Sully1190
Look. It's a Gold Duster.
Ok, hombres.
A couple of weeks ago, I spotted a car that me and my wife absolutely fell in love with. It's a 74 Gold Duster. Needs some work. Needs a new paint motif, but as for the bones of the car, the style and such, it's perfect, and we're ready to have this felluh up and running as a daily driver.
I knew it had some electrical problems from the start. (There was a jumper wire going from the battery to the coil used to start it.) But that's all part of the adventure, right? I love working on things, and my father knows a decent amount about cars, mechanically, so I was stoked to have a project I could work on with him. I cranked it up no less than 5 times at the guy's place before I bought it. It did so perfectly. I hop in, to start the 4 hour drive home (admittedly, that was a bit of an optimistic goal... but I am a dreamer.)
It drove two hours like a goddess, but at about the point we hit Hattiesburg... She went dead. Straight out. Coasted over, and wouldn't start up again. Didn't overheat. Would occasionally turn over, and occasionally just make a clicking sound when the key engaged... Well, yay.
((Fast forward a few weeks))
Yesterday was the day of the most progress. We replaced the starter relay (which now, we realize may not have been bad). We traced out a wiring problem or so (along with alot of redundant wires that some pinhead had put in...). As for the ignition, the connection was bad at the firewall for the wire that delivered all the juice to the column and such, so we fixed that, and now, every time you hit the key she starts turning over perfectly.
We had already feared that the reason it wasn't starting up, and the reason that we weren't getting fire from the coil, was that the coil had burnt up from where it had been bypassed. There was also the absolutely perplexing matter that both sides of the coil are hot, which, as far as our automotive knowledge "just ain't right." We call some people to re-affirm our suspicions, and a guy tells us that means that the coil is indeed burnt up. So we replace it (and the fuel pump which had begun leaking earlier in the day). But here's the thing. As soon as I click the key forward to let the juice start flowing, my padre sticks the tester to the coil, and both sides still light up. Now, I know we didn't burn this coil up in 2 seconds just from turning the key, without even trying to start it. Still no fire. The two wires that go to the distributor (which have a disconnect in the middle) also read hot. Which is odd. Why would you send two small hot wires? Somebody told us it might be the distributor, however, the problem is, these are the wires going TO the distributor. If they're not both supposed to be hot, then there's something else going on here, right?
I heard mention in other threads that similar problems can be caused by the ballast resistor. Since I don't have my father handy, that's the one on the driver's side by the computer, right? (We have reason to believe that one might be bad, actually... but we didn't think it could affect the car in this way). Your help of any kind is greatly appreciated. It's getting plenty of fuel. It's not a gas issue. It's electrical.
A couple of weeks ago, I spotted a car that me and my wife absolutely fell in love with. It's a 74 Gold Duster. Needs some work. Needs a new paint motif, but as for the bones of the car, the style and such, it's perfect, and we're ready to have this felluh up and running as a daily driver.
I knew it had some electrical problems from the start. (There was a jumper wire going from the battery to the coil used to start it.) But that's all part of the adventure, right? I love working on things, and my father knows a decent amount about cars, mechanically, so I was stoked to have a project I could work on with him. I cranked it up no less than 5 times at the guy's place before I bought it. It did so perfectly. I hop in, to start the 4 hour drive home (admittedly, that was a bit of an optimistic goal... but I am a dreamer.)
It drove two hours like a goddess, but at about the point we hit Hattiesburg... She went dead. Straight out. Coasted over, and wouldn't start up again. Didn't overheat. Would occasionally turn over, and occasionally just make a clicking sound when the key engaged... Well, yay.
((Fast forward a few weeks))
Yesterday was the day of the most progress. We replaced the starter relay (which now, we realize may not have been bad). We traced out a wiring problem or so (along with alot of redundant wires that some pinhead had put in...). As for the ignition, the connection was bad at the firewall for the wire that delivered all the juice to the column and such, so we fixed that, and now, every time you hit the key she starts turning over perfectly.
We had already feared that the reason it wasn't starting up, and the reason that we weren't getting fire from the coil, was that the coil had burnt up from where it had been bypassed. There was also the absolutely perplexing matter that both sides of the coil are hot, which, as far as our automotive knowledge "just ain't right." We call some people to re-affirm our suspicions, and a guy tells us that means that the coil is indeed burnt up. So we replace it (and the fuel pump which had begun leaking earlier in the day). But here's the thing. As soon as I click the key forward to let the juice start flowing, my padre sticks the tester to the coil, and both sides still light up. Now, I know we didn't burn this coil up in 2 seconds just from turning the key, without even trying to start it. Still no fire. The two wires that go to the distributor (which have a disconnect in the middle) also read hot. Which is odd. Why would you send two small hot wires? Somebody told us it might be the distributor, however, the problem is, these are the wires going TO the distributor. If they're not both supposed to be hot, then there's something else going on here, right?
I heard mention in other threads that similar problems can be caused by the ballast resistor. Since I don't have my father handy, that's the one on the driver's side by the computer, right? (We have reason to believe that one might be bad, actually... but we didn't think it could affect the car in this way). Your help of any kind is greatly appreciated. It's getting plenty of fuel. It's not a gas issue. It's electrical.