Okay, you guys helped out yesterday by telling us where my 17 year old son should have the timing marks on his 64 Wildcat while replacing the chain and sprokets. He got that done on his snow day but when he went to start it the engine would fire but wouldn't stay running. If he holds the key in the position to start it the engine will idle. As soon as he lets the key return to what should be the normal running position the engine cuts out. He never moved the distributor but I don't know if that the problem... I'm no timing expert! He checked the coil wires and they both have good connections. Any ideas on what's up? We appreciate all your help.:beer
Put a voltmeter between the + side of the coil and ground. Check for voltage in the crank and run positions. If you are holding the key in the crank position, the motor is being driven by the starter motor. How could it idle ? Have you touched any wires down near the starter?
The coil should have 12V from the solenoid when the starter is engaged, and8V when in the run position. The easiest way to check the risistor wire is to run a hot wire from the plus side of the battery to the plus side of the coil. If it runs ( which it will) ,that means your resistor wire or ignition switch is bad.
I don't know if he touched anything down by the starter or not... if he did could that be the problem? Several months ago his starter went out and as a surprise I had it rebuilt for him. He didn't have any problems with it after that. So when he checks the coil wires what should he find? Last night he was so disappointed he was going to go to bed at 6PM. That's not good for a 17 year old on Friday night. We're hoping to get this thing beat. Thanks for the help.:beer
A new update.... he tried running a wire from the coil to the battery yesterday. It didn't work. When he did that he says the cars fired up just like it did with the key and cut right out again. Basically it was the same as with the key. He tried disconnecting the ignition switch and jumpering across it too... same results. I've been out there when he starts it. It sounds good but cuts right out. It's backfired a couple times though, something it never did before it jumped timing. Any ideas? We appreciate the help, thank you!:3gears:
It does not seem reasonable that the engine will not run with a hot wire. Your coil should have the minus side going to the distributor, and the plus to the harness. if you put a hot lead from the battery to the harness side of the coil and it doesn't run, but will run as long as you hold the key in the start position., I don't have a clue.
I've got some more info that might help. He just went out to check his baby and found out that he had left the ignition switch on. He tried cranking it over to see if the battery was dead and it wasn't at all. Does this mean it's probably the ignition switch? It's kind of a mystery to me as I'm not the master of electrical or timing problems. Put the thinking cap on guys and help us out... he's dying to have her running. Thanks for the help, you've all been great.:3gears:
You said it backfired.....that's a clue. Did he mix up the plug wires? If the valve timing is off, it likely threw off the spark timing as well, and that would explain the backfire. Don't try to compensate for the wrong valve timing by re-adjusting the ignition timing....it won't work. There is a way to check the valve timing without removing the timing cover: Remove the right side valve cover, and watch cyl. #1 in the front. While rotating the crank back and forth with a breaker bar, at the point where the rockers balance equally the piston should be at top center. (you have to remove the spark plug and insert a long screwdriver in the hole to see this) If the rockers don't seem to move try rotating the crank one full turn, the motor can't be on the compression stroke for this test. I'll be watching this thread. Good luck!:bglasses:
Let me try and explain how voltage flows in the points system. The coil + gets votage from a wire that runs from the firewall(near the fuse block, engine side). Part of that wire is a resistance wire, that drops voltage down to about 7 volts when the car is running to help the points last. There is a wire that runs from the starter solenoid "R" terminal up to the feed wire from the firewall. It bypasses the resistance portion of the feed wire to supply full battery voltage to the coil for a quick start. There is only voltage from the "R" terminal when cranking the motor. After the engine starts, and the key is in the run position, voltage runs through the feed/resistance wire. If the car seems to start quickly when the key is turned, and will only keep running with the starter cranking, you may be losing the voltage through the main feed from the firewall. You need to measure the voltage at the coil positive, with the key in the run position.(I hope you have a voltmeter) Check your wiring between the firewall and the coil, and make sure the wires at the starter are right.
