Re: Mooing-Spewing- 65Rambler wont' start

[Matt Haas <mhaas@xxxxxxx>]

Brian,

Did you have the ignition turned on (I spent a few hours with a friend 
trying to figure this out on *his* Jeep)? Also, make sure the coil is wired 
properly. The yellow (I think) wire in the harness and red wire on your 
Ignitor should be on the + side and the black wire to the ignitor should be 
on the negative side. A mis-wired coil usually produces a weak spark but I 
don't know an Ignitor reacts to that problem.

If those things check out, with the ignition on, connect a test light or 
volt meter to the + coil terminal ground. The light should come on or you 
should have voltage (I think somewhere around 8 volts but could be a less 
or more). Next, turn the ignition off and check continuity between the 
distributor body and the negative battery cable. If you have voltage to the 
coil and continuity on the ground, check to make sure the coil puts out a 
spark.

To do that, disconnect the black wire from the Ignitor and connect a test 
wire to a known good ground. Turn the ignition on, hold the coil wire a 
short distance from a know good ground (a spark plug works well for this), 
and then momentarily touch your ground wire to the - coil terminal and pull 
it away. You should see a spark. If you do, chances are the Ignitor is dead 
-- try switching back to your points setup. If you don't see a spark, the 
coil is probably bad.

Have you tried getting a TSM (Technical Service Manual) for your car yet? 
It's full of this type of information.

Matt

At 03:46 PM 11/26/2004 -0500, you wrote:
> This is the continuing saga of the "mooing" and "carb spewing" 1965 
> Rambler American 232 auto.
>
> What is new:
> Plugs, Plug Wires, Coil (Flamethrower coil I had, new), Distributor (with 
> Pertronix Elec Ignition conversion), Battery, Battery Cables, Starter
>
> So.. the entire ignition is pretty much new except for the main wiring 
> harness.
>
> Last week I did most of that stuff, and when I tried to start the car, it 
> wouldnt start and the carb would spew/cough out fuel. The general 
> consensus was "your 180 degrees off". Ok. Cool. Lets work with that.
>
> So pulled plug No1, stuck my finger in the hole, and wired a 'manual push 
> button starter' so I could kick the engine to feel the "air fart" on 
> Cylinder 1 to determine TDC.  ((btw.. thanks for NOT telling me that my 
> finger would be "sucked in" first! That scared the bejeezus outta me!)). I 
> got the "fart", and then i manually turned the engine so it was at 
> TDC.  It did seems I was off 180, so i reinserted the distributer so i was 
> pointing at Cyl1 at TDC. And i then redid all the plug wires (sequence) 
> just to be safe.
>
> Ok.. so now I should be golden!  Tried to start it... Wrr Wrr Wrr.. Wrr 
> Wrr Wrr... Hmm.  Looking down the carb, I see the fuel spray when I pull 
> the accell cable, so im getting fuel.  And I tried some Starting Fluid to 
> give it a kick. Still nothing.  Wrr Wrr Wrr.
>
> Hm.. So i think, let me see if i have spark. I pulled the Coil cable out 
> of the distributor (still connected to coil) and held the end near the 
> block to look for a spark. Using the Manual Push button starter jumper 
> thingy.. Wrr Wrr Wrr Wrr.. no spark.  So I now have no spark coming out of 
> the coil (which would probably explain why it wont start.)
>
> Was I correct in trying to determine spark this way?  I would see a spark 
> arc when I did this right?  If so, how can i manual wire the coil to see 
> if its the engine harness? Im guessing I connect the POS coil post to 
> the....um.....to what?
>
> I made a video of the "wrr wrr"  You can see it here: (or listen)
> http://www.brianhagen.com/enginebay/nostart.mov
>
> I also took several photos of the engine bay.. maybe you see something 
> wrong that im missing?
> http://www.brianhagen.com/enginebay/index.htm
>
>
> Also for extra credit! Can anyone identify that carb? Its a Carter WCD, 
> but i don't think its original since it has a lean burn system on front 
> (which is the purple/red wire on the coil btw)
>
> Thank you everyone for all your help
> Brian

mhaas@xxxxxxx
Cincinnati, OH
http://www.mattsoldcars.com
1966 Rambler Rebel
1968 Rambler American sedan
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