spridgets
[Top] [All Lists]

Re: Please Help the Neophyte

To: KrkLH@cs.com, spridgets@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: Please Help the Neophyte
Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2005 06:40:03 -0600
References: <146.3ec5d396.2f444bc8@cs.com>
On Wed, 16 Feb 2005 02:10:00 EST, KrkLH wrote
> Ok,
> 
> Here is the deal.  My 59 Bugeye is on stands and has been for a good 
> month.  I start it off and on and it runs fine - the motor really 
> "pops" as they say.
> 
> I added an electric fan and did all the hookups and everything went 
> fine including the neat little switch under the dash which can be 
> used to manually turn the fan on in hot weather.
> 
> The car sat for a about a week.  I went out to start it today and no 
> go.  It will kick over one turn once in a while while I crank, and 
> that is about it.  And the little bit of life that it does offer is 
> by way of a bit of carb cleaner squirted into the SU's.

Uh, do you mean carb cleaner or ether?  Check for fuel in the float bowls on 
the carbs.  Just beacuse the fuel pump is ticking doesn't mean it's 
delivering fuel (could be something as simple as a split in the line causing 
the pump to suck air instead of fuel, or even an empty tank.)

> I checked the spark by pulling a plug out and it sparked against a 
> ground point.  Although for some reason it appeared to me that the 
> spark might be kind of weak.  The spark would not cross the gap on 
> the plug - but would cross a small gap between the plug itself and a 
> vise grip wrench that I grounded to the copper heater line running 
> over the carbs.

Could be a bad plug, but 1 bad plug won't generally keep a car from starting, 
it will just make it run badly.

> I noticed that the hot wire from the battery to the solenoid had a 
> crack in the tubular housing that sits just before the terminal 
> ring.  And, while I was trying to start the car the solenoid began 
> to get hot which I attribute to the resistance (or lack thereof) 
> created by the crack that I mentioned.  I finally cooked the 
> solenoid.  So off for another solenoid tomorrow.  Not a big deal as 
> the car was retrofitted years ago with an early Ford 1960's type.
 
I think it's unlilely that the crack is the problem.  Are you talking about a 
crack in a rubber or plastic insulating piece, or in a metal part?

> So - I think that the solenoid got hot due to many starting attempts 
> and the bad wire leading up to it from the pos side of the battery?

Or the solenoid itself was dying.  That seems likely, if the contacts inside 
the unit were wearing out.  The resistance goes up, and so does the heat.
 
> The electric fuel pump is one of those small box types that looks 
> like a small power transformer out of a guitar amp.  Although it is 
> elderly, it does come on and appears to be working.   Again this 
> engine would run fine when I would start it once in a while.

See commetns above re: checking the float bowls
 
> Any ideas from the list?

Uh, have you charged the battery lately?

Chris K.





<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>