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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / Hard starting '36

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Posted By Discussion Topic: Hard starting '36 -- page: 1 2 3 4     supereal 04-16-2012 @ 1:06 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 Most of us have left the ignition on accidently at one time or another. The usual result is that the coil was "cooked", unless you are extraordinaily lucky, and the points were open. When the insulation is overheated, it allows arcing between the windings, resulting in eventual failure, even if it seems to work OK. I'd carry a spare coil if yours was left on. Flatbob 04-16-2012 @ 9:56 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 437 Joined: Oct 2009 I've reconsidered & am going to send the coil to Skip, shorter turn around time & less money.......and he did a great job on my pumps. Robert/Texas 04-16-2012 @ 8:57 AM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 109 Joined: Dec 2009 I recently had a problem with my '34 roadster ('36 engine). I concentrated mostly on electrics as I had left the ignition for about 5 days. After replacing points, condensor, coil, resistor and rechecking everything time and again, I replaced the plug wires including the coil wire. The car has been running great since doing this and starts instantly. It might have been only the coil wire that was defective. TomO 04-15-2012 @ 8:50 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7274 Joined: Oct 2009 The 1.3 ohm reading must be made on the Rx1 scale. IMHO you would be much better off sending your coil to Skip Haney for rebuilding than spending money for an aftermaket coil. I just went to the online catalog and C & G wants $120 for a rebuilt coil, when you send them your core. Skip wants $83 to rebuild your coil. He usually gets them done pretty fast. http://www.fordcollector.com/coils.htm Tom Flatbob 04-14-2012 @ 1:21 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 437 Joined: Oct 2009 I'll call Kyle at C&G Monday and get a new coil. Thanks for the help. Bob supereal 04-14-2012 @ 1:15 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 If you check the primary, use the 1X scale. The secondary would use the 20X. An ohmeter will only tell you if the winding is open. Old coils have a waxed paper insulation which disintegrates over time, allowing arcing between windings. A new coil from a vendor such as C&G is less than $100. Buy one, and have your present coil rebuilt to keep as a spare. You won't be sorry. Flatbob 04-14-2012 @ 1:07 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 437 Joined: Oct 2009 Am getting battery voltage at the coil wire when I disconnect the wire from the coil. The coil is original as it has the FORD script on top but have not removed it yet to check bottom side. If I understand TomO, I set my multimeter at 20K and with wires removed from coil terminal I measured .01 which seems remarkably low so wonder if I'm doing it correctly. supereal 04-14-2012 @ 11:12 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 It might also have been rebuilt by A&S. I have one of those on my '47, and it works fine. Check the voltage to ground with the input wire from the resistor off the coil. You should read battery voltage. With the coil connected, and one of the sets of points closed, about 3.5 volts. Connect your ohmeter between the wire to the distributor and ground and turn the engine over while you watch the needle. You should see the needle swing over and stay as long as at least one of the point sets is closed. If not, the points are at fault. Voltage is the product of current times resistance, so an increase in resistance or a decrease in current will drop the voltage. Coils present more than just resistance, called reactance, so a simple test for ohms may not tell the story. I'd bet that any Ford coil over 10 years old is weak. I've seen too many to be persuaded otherwise. TomO 04-14-2012 @ 8:22 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7274 Joined: Oct 2009 You are dropping more voltage across the ballast resistor than normal. This could be due to extra resistance at the connections at the ballast resistor or a more current due to a defective coil. Measure the resistance across the resistor, it should read a maximum of 1.4 ohms. If you have a Ford Script coil, remove it, and check the area on the bottom. If it has numbers or initials scratched into the phenolic, it was rebuilt by either Skip Haney or Jack Fletcher. If not, have your coil rebuilt. Tom Flatbob 04-13-2012 @ 2:02 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 437 Joined: Oct 2009 TomO & Super, I get 6.47V on freshly charged battery, 6.47V across terminals at ignition switch & 2.55V at coil. TomO suggested I should have around 3.26V at the coil; can I draw any conclusions from what I have found? Super, am not sure if it's the original coil or not. The guy that I sent it to told me he had it on his machine and it "looked good" and it fired up immediately when I installed it but that was 10 years ago. Maybe the best thing to do would be to send it to Skip Haney? Thanks for the help. Bob This message was edited by Flatbob on 4-13-12 @ 2:03 PM

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