Thread: For Don Shilady

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[QUOTE=Don Shillady;533019] Yesterday I replaced the chrome version of the Flamethrower coil with another plain brown Flamethrower that worked before and I got the same brief start of the engine so I am pretty sure I have spark


Don, if you have a volt meter. Test for voltage with the key on at the Positive connection of the coil. I'm thinking the problem is in your ignition switch or the ignition wire. That's why you get the brief start while cranking because the starter has fed voltage to the coil.

Of course this is just a hunch.. and a diagnosis from a long way a'ways...

Originally Posted by 34_40

Don, if you have a volt meter. Test for voltage with the key on at the Positive connection of the coil. I'm thinking the problem is in your ignition switch or the ignition wire. That's why you get the brief start while cranking because the starter has fed voltage to the coil.

Of course this is just a hunch.. and a diagnosis from a long way a'ways...

GOOD CATCH! It could be that simple, may even be a bad fuse.

Room, Room, Roooooooom, Zooooooom!

Thanks 34-40! Initially the voltage at the (+) terminal was only 0.35 V so I checked under the dash and found the ignition key-switch was wired correctly, BUT the "run" terminal has four wires on it and the screw was stripped so the wire to the coil was dangling loosely although still on the terminal. Probably a combination of a stripped connection and vibration loosened the "run" connection. A trip to my favorite ACE hardware store yielded a steel (for strength) 8-32 bolt, a nut for the same and three small star washers. It was tedious to thread the longer screw through the four soldered eyelets but the nut on the back of the connector allowed me to tighten the connection really good and the star washers should maintain a good connection. Originally I soldered all the wire ends with closed loop eyelets but they are bulky when bunched together so the longer bolt helped a lot, all at a total cost of 96 cents! Then I charged the battery for 30 minutes and turned the key. The engine started IMMEDIATLY (!) and I took the car for a short test drive! However the reading at the (+) coil terminal was 11.8 V still without a ballast resistor. Monday morning I will call the Pertronix Tech and get an estimate of how long the 1.5 ohm coil will last with the full voltage. During my research on ballast resistors I came across one comment on another site where a street racer rigged a toggle switch to bypass the resistor for occasional hotter spark but still keep the resistor for usual running. His comment was that that the coil would burn up if the full voltage was used all the time and now with my new 5" alternator pulley the voltage when running is 14 V most of the time so I think I do need that ballast resistor. Well I learned a lot about the ignition circuit beyond just blindly making connections and after all you folks on this forum solved the problem for me. Along the way I got a new fuel filter, a new fuel pump and nice new braided stainless fuel line from the tank to the engine! It is difficult to debug by e-mail and of course if I had found that loose connection first it would have only cost me 96 cents. However the cockpit of the 1929 roadster body is really uncomfortable to debug wires under the dash and one necessary part of this problem is CVS maximum strength muscle rub, which comes in handy at my age! Just as in my previous career writing computer programs
the "error" is always simple when you find it! 34-40, 36-Sedan and Roger thanks for sharing my frustration but still leading to a solution.

P.S. 36-Sedan where is "american canyon", Arizona?

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder