Troubleshooting no start - prize for correct answer

[Guest E.Murray]

The set-up:

carbed 350 with Pertronix Ignitor II and MSD6AL ignition.

The story:

Lost power on the highway. Pulled over and it died. I restarted it and drove another 1/2 mile and it coughed, sputtered and died. Popped the hood and noticed my glass fuel filter going to the carb was sitting on the valve cover. The gas was bubbling like crazy. Take it off the cover and the bubbling stops immediately; put it back on and the bubbling starts up. I wrap it in a rag to keep it off the cover and go to re-start. Pop... the main fusible link blows. An hour later, I replace the fusible link and the car cranks but doesn't want to start. Doesn't even sputter like it's interested. I pull a spark plug to check for spark and Vroom, it fires right up. Since this incident, it starts up about every other or every 2 out of 3 times. When it starts, it fires up immediately (like it always has). When it doesn't start, I can crank until the battery runs down and it won't do a thing. No cough, no sputter, just the starter turning it over. If I go in for a while and come back outside, it will usually fire right up. Seems to run fine and has no other symptoms whatsoever. The few times I've tried to check for spark, as soon as I get everything ready, it starts up, so I can't tell if that's the problem or not. Anyone ever heard of a Pertonix going haywire like this (I'm thinking it must be the ignition since I can see fuel just before the carb)? If need be, I'll buy a set of points, undo my wiring and pull the Pertronix out to check, but I want to get some smarter opinions. Coil? MSD box? Something else entirely? I'm stumped.

The prize:

A "thank you" all in capital letters, hand typed by me.

...Hey those are CAPITAL letters, not that lower-case junk everyone else is offering.

[maichor]

I would start with the simple stuff first as it sounds like you already have. I have "fixed" several cars that "just quit" by popping the hood, finding the coil wire hanging loose and connecting it. I have a friend who is particulary challenged when it comes to all things mechanical. I got a good laugh when he pushed his truck home 3 blocks and called me over to check it out. "What would you give me if I could fix it in about 2 seconds without any tools?" That one was fun.

 

I'm sure you have done this, or some of it, but I would check the coil wire for good contacts on both ends and your MSD as well. Check to make sure that everything is grounded very well. Since, you blew a fuse, I would be thinking short, something hot to ground. However, ghosts in the electronics do occur, especially when hot (i.e. computer freezing up.)

 

Good luck, I hate electrical Gremlins.

[80LS1T]

Hehe, I just fixed a truck yesterday at work that had a sudden no start/died while driving. Turns out that the moron who installed the remote start system ran the wire that goes to the coil right over the top of the engine and it melted on the passenger side exhaust manifold, causing the coil to ground out and shut the engine off because of no spark. Took me about 5 minutes to diagnose and fix!

 

I agree with Maichor, check for loose connections with the ignition first. Maybe when you are messing with stuff under the hood you are moving a set of contacts an that is what is causing the intermitent no start?

 

Guy

[fastzcars]

Is this a new install? I had a similar problem with my car would stall and when I opened the hood to check, the car would start every time. Then on one occation I slammed down the hood after a restart and the car died. I found the the secondary safety latch had cut right through the center spark plug boot at the center of the distributer, you know the plug wire to the coil, grounding out the coil. It was hard to find the cut because the latch had sliced it so nice and neat. Could't even tell it was cut.

[Guest E.Murray]

I've spent too much time driving junk to not know the jiggle it/kick it/beat on it with a hammer routine every time something weird happens. In fact, the radiator went on my "backup" car on the way home last night. It was actually a lot of fun watching people's reactions as I was engulfed in white smoke (coolant shooting onto the engine) at every stoplight. It was 18 degrees out and the fan works good so I didn't overheat, but it was hilarious watching everyone around me keep their distance because of all the smoke boiling out from under the hood They thought my Jeep was going to explode any second. I had my own lane all the way home. Anyway, all the wiring looks good and I've checked every connection many times. I was hoping someone would pop up and say "hey, my Pertronix/MSD coil/MSD box/widget did the same thing after I blew my fusible link". I think maybe the fusible link popped because the engine was hot and I kept cranking away on it (I don't think the starter is in the best shape). Anybody ever had the starter pull enough juice to blow the link? Thanks for the suggestions.

[maichor]

Well, for what it is worth, the MSD box on my brothers truck got fried and was working intermittently. He sent it in to get it checked/replaced. They told him that they thought his alarm, ignition cutoff caused the failure. He got rid of the cutoff and got a new MSD and has been ok. He is pretty tough on that truck though, I'm sure that a "waterproof" and "shockproof" MSD does have limits, maybe it wasn't the alarm. Get out a volt meter when it is not working and start checking wires from the ignition.