Finally got my 1954 chevy running. It ran for about 3-4 minutes and quit. Started again and did the same thing. Now it wont start. It turns over, but wont fire. I changed the condenser and points. Went back to crank it and sparks came from behind the ignition key appeared. Could this be the reason it wonk crank now. Ive run the gas lines, card, distro, etc. But cant figure it out. Thanks
Re: Make sure none of the wires on the back of the switch are frayed/bare and touching each other. Unhook the battery ground cable before you drop the switch out of the dash. Good luck!
Check out that switch...the wires may be touching on the back, or it may be shorting out inside. If you get it all looking right, put it back in, hook up your battery, turn the switch to "on" and test with a lamp at the coil. You should have power there between positive and negative. Been a while since I worked on a positive ground system, but one way or another you need to be getting power to the coil. If the switch is malfunctioning and not sending power to your coil, it would cause it to quit and not want to start again. If you do find you have power there but it still wont start, you have a whole list of potential suspects. Possibly the first may be the coil itself...bad coils can work fine until they get warm, then quit. I would doublecheck the fuel supply though, possibly a plugged filter???...the symptoms of running and quitting out of the blue smells a bit of a lack of fuel...
" Sparks Behind The Ignition Switch " This is VERY serious ! STOP until this problem is fixed or by passed . If you have the original cloth wires , if may be as simple as mice chewing them until they're bare & touching . If you're planning to replace the harness , disconnect it all now and we'll walk you through simple a by pass just for make run , then you can re wire it cheaply or the right way with a new harness , later on . BEWARE OF ELECTRICAL FIRES ! they'll burn your Ship Of The Highway to the waterline before you can say " oh , no " .
Thanks for the input. I will work on it this weekend and let you know what I come up with. On a side note can anyone send me a picture or explain to me how the accelerator return spring attaches. Is it vertical or horizontal. 1954 chevy 1/2 ton truck. Thanks
Remove everything from the battery cable post on your starter and put just the cable from the battery back on. There should just be one other wire but after this many years who knows? Run a jumper wire from the starter battery terminal to the + side of the coil. If a stomp starter just use it or if a key start use a screwdriver between the battery terminal and the solenoid terminal on the starter. If it starts all is well with the ignition system and the problem is in the wiring or switch. If not, something is wrong with ignition or fuel supply.
Throttle Return Spring Here is a picture of the throttle return spring and one out of the factory assembly manual
