It just stopped
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 4,226
Likes: 643
From: Orange County Ca
It just stopped
So I'm cruising along at about 50mph and the engine just stopped. It back fired through the carb and I coasted to the sided of the road. Just a few minutes before, another motorist told me that my brake lights were out. Being close to home, I figured I'd check them out when I got home.
I checked for power at the coil and got nothing. When I looked at the fuse block I saw that both the brake and the turn signal fuse were blown.
I replaced both fuses and everything worked well in my driveway.
I thought it odd that the brake and turn signal fuses are also the ignition hot to the coil??
But, again today, about 10 mi down the road, exactly the same thing happened again. Engine stopped and the brake lights are out.
Another thing I noticed is that when I hooked up my dwell meter to check my points after the first incident, it read high circuit resistance. The points looked good, but I took them out and cleaned up the contacts. It ran fine, but the meter still said that it had high circuit resistance.
So, any ideas?
I checked for power at the coil and got nothing. When I looked at the fuse block I saw that both the brake and the turn signal fuse were blown.
I replaced both fuses and everything worked well in my driveway.
I thought it odd that the brake and turn signal fuses are also the ignition hot to the coil??
But, again today, about 10 mi down the road, exactly the same thing happened again. Engine stopped and the brake lights are out.
Another thing I noticed is that when I hooked up my dwell meter to check my points after the first incident, it read high circuit resistance. The points looked good, but I took them out and cleaned up the contacts. It ran fine, but the meter still said that it had high circuit resistance.
So, any ideas?
Last edited by Sayfoo; Feb 19, 2016 at 06:49 PM.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jul 2015
Posts: 823
Likes: 57
From: Austin TX
Are all the lights working, including parking lights? Sometimes when a filament breaks on a failing bulb, it will create a temporary short that blows a fuse. Don't know about your dwell meter, I never used one of those to measure point resistance.
Team Owner
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 87,361
Likes: 1,592
From: Western NY
I'm not all that good at electrical problems, but my suggestion would be to remove the brake and turn signal fuses, then go for a ride. If the car stay running, you've isolated the circuit(s) where the problem is. Just a wild guess...maybe your brake light switch is going bad.
Pro
Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 578
Likes: 107
From: colo
Will it run if you take those 2 fuses out ? I had a 68 Firebird that had an intermittent condenser. I could drive it 10-20 miles and then it would just stop. It would take an hour or so to cool down and drive it again. Most of my trips were short, so I don't know how long it had been bad.
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 4,226
Likes: 643
From: Orange County Ca
Will it run if you take those 2 fuses out ? I had a 68 Firebird that had an intermittent condenser. I could drive it 10-20 miles and then it would just stop. It would take an hour or so to cool down and drive it again. Most of my trips were short, so I don't know how long it had been bad.
It looks like I have 2 different problems.
Isn't it weird that the ignition power circuit also feeds the turn signals, back up light, etc.?
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Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 6,539
Likes: 1,973
From: Temple Terrace Florida
Emergency
I would carry a length of 16 ga. wire with me that can from the positive side of the battery to the positive side of the coil. You could also run a wire from the positive side of the horn relay to the coil. This will get you home and save a tow bill. This is a temporary fix only. This bypasses the ignition switch and fuse box. Once connected, your car should start with the ignition switch. Jerry
Advanced
Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 71
Likes: 4
From: San Francisco CA
Visually inspect and examine the related wiring harnesses for rubbing, fraying, pinching, etc. be sure to also look at the wiring coming out of the mounted lamp assemblies. Disassemble and inspect all the related lamp assemblies and wiring for possible problems. Also push the spring loaded lamp contacts down to see if that reveals anything.
An intermittent points condenser can cause ignition failure. Don't know why that would cause fuses to blow though. However, it's easy and cheap enough to just replace it and move the troubleshooting process along.
An intermittent points condenser can cause ignition failure. Don't know why that would cause fuses to blow though. However, it's easy and cheap enough to just replace it and move the troubleshooting process along.
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 4,226
Likes: 643
From: Orange County Ca
After a lot of research and time checking the wiring, I reasoned that the no run problem was a heat related, over current problem that would blow the fuse. So, grasping straws, I looked at the coil. It tested fine on my vom, but from what I could find on the web, this wasn't a real definitive test. So I installed a new coil and the car starts/runs as good as ever. For now anyway. I have made a few trips and it seems to be holding up.
Looking back, the car has been a bit harder to start for the last 1,000 miles or so.
I've tried tuning it up at couple of times without any luck. I was leaning towards the carb being the issue, so this all makes sense.
Coils are pretty reliable, and I don't know of anyone actually have one go out. I know of a few people that have changed them, without any improvement, while tracking down ignition problems, so it wasn't on the top of my list to check/replace.
The brake light problem seems to have been a wire harness rubbing against the clutch pedal. Easy fix here.
Thanks for all the suggestions.
Looking back, the car has been a bit harder to start for the last 1,000 miles or so.
I've tried tuning it up at couple of times without any luck. I was leaning towards the carb being the issue, so this all makes sense.
Coils are pretty reliable, and I don't know of anyone actually have one go out. I know of a few people that have changed them, without any improvement, while tracking down ignition problems, so it wasn't on the top of my list to check/replace.
The brake light problem seems to have been a wire harness rubbing against the clutch pedal. Easy fix here.
Thanks for all the suggestions.
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 4,226
Likes: 643
From: Orange County Ca
Visually inspect and examine the related wiring harnesses for rubbing, fraying, pinching, etc. be sure to also look at the wiring coming out of the mounted lamp assemblies. Disassemble and inspect all the related lamp assemblies and wiring for possible problems. Also push the spring loaded lamp contacts down to see if that reveals anything.
An intermittent points condenser can cause ignition failure. Don't know why that would cause fuses to blow though. However, it's easy and cheap enough to just replace it and move the troubleshooting process along.
An intermittent points condenser can cause ignition failure. Don't know why that would cause fuses to blow though. However, it's easy and cheap enough to just replace it and move the troubleshooting process along.