up side down and oil.Take dist turn and see if shaft is worn.Set your points.Now you can try this if you want.get 2 wires about 2 foot long one to ground dist and other to reach dist from coil.Take wire out of cap and hold about 1/2 inch from grd.Now turn key on and turn dist by hand.If you have spark and can hear a nice spark your good to go.With the sun to your back ,you have your own sun machine.
 
Pull the coil wire out of the cap slightly, Have someone crank it over and see if you have spark.
 
Put a volt meter on the coil when cranking to see if you are losing voltage. Make sure you have a ground strap from motor to frame. Swap out the coil to eliminate that as the culprit.
 
So you have power to the hot side of the coil. Put a piece of paper or toothpick between the points. Turn the key on. Now, do you have power on the dist side of the coil? Do you have power the the dist primary post? Power to the points? Remove the paper. Do the points arc when opened with a screwdriver? Is the ground wire in the dist frayed or broke? Did the coil wire create a spark when you opened and closed the points by hand? How does the cap look? Rotor?

Follow the power, piece by piece. When you get to where you no longer have it, there's your trouble spot.
 
You said that the carb had been 'stopped up' how did it get that way?

Did you solve that problem? How? Filter? Clean tank?
 
Thanks fellers... I yanked the dist Wed night and am going thru it wire by wire and I have a new coil on the way.
Dist gear is solid.
Shaft doesn't wobble.
Points look so-so, but will be getting new ones.
Wire from sw is good because it was delivering 7+volts to the hot side of the coil.

Latest update..
New coil,
new points
new condensor
new wire from dist to coil
better ground wire inside the dist...

Haven't tried it all yet, because I'm stuck at 1/4" from getting the dist back in the motor. It look like the hex rod going to the oil pump has tilted over slightly and is preventing the end of the dist shaft from slipping down over it. Dang... :(

Carb issue was solved by changing carbs. This is electrical because fresh ful down the carb throat did nothing.

I'll keep ya posted...
 
Note: Another name for a starter in the manuals is "cranking motor". The speed at which the starter turns an engine over is called "cranking RPM". To "crank" means to rotate the engine or "turn it over". To "fire" or "fire up" means the engine is running under it's own power. To say it does not crank means it will not rotate or turn over, thus the battery is dead, the cables are corroded, the starter is bad or the engine is seized. To say it 'turns over' but won't 'crank' is a contradiction in terms.
 
Nice a lesson. Hope that helped with you getting your car fixed. Jeezuz.

When your bumpingthe motor if it still wont go, the pump shaft might be bent so be careful. While you have access to it, pull it out with a magnet, make sure the lock washer is on it, and roll is on a flat surface to make sure its straight.

You described exactly what happened to me once. Aside from the electrical problem, I had a bent shaft too.

Good luck and keep us informed.

Cheers and beers
Hodge
 
All good advise on electrical problems; I can add one more. Sometimes the solinoid goes bad, it completes the circuit to the starter, but not the coil, only in the run position.
Years ago I had the same problem with a 55 292 (ex Florida highway partrol car) I was just a kid then (1962) and had adjusted the valves way too tight; as it warmed up, it slowly ran worse and worse, til it would not run or start. All the pushrods were bent. Recently a 62 truck 6 cly id the same thing, except it was the valve sticking ope, til all the pushrods bent. It s worth checking out. In any case, good luck! geo
 
I know that this is simple, but did you check to be sure that the distributor rotor is rotating? Cam drives have been known to break.
 
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