Jack '29 Sport Coupe
Well-known member
Winterizing the coupe in Florida doesn't take me very long, especially
since I drive it all year long. Normally it just consists of lowering and
zipping up the rear window flap, lol. Today, however, I decided to tackle
what I thought was just a case of hard starting "doldrums" caused by
slightly cooler weather. It never fails to start, but the last couple of
days it acted like my '50 Plymouth did in the dead of winter in Ohio. I
used to have to lay a 100 watt bulb on top of the block at night if I was
going to have a chance at starting it in the morning. Don't laugh,it worked! Of course the first thing I checked was the battery and it was
good to go. While looking under the hood for ANYTHING that didn't look
right, I noticed what appeared to be water on the coil wire. A swipe of the wire with my finger told me otherwise. Yep, it was oil----about as
thin as "3 in 1 oil." So, I took the coil off and right away noticed that the
screw that goes into the coil was loose. I tightened the screw and then
decided to relegate it along with the wire to the spare parts shelf since
I had a new wire and coil. Anyway, long story short, it seems to have
been the culprit because the car fires up like it should without the whirring
"I think I can" noise. One thing I'm learning about the "A" is that what
appears to be the problem isn't necessarily the problem----at all. Has
anybody else had what appeared to be a weak battery turn out to be
the coil? Just curious.
Jack
since I drive it all year long. Normally it just consists of lowering and
zipping up the rear window flap, lol. Today, however, I decided to tackle
what I thought was just a case of hard starting "doldrums" caused by
slightly cooler weather. It never fails to start, but the last couple of
days it acted like my '50 Plymouth did in the dead of winter in Ohio. I
used to have to lay a 100 watt bulb on top of the block at night if I was
going to have a chance at starting it in the morning. Don't laugh,it worked! Of course the first thing I checked was the battery and it was
good to go. While looking under the hood for ANYTHING that didn't look
right, I noticed what appeared to be water on the coil wire. A swipe of the wire with my finger told me otherwise. Yep, it was oil----about as
thin as "3 in 1 oil." So, I took the coil off and right away noticed that the
screw that goes into the coil was loose. I tightened the screw and then
decided to relegate it along with the wire to the spare parts shelf since
I had a new wire and coil. Anyway, long story short, it seems to have
been the culprit because the car fires up like it should without the whirring
"I think I can" noise. One thing I'm learning about the "A" is that what
appears to be the problem isn't necessarily the problem----at all. Has
anybody else had what appeared to be a weak battery turn out to be
the coil? Just curious.
Jack