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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / My Ute won't fire up!

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Posted By Discussion Topic: My Ute won't fire up! -- page: 1 2     1939ute 05-15-2010 @ 1:44 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 80 Joined: Apr 2010 I have had my 1939 V8 Ute fully restored and we are trying to fire it up with no luck as yet! It has power at the coil that has been tested and a new condenser, new points that have been cleaned and installed, recon distributor, new fully charged battery, new plugs, 4.5 volts at the coil, fully reconditioned engine and no go!!! Any clues out there?? I love the old Fords but I'm fully tested here and I'm now desperate! Cheers, John 37RAGTOPMAN 05-15-2010 @ 6:07 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1969 Joined: Oct 2009 39ute when cranking it,, does the engine do anything,? like back fire, did you prime the carb ? it might be having a bad time of pulling the fuel to the carb to make it run, with care I would use a fuel tank other then the one in the UTE,knowing you have fuel flow, STARTING for the FIRST TIME CAN BE TRYING,at times, and sometime it starts like you just shut it off, its a tough call with out being there,you should only have 3.5 volts to the coil,but that should be ok, DO THIS JUST TO BE SURE, to test the points on the car, do this, discconect the coil wire going to the coil,and put a test light between them, alligator clip to one end and the pointer to the other coil contact stud,, have some one crank the engine with KEY ON,!!! the light should go on and off, should flicker, it it does not the points are not working correctly, and not making and breaking the circuit,I khow it sounds funny but you cannot overlook anything at this point, it will run, you just have to keep the FORD FAITH, REMEMBER 3 things that make the ENGINE RUN, is spark, gas, and compression,and all in time is the cam shaft.installed correctly valves adjustment ? how is the compression ? give us MORE INFORMATION,!!! GOOD LUCK GET BACK TO US,,,,,,,!!!!!!!!!!!!!! KEEP ON TRUCKIN 37RAGTOPMAN supereal 05-15-2010 @ 8:52 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 When both sets of points are open, you should be reading battery voltage at the coil. When they are closed, the voltage should fall to around 3.5 volts. If you are seeing only 4.5 volts with the points open, you have a high resistance, probably a bad connection, somewhere in the circuit. With a voltmeter, start checking the wiring from the ignition switch, thru the resistor, and at the coil. You say the coil was "tested", but there is no test that will assure you it is serviceable. All most all old Ford coils, with no exceptions, will not work properly, particularly if the input voltage is low. If you can verify that the coil input voltage is correct, substitute a new or rebuilt coil. I suspect your problem will go away. 1939ute 05-15-2010 @ 4:16 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 80 Joined: Apr 2010 Thanks for your reply 37Ragtopman; when it's cranked it does nothing! we tip petrol down the carby and spray started gear down also, no go, not even a little indication of life! We don't seem to get spark at the plugs! We know we have power at the coil input terminal and spark at the points! Cheers, John 1939ute 05-15-2010 @ 4:31 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 80 Joined: Apr 2010 Thanks for your reply supereal; the voltage reading at the coil has varied a bit while taking readings but the highest was 4.5! The coil test was done on a coil tester and we got a good spark out of it but I'm not sure how you measure that as I wasn't there when it was done! however, I have no reason to doubt the accuracy of the test! We had two coils tested with only one giving a good result, the other one was dead! I have tried to locate a new coil in the local circles with no luck yet! I can order a new one but that means a waiting period! Cheers, John TomO 05-15-2010 @ 4:50 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7263 Joined: Oct 2009 John if you have spark at the points and not at the plugs, check your coil brush, check the rotor for cracks or grounding, check the your plug wires are fully seated in the inner caps and that the caps are seated correctly in the distributor. Tom 1939ute 05-15-2010 @ 5:21 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 80 Joined: Apr 2010 Thanks for the reply TomO; I will check all of the points you mention. I'm trying to buy a new coil but in Australia we have limited parts suppliers and to ship parts takes time. I should have got a new one from the start! My stuff up!! Most places now do change over units, I think? If I could get a new coil down here, I'd be laughing! Cheers, John ford38v8 05-15-2010 @ 5:45 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 2774 Joined: Oct 2009 John, Pick a nice looking original Ford coil, and send it to one of the coil rebuilders hers in the States. Skip Haney is in Florida, and is the most widely known rebuilder, I believe. Coils can test good when cold, and fail under driving conditions when they get hot. This is the most troublesome problem reported constantly here on this Forum! Allowed to cool off, the coil is then good to go again, till it again gets hot. A rebuilt coil should last you far longer than any of the new repo coils. http://www.fordcollector.com/ Holy cow! I wonder if I'm becoming GM, I recommend Skip so often! Alan 1939ute 05-16-2010 @ 12:10 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 80 Joined: Apr 2010 Hello ford38v8, thanks for your reply; the motor has now started!! It seems like it could have been plug wire problems. while it only ran for a few seconds, it did start! We are going to fully charge the battery and check the fuel to the carby and go for a re-start in a couple of days but at least we now know it is all OK with ignition system!Thanks to all the help, it's good to know that help is available. I will be looking at getting a rebuilt coil. Cheers, John BrianCT 05-16-2010 @ 7:41 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 95 Joined: Oct 2009 You say that the highest voltage you see at coil is 4.5. You should see 6V when points are open.Disconnect that lead wire and check for 6V.

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