Yet another electrical issue

L

lwa29

Junior Member
Hey guys....fairly new here and have done some searching for this issue. My '29 won't start and think it's electrical. I've pulled the coil wire and I have NO spart while holding near the head bolts. Tonite I did more test with meter and found I have good joice at the pop out switch when it's removed from dist. but as soon as I screw it in ....even just a little bit...it grounds out and have not power. I'm assuming something is shorting out inside distributor. Again...asssume I need to work from bottom up inside dist. looking for problem. Can someone give me a list of things to check along the way? Again, I'm new to the Model A game so any help appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
 
Yes, as Bob said you are working on the ground side, so to check for voltage you need to stop the engine with the points open, or place a piece of plastic between the points contacts.
 
I f you have original style points Try some fine sand paper and sand between the contact points. Points will oxidize pretty quick if not run regularly, especially in damp or humid conditions. Be sure to sand enough to remove oxidation or pits. This will usually do the trick, if it was running good when last driven. If you are running the V8 points setup mny next guess would be the condenser. There is usually three or more bad modern condenser threads going on here at any given time.
 
Thanks to all for replys. I'll try opening points with paper and see what I get. I did have the car running a few days ago and now it won't fire at all. I've replace the coil and condensor (from another car I have) and neither seemed to help. Previously it would run anywhere from 10 secs. to 2 mins. Now ...it won't fire at all. I'm a rookie at this Model A game so not familar with how wiring is supposed to work.
Again...thanks for the help.
 
If you are new, if you have not purchased Les Andrews 2 books, restoring the model A, and Troubleshooting the Model A. These are so well done and step by step instructions. Well worth getting.
 
lwa29 said:
Thanks to all for replys. I'll try opening points with paper and see what I get. I did have the car running a few days ago and now it won't fire at all. I've replace the coil and condensor (from another car I have) and neither seemed to help. Previously it would run anywhere from 10 secs. to 2 mins. Now ...it won't fire at all. I'm a rookie at this Model A game so not familar with how wiring is supposed to work.
Again...thanks for the help.
Click to expand...

Did you use the step by step in the link I posted along with the diagram?
 
Start with a LOGICAL trouble shooting and stop DIVE BOMBING. Just follow the drawing of the primary and secondary system. Start at the battery and work forward..do not jump around and dive bomb....
 
Sometimes the cable inside the pop out will crack and expose the wire. When you force the spring in at the end by the distributor, the wire will short out against the pop out cable housing
 
What makes you think that there is a short??????? If there is a short, something will be getting hot, maybe smoking and it would drain the battery or cause a fire. Just because its not getting fire to the plugs or coil wire, certainly doesn't mean an electrical short.. Model A's are known for oxidation at the contact points after sitting up, especially in damp or humid conditions. Filing or sanding the points would be my first action. I had to do this to my roadster not long ago. Who knows now after all the things that you've already done.
 
Again, thanks for replys. I didn't get a chance to look at it over the weekend like I'd hoped. I will admit, I have "dive bombed" the trouble shooting a bit so will start at battery and work forward as many have suggested. Just to add to the list of things I've tried...I did file the points a few days ago without any luck.
 
lwa29 said:
Again, thanks for replys. I didn't get a chance to look at it over the weekend like I'd hoped. I will admit, I have "dive bombed" the trouble shooting a bit so will start at battery and work forward as many have suggested. Just to add to the list of things I've tried...I did file the points a few days ago without any luck.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your update!

Let us know exactly what you find whether you solve the problem of not.

I suggest you pick your ground point on the engine for all your measurements.
 
Well....following instructions provided by this forum....got it to run again tonite for a short bit. I suspect re-filing points was the answer. Once again she whould run for 30 sec to about a minute and then die. I don't have the generator hooked up because I don't have an alt. guage. So thinking that might be the issue. I literally have 2 wires....one from starter to (-) side of coil....then from (+) side to starter switch...then from other side of switch is the pop-out screwed into the dist. When I had it running a couple years ago, I believe the wire from generator was attached to (+) side of coil, but that doesn't seem to be working now. Just to explain...this car had been in uncle's storage sinse 1974 and I've pulled it out to get running...while trying to keep it as close to "as it was" as possible. Therefore I've added very little. If I could get some pics posted you would understand. Car is an old family hunting wagon with no doors or top. My goal is to just get it so it will start reliably. The engine is from another model A I had.
 
There is a great Model A Club in Wichita. Get in touch with them they will be glad to help you get going.
 
I think there may be some confusion in terminology.
The left picture is the pop-out switch and the right is
the starter switch.

Bob
 

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Ok assuming your battery is still hooked up as orginal positive to ground. And you are really not using the factory wire harness. You need a wire from the starter switch where the battery cable hooks on to the - negative side of the coil, from the + positive side of the coil you need a wire running to the ing. switch. That is all (assuming you have the ing. switch connected to the dist. via the armer cable). As a side note I would also run a wire from the generator to the starter switch bolt where the battery cable connects so you do not distroy your generator with no load. You do not need a amp meter, that just gives info to the drive on the charging status. For this test it is not need.
 
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