won't start

[geraldchainsaw]

ssome days i should just stay in bed,   or have someone around that will kick me in the ass,   i was going to paint the inside wheel wells,  took it all apart but got to the heater housing and couldn't get to 1 nut,  (not me),   so i put it all back together,   went to staRT  it up and got a puff of smoke ,  got it running and shut it down,  little harder getting it to run,l  held the key on the egn let up on the key and it start3ed again,    shut it down and tried again,   oki now it don't start at all,  tried a new cylanoide  (not right),   nothing,  put the old one back on, nothing,   i have a electronic egnition setup,   can you tell my spelling isn't very good,     what did i screw up this time?,   could i have fried the coil?,   maybe the the egnition inside the dist?,    any ideas out there?,  thanks   jerry

[Zapato]

You replaced solenoid, was starter not turning over? no change by returning to original? trying to figure out at my end if you have a starter, battery,ground or ignition problem.

I'd start by checking the battery, all the basics is it charged, posts clean, good grounds.

Check for voltage at ignition side of solenoid. with key on at start.

If you have power there you can now eliminate your battery and ignition switch as culprits.

Double check your solenoid installation, small wires didn't get switched by accident.

Jump across the 2 large solenoid posts and the starter should turn over. and if everything is good in the solenoid it should be sending voltage to the coil. And from there high voltage to your distributor and forward to your plugs.

And if you have fuel it should ignite (you're not out of gas are you ?)

I've had more than one bad brand new solenoid in my time you might haul yours to a good parts house and have them check yours.

My guess the "puff of smoke" has nothing to do with your problem.

What sort of electronic ignition? Petronix? HEI?

Hope I've helped you some,

Good luck solving this and don't worry about your spelling it truly is not part of the problem.

Gerald, something I learned in Nam back in 72 that I always try to remember when all is going south if no one is shooting at me its a good day. No need for an ass kick.

Zap-

[geraldchainsaw]

ok,  1st i burned up the electronic egnition,  that was the puff of smoke,    i've gone vback to the old points,  still won't start,    will have to go back and check everythjing,    i set the points with the solinoide,  .016,    going out and check for top dead center, and dist pointer,    and recheck all my wires,     

[geraldchainsaw]

ok,  i got it running,    changed the coil,    but its still not right,    i can goose it and its fine,  but if i were to go down the highway at a steady speed it starts to act funny,    acts like its missing,    could be one of the spark wires is loose, could be it needs new spark plugs,  could be its out of timing,  and of course my darn timing light isn't working right,  maybe i shlould just quit for the day,    jerry

[geraldchainsaw]

ok new day,   the car runs,   starts right up,  but when u step on the gas it misses,   so today i'll check all spark plugs,  check all spark plug wires to c if there in the dist cap righjt,  timing light works and is where it should be on the crank mark,  on the dwell meter all i can get is 16 deg,   i'll also rechecks the points,   if i still can't get it working right, into the shop it goes,   o,  and to Zapato,  it was a petronix egn setup,   and it was the smoke, i fried the thing inside the dist,  o,  thats another thing,  i'll check for smoke inside the dist and wipe it clean to c if that helps,   if anyone else thinks of anything let me know,  thanks    jerry             ps,   whe n i post my picture of the 57 conv,  would it be ok to post pictures of my other 2 cars??/?,  not 57's,  but fords

[Frankenstein57]

If you are back to points, been awhile since I had the dwell meter on ,but I thought it was 28 degrees.Also, a bad condenser will make it do that, good luck.  Mark

[geraldchainsaw]

new update,      instead of a long story,   got it running  but had to change it to mechanical advance,   now that its running like it should,   im changing points cond  rotor and cap,    but still confussed why i'm only getting 15 deg dwell,   will c if changing everything helps,   will of course let u know,  thanks for any info you've given me,   jerry

[geraldchainsaw]

ok,   last update,  finished,    onlyu thing diff is the  mechanical advance,    changed everything except the wires,   idle rpm is around 8 or so,  and the dwell is up to around 26,    timing is around 6 or 8,   good thing i just ran out of zanax,     now,  am i close on my settings?,   thanks     jerry

[Frankenstein57]

how's she running? Mark

[geraldchainsaw]

so far so good,    went to get gas and all seemed good,  now today (sunday),  i'm going for a long ride,  will let u know how it turns out,    jerry                     runs great,      hit passing gear and it throws you back in the seat,   finally did something right.

[Zapato]

 Nah! you've been doing things right for a long time after all you bought a 57 Ford and joined this board.

Zap-

[RICH MUISE]

Those 4 are some great looking rides Gerry.