I have never had trouble starting this 1952, 216 engine until this weekend. Started fine, started out the driveway, and it just stopped. Fuel is moving to the carboratour just fine. Starter is cranking just fine. But nothing is firing. Just like that. What do you check for this. I admit, as much as I have done to this truck, I have never had to fiddle with the distributor or points. The plugs were changed about 2 years ago (but that may be at most 500 miles). Most striking, tho', is that it started up wonderfully, and then just stopped, heading down the driveway. What seems most likely? How would I check? Really exposing an ignorance here -- any help appreciated, as always!!! Eric
No Start O.K. , begin simply : look in the corner of the garage (under the seat , bottom of the glovebox etc.) until you find an old sparkplug out of any old engine , unplug the _longest_ plug wire (typically # 1 or # 6 cylinder) and plug the old plug into it , lay the plug on the rockerbox against the oil cap so it won't roll off , turn the ignition on and crank the starter ~ you should see rythmic sparks , blue - white in color , if they're orange , yellow on not existant , there's the trouble . If it's still 6 volts , remember the spark only comes every 360 degrees of crankshaft revolution , not fast . If you don't have a good test light , stop now and go buy one , NOT with a coiled cord nor one that's only $7.00 ! I saw a really nice one at the Ace Hardware Store where I bought my American Made hose nozzle last week . DO NOT waste your time trying to diagnose the ignition system with amulti - meter ! that tool is for different jobs , not ignition or lighting trouble shooting
not starting don't forget to check the condenser. Its a cheep part you can just by one and change without changing the timing
I had a 53 gmc with the original motor in it 6 volt, and points dist. it did the same to me ,the power wire broke,because of the old wire harness has cloth covering i didnt see it until i started checking everything.
Maybe a start, but.... Thanks for the thoughts. Nate, I hate to sound really stupid, but when you say to get a good test light, you mean the test lights that test if a current is moving through a particular line? I admit the one I have is really cheap.... Also, if I dont see the rythymic sparking that you mention, you say there is the problem. But I am so numb, I am not sure what that problem is..... Haven't checked for the sparking yet, but if you see this and can give me the additional info, that would be great, as always!!! By the way, I recently converted to 12 volt, but it has seemed to go very well. Could that short out my condenser, or something like that... I have a new coil, what with the conversion... Eric
NOT ' Stupid ' !! There's a big differenvce between " I don't know / understand this " and " I can't get it " . You use the test light in basic mode , ground wire firmly clipped to the carby (always well grounded and no you cannot start a fire) and the pointy end (" probe ") is touched first to the hot lead on the starter so you know it's properly grounded then you turn the key on and probe for current at each of the small terminals on the coil ~ both light up ? good , now hold the probe on one terminal and use your left hand to operate the starter , it'll take quite a shove , if the light stays on , probe the _other_ small coil wire whilst cranking , it should blink on and off , if it doesn't , there's the problem : the points are not working , could be the thin wire between coil and points is open circuit , etc. , etc. . If you get no light atall when probing the coil connections , there's the problem : a loose wire (most common) between the ign. switch and the coil or the ign. switch is bad... , somewhere the current is open circuit . Since you converted it to 12 volts , it might now have a ballast resistor , this is unecessary unless you also have an ignition by-pass circuit , ballast resistors like to crap out and go open circuit a lot , then no power to the coil . ' Open Circuit ' means current is applied to one end of a circuit (wire , device , whatever) but it doesn't come out the other end , this is VERY different from the mostly mis - used work " Short Circuit" ~ a short means the current is going to ground before it should and will almost always be accompanied by smoke , hot or burning wires , blown fuses etc. I hope ths helps , just take a bit of time and fiddle with it , resist the urge to take things apart before testing and don't mindlessly throw new parts at it hopiong for a <magic> cure . Keep us posted and we'll (note : not only me has good advice here) get you through it .
