Hot Rods The 56 buick wagon wont start again?

31Vicky Thanks a lot for the picture, I will copy it and I think it will help me a lot .Thanks again. Bruce.

 

gasmanm, I just put a new coil in her .I even tried to put the old one back in and it did the same thing .I still theres a voltage drop some where. Thanks Bruce.

 

rsluggoboy , yes I do because I WANT to get out and drive her! Bruce.

 

One wire you did not mention were the wires to and from the ballast. I have had problems with the factory wire fraying at the connector.
You should not have to have Pertronics to have this running good. Get it running good then decide if you want to afford it. Do check the wire to advance plate connection.
The starter button wires should probably be 12 ga. The ones you have look smaller.
As far as the ignition switch goes, they are rebuildable and if you find a voltage drop there, you can pry the tabs back and rebuild.
If you want an ignition swich to use temporarily, pm me.
The meter should tell the story. Jiggle the connections when you check voltage or continuity.

 

I put my small prints on my scanner and then use the utilities to blow them up and print them and then use colored pencils or markers to mark the lines to make it easier ( makes a great project if you have little kids who can color between the lines )

most of the broken wires are near the bulkheads , I also on a old O/t 72 dodge dart had the wire break right inside the ballast resistor drove me nuts for several weeks as when tested it was showing ok , but finally the wire pulled out of the ceramic and showed the problem immmediately ( in traffic during rush hour of course )

 

Thanks to all for the information.I will be working on her this week and keep you all updated.Thanks again.Bruce.

 

You can take your wiring schematic to a an office copy store Office Max, Staples, Fed Ex copy center and get it blown up to make it easier to read. Don't go too big it will get distorted.

 

Bruce, Can you give us the voltage readings going in to ballast resistor and out to coil + yet? Don't forget to take the jumper wire off coil+, OR take a reading there before AND after removing.

 

Rfraze, I was at the dr. most of the morning.Its going to rain here tomorrow so I will be working on her tomorrow and will give the meter readings..Bruce.

 

Rip all your old stuff out and do as the diagram shows. Easier to diagnose than what you have with all the splices and bypasses and tape and fuses and whatnot. Will be easier to narrow down your problem if you even have one after following the simplified schematic shown by 31 Vicky with a hemi. And as others have stated, stay on one thread. Makes it easier for everyone to follow along and offer helpful suggestions without repeats. Good Luck and Merry Christmas!

 

Thanks Slopok, and merry Christmas to you and your family too.

 

OK.Been a while since I posted about the 56 buick wagon.Been checking all the wiring and replaced the coil, put in a new switch and she fired up. Now she was really running rough.I tried the dwell meter and it pegged over to the right of the meter .I tried to reset the points and still the same thing and even put the old ones back in and the same thing.I pulled off the dist cap to check the points and there were tiny silver shaving all over the inside of the dist.Time to replace the dist? Any one have a good one for sale she got a 322 motor.Thanks Bruce.

 

HEY BRUCE IM ON ASKING ONE OF MY BUDDIES RIGHT NOW.. HE HAS A 322 IN HIS GARAGE

 

Probably worn bushings

 

Check out Amazon Dragon fire DBNH-DF $169 HEI for early Buick.

 

Can you tell where they came from?
Cap terminals maybe ?

 

What were these readings??
As asked above, make sure the rotor is not taking metal off the cap terminals. Look for cracks in cap.

 

31 Vicky the dist cap termanials are a yellow color this was sliver.Bruce.

 

Rfraze I was putting the dash back together after rewiring some old wiring and replacing the ignition switch and snapped the darn copper oil pressure line going to the dash,so I had to run out and get an after market oil pressure gadge.If she fires up with out leaking tomorrow I will get some pictures of the readings and check the cap and rotor.Thanks Bruce.

 

1. Your best bet is a HEI and do away with the resistor.
2. The job of the resistor is to lower the 12 volts after start up to your points.
3. Old tune up mechanics would never touch a car without replacing the condenser.
4. Beware of the Pertronix.
5. I had a Pertronix fail.
6. Bought a HEI at the junkyard for $50.

 

You can fix a broken oil gauge line with a copper compression union from NAPA or hardware store. It will come with 2 crush sleeves and caps which tighten down on the sleeves and seal the lines. Should be 1/8", I'm guessing.
It does not need to be running to take the readings at both sides of the resistor.

 

O.K Rfaze got some readings on the juice going in to the ballest restore. Not sure if I had the meter on the right setting.Bruce.

 

Heres juice coming out of the other side of it and it was getting very hot! Bruce.

 

Heres going to the coil.

 

I took a jumper wire to take the place of the ballest restore and the wire never got hot.Car did start a lot easier and sounder smoother but the dwell is still way off.Bruce.

 

Not sure if you can make out the setting on the meter ,I set it to vdc 20v like you said but it has setting on both sides of the meter.See if you can make them out.Thanks Bruce.

 

But you will burn out your points, that's the purpose of the resistor. To cut down the voltage.

 

Those damned Buicks!

 

The resistor is doing what it is supposed to and they do get hot doing it. Remember the jumper wire from the starter is supposed to provide 12 volts + to the coil positive just during cranking, so you should remove that wire from the coil and test it during cranking. I guess you could test it while still connected to coil, since you now know what voltage is with ignition on. Your choice.
The voltage going from switch to resistor is a little low. Check voltage at battery to make sure it is not low and at key switch to make sure you are getting the same voltage out as in to the switch. Battery should be 12 volts plus (12.45 or higher), if healthy.
If dwell is way off, reset points to .016-.018. Do you know how to do this? You should set the timing also.
Looks like you found a compression union in the pic of volt meter. Can not read the meter settings, but we are getting the readings.

 

Rfraze, so I should hook the ballest restore back up right?{even though its getting hot right?}. Now I didn't have the jumper wire going from the battery to the coil while doing this on while taking the readings[just on the ballest restore} ,the car was actually running. Sure I know how to set the points I had them set at .17 but will recheck them, that's why I am wondering if the dist. is going bad and I did install a new ignition switch,and I am going to replace that oil pressure gadge line with a copper line and get rid of that plastic one.Bruce.