Topic: Second Test Drive with Issues.

doning	-- 06-19-2011 @ 12:08 PM
	I took the 1937 Ford 85 HP out today for it's second engine break-in test drive and it looks like my first issue which was posted a week ago ended up being a bad condensor. Thanks for the help Guy's. I'm still going to send a coil to Skip for a rebuild though. I have three issues I'm hoping you can help me with. 1) I still cannot get a charge out of my generator. It has been rebuilt with new brushes and when I move the 3rd. brush around nothing makes a difference. The ammeter gauge reads zero at all engine speeds. I put an old original cut-out on the generator and it moved quickly to a discharge. 2) For the first 5 miles or so the engine ran smooth then slowly roughened up. Now with the engine at idle if you stomp on the gas pedal there's a big flat spot then rev's up. Inside the car you can almost here the engine RPM slightly go up and down. The engine seems to run best at one turn out. The 97 Stromberg was purchased from Charle in NY. 3) I'm not sure if my plugs are right for the car too. I'm using Champion UC16. The engine has been completely gone over and was bored .060 over. I have put only 20 miles on the car. At my first drive the plugs were nice and clean. Now they are black with a scary sign of wet oil deposits on them but not bad. I'm wondering if the heat range is wrong. What plugs to you Guy's recommend? Thanks, Again! Don
MG	-- 06-19-2011 @ 2:01 PM
	Can you get a hold of and install a known good coil?
supereal	-- 06-19-2011 @ 2:17 PM
	Be sure that the engine has a ground strap that terminates at the battery.. I suspect your generator doesn't have a good ground. A flat on acceleration usually indicates a faulty aceleration pump in the carb. The 97 is not my favorite carb as the main jets are replaceable, and may be too rich for your car, as shown by the black plugs. The idle screws should have no effect above idle if the carb is properly set up. Black plugs indicate a too rich mixture, for some reason. I'd be sure the float is set correctly.
JM	-- 06-19-2011 @ 3:33 PM
	One thing you may need to do is polarize your generator to initiate current flow/charging. This procedure will magnetize the pole pieces inside the field coils with the correct magnetic polarity to start generating current flow in the correct direction. I have the procedure for doing this saved in my computer at home but I do not have access to those files right now. The coil you have could still be causing some of the problems you are having. Some oil on the plugs may be normal if you are not getting a hot spark and your rings are not seated. As MG said get a known good coil on there and see if that makes a difference. JM
RSS	-- 06-21-2011 @ 4:50 PM
	On the generator issue, you can test the generator on the car by motoring it, take the generator belt off, and put a jumper wire across the cut out, the generator, if good should turn the pulley and fan. only motor it for a few seconds. Randy
supereal	-- 06-21-2011 @ 4:57 PM
	If the charging system is correctly wired "polarizing" is usually unnecessary, particularly the non regulator type. We used to call that " flashing the field" by momentarily connecting the field and armature terminals. Most generator problems arise from a poor ground and/or brush problems. When the armature wears down until the mica separators on the commutaror extend beyond the segments, usually the charge rate is erratic or non existent.
Lou46	-- 06-21-2011 @ 5:15 PM
	Not that I'm the expert mechanic and I defer to others like Supereal, Tom O, etc. here are some thoughts. When my car acted like yours it was the *7#@ condensor. The key is to try one thing at a time and see what the real problem is. To often I threw many parts at a problem and in the end had no idea what the cause or the fix really was. Charlie Ny is a conscientious and able provider of quality equipment and a darn good mechanic. That said give him a call and I'm sure he will work with you through any issues you may have. I'm not electrically savy to feel comfortable about saying anything, except find an old time shop with years of experience and have them check out your generator for you. As Super suggested, checking grounds is a inexpensive and easy thing to check first. LouB.
supereal	-- 06-21-2011 @ 5:23 PM
	Right on, Lou. Too often, people start doing the "shotgun" approach, rather than diagnosing what the cause is, ending with more problems than they started with. A faulty condenser can mimic fuel problems, as well as others. The condenser serves two main purposes. It minimizes the arcing of the points to prolong their life, but is also important in allowing fast saturation of the coil to provide a "hot" spark. When it shorts, the engine stops. When it becomes weak, or opens up, the vehicle becomes weak, and will hardly run. Finding problems in old cars should be easy, but it seldom is. At our shop, we often spend hours diagnosing seemingly obvious cases of problems that are far from simple.
35ragtop	-- 06-22-2011 @ 1:41 PM
	Hi doning, I too had a generator rebuilt ( at no small cost) and could not get a charge out of it. I tried all sorts and finally gave it to a friend of mine who also had a 35 on the road. He couldnt get it to charge in his car either. Fortunately for me his knowledge was far superior to mine and when he disassembled the generator he found that the rebuilder had wired it up incorrectly. The wires from field coil to brushes etc were incorrectly fitted. It now runs fine. Moral -beware of modern experts!
doning	-- 06-23-2011 @ 2:08 AM
	Thanks guy's once again for your help. I'm pulling the generator off and letting a fellow look at it that's a very good T, A and V8 mechanic. What do you guy's set your plug gap at? Ken CT advised me to try Champion D21 plugs. Charlie in NY is a VERY good carb man. I don't question his work. I emailed him off-line to discuss further. Thanks.
supereal	-- 06-23-2011 @ 6:50 AM
	The "official" spark plug gap is .025

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