Hot Rods The old beater let me down - UPDATE

Bright and early Thursday morning I opened the door of the garage and loaded the ice chest and tried to fire up the sedan,all I got was the constant winding like it was out of gas,I did a quick check and I had no spark.

I unloaded all the stuff and put it in the wagon.

I haven't had time to try and sort it out but the night before we drove the sedan to hardware store and experienced no problems.

The car has a later model distributor and I am thinking it might be the electronic module but if anyone has a good guess for something else to check don't be afraid to offer your thoughts. HRP

 

Just did this to a buddy's 36 a half hour ago, dead in the parking lot. Module and Rotor. Fired right up

 

Module...mine did the same thing on first (attempted) start this year-

 

Didn't you have the same thing happen to your wagon not too long ago.......switch back to points......

 

Pretty much the same thing with a expensive Pertronix distributor and I replaced it with a new distributor and points,if it's as simple as a new module they are plug and play so it should be a simple fix. HRP

 

Get a MSD and be done with it.

 

Check your coil wire ends. I have seen them broken and loose inside the center on the cap, to shorted wiring in the distributor, bad coil , bad module to a bad dizzy. Good luck but check the coil wire first. Easiest .

 

Ground or contact of the coil setting atop the dizzy if you have a HEI. Moisture in your area affects them.

 

Do you have any ornery neighbors or friends? There was a kid in highschool that though he knew EVERYthing about engines. On lunch break, we pull the center carbon out of the coil wire and reinstalled it. He was so dam mad that he could not get his truck started, and couldm't figure it out.

 

Rotors on those distributors (HEI) can burn through and short to the dist shaft underneath. Module would / could be a likely suspect as well.

 

i had the same thing happen to my'63 plymouth just last wed. i go to town 1 day a week (wed) and on the way home it died. i was just around the corner from my house when it died. i thought that was very considerate of it since i live 50 miles from town. i have a chiney made electronic distributor that uses a high performance coil. in this case an accel. it was a comedy of errors trying to get it home though. i thought my car was high enough to go on my trailer but it ripped off the mufflers and destroyed my trans cooler. when i finnaly got it on, it rolled forward and went off the trailer into my trucks bumper. luckely they matched so no damage. anyway, got it home and found it to be the coil. it was only about a year old. i thought this chiney stuff got along but i see it doesn't.

 

We all be wishing ,when we have a breakdown it would happen in the garage at home

 

Well hell...that old car is just that..OLD.

Time to put it to rest.

Wait?...You don't have time to take it to the scrap yard?

Be over in a bit.

 

Due to circumstances beyond my control I never got a chance to look at the car last night,hopefully things will go smoother this evening. HRP

 

Just that old Henry trying to spit out that bowtie.....

 

Points are relatively free of module failure, just sayin.

 

You are correct and if the module is indeed the culprit it only lasted 30 years. HRP

 

deuce run is in june you need to get it fixed.

 

You may have better luck than I with MSD.
Lost my second module a while back in my MSD and a new one is north of $110, so instead I bought a whole new GM HEI distributor and a spare module to throw in the glove box. Module was $30.
Now that I have a spare with me it will probably never go out again. It's in my avatar and the truck starts instantly now, with the MSD it cranked a little before lighting off. The MSD was 18 years old but only had 16,000 mi on it.

 

I will always use electronic over points, but will never use another MSD anything. I’ve had two modules quit working in an O/T truck and my buddy at work lost one in his dads O/T truck. One Chevy and one Ford, and none of them lasted a year.


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

I don't have a MSD.

Mine is a GM and it's 30 years old, I pulled the module out last night and I have it with me today,I will also use so anti seize on the screws, those darn little screws were a sunny beach to get out!

I will run by the parts house and let them test it,I do hope that's the problem. HRP

 

I mean, if it worked for 30 years did it reeeaallly let ya down? Haha.

I'm betting it's that module.

 

Shoulda previously shelled out the$30 for a spare module in the glove box.....never need it according to Murphy's Law.

 

Had one die on me on the I-96 freeway one morning.... I pulled over on the shoulder and parked it.... Grabbed a spare I had sitting at home and had the wife drive me back and installed it... It fired right up.....
It helps to carry a spare in the glove box...

 

Not really, points and associated components fail more often than electronic versions, that's why they were invented, because there is a need. You are more likely to be stranded on the side of the road due to an ignition system failure if you are running points than if you are running electronic ignition. That is true.

 

Well the old car was good enough to die in the garage and not out on some back road in the middle of the night. HRP

 

Electronic has a more consistent spark with no maintenance (lazy here I know).
Don't you also need dielectric grease on the underside of module when installing to transfer the heat?

 

I ALWAYS carry one-

 

Danny, I am glad it happen at home for you.I am sticking to points.Thats just me though.Bruce.

 

The key to avoiding having a problem with anything is having spare parts. Only the parts you don't have spares for fail.