It's that time of the month for my car.

-
V

ValiantBandit

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2011
Messages
95
Reaction score
2
Location
Las Vegas
Yes my car really is like a woman...It's ridiculous...lol

Anyways she's been sitting at the K-Mart parking lot for the past 2 days because I can't get her running. I tried getting her to start when I got out of work on Saturday and it just cranks and cranks....No catching at all...

The same thing happened yesterday as well...I took off the fuel line running to the carburetor and cranked it just to see if gas is getting to the carburetor and it is...My next check would be for spark, correct? I have a feeling it's the ignition coil, but I've learned from other Mopar owners that throwing parts at a problem doesn't solve anything...However I WOULD like to get the freakin car home tonight without having AAA tow her...There's something quite embarrassing about seeing your car on the back of a AAA towtruck lol...

Any thoughts/suggestions?
 
#1 What kind of car and year and engine ? , could be an easy fix,
#2 the white ballast resister on your fire wall that has two wires on the two ends...put a jumper wire across it and if it starts shut it off!!!!!!!!!!! and go to any parts place and replace it, under $7..Do not run the car this way it will over heat wires and could melt down..

#3 Pull a spark plug wire off and put a Philip screw driver in the plug wire and hold it about a 1/2 inch away from your exhaust manifold it should spark when some one is try's to start the engine and do not touch the car while doing this, it will shock you good, the other easy check would be to make sure your ECU electronic box is grounder good to the body part it is attached to.

If there is no spark after checking these things any auto parts store will have a replacement ECU, check fuses would be the very first I would do, Oop's:D
 
Durr yeah that might help..ahaha

It's a 1976 Plymouth Valiant, slant six with california emissions.
 
memike said:
#1 What kind of car and year and engine ? , could be an easy fix,
#2 the white ballast resister on your fire wall that has two wires on the two ends...put a jumper wire across it and if it starts shut it off!!!!!!!!!!! and go to any parts place and replace it, under $7..Do not run the car this way it will over heat wires and could melt down..

#3 Pull a spark plug wire off and put a Philip screw driver in the plug wire and hold it about a 1/2 inch away from your exhaust manifold it should spark when some one is try's to start the engine and do not touch the car while doing this, it will shock you good, the other easy check would be to make sure your ECU electronic box is grounder good to the body part it is attached to.

If there is no spark after checking these things any auto parts store will have a replacement ECU, check fuses would be the very first I would do, Oop's:D
Click to expand...

I was thinking of doing that spark plug technique as well...I'm not headed back to K-Mart til 6 Pacific time (Primarily because I won't have a ride until then.) . But I'm writing this all down and I'm gonna do it all before I throw my hands up and call AAA....Then again, I do have free towing for the 1st 150 miles...I'd save some gas...lollol...Kidding...Somewhat...
 
With the key off!!! Remove the breather and pump your throttle cable from under the hood and see if you see gas being pumped in the intake ,,, should smell it.
Do you have 12.30 volts at the battery ? Bring a volt tester with you..
 
If you do have a volt meter, just unplug the wires on the ballast resister and set your meter to continuity ohms and make sure you have a a reading, if no reading the ballast is bad. Better and safer then jumping the two ends together, heck on your way there just stop and buy one and keep it in your glove box, these do go out and it will be there when you need it.
 
ValiantBandit said:
Oh, another question...Where is the ECU electronic box located? I haven't the foggiest idea...
Click to expand...

It will look like this ,Chrome or blue or Orange, but you will find it, if it is not grounded good it will quit working.
 

Attachments

  • ecudia.jpg
    84.7 KB · Views: 337
As you can see the ballast resister is a good part to keep in your clove box.
 
First, See if there is spark when you crank the engine over by holding the distributor end of the coil wire 1/4" from a good ground. If you have spark, it's probably the rotor or cap. If no spark, make sure the distributor is turning while the engine is cranking and then see if there is 12V juice at the + terminal on the coil in the "start" position. Pull the starter solenoid wire off the starter relay if you don't want the engine to crank over while you're testing. You'll probably need a helper to perform the key turn. If no juice, it's probably in the ignition switch or wiring harness/connections. If it has juice at the coil in the start position, check that the points are opening and closing. If so, turn the engine over until the points are closed. With the coil seconday wire held 1/4" from a good ground, open and close the points manually with an insulated screw driver and see if you're getting a spark now. If not, check the wire and connections from the coil to the points. If those are good, get a new set of points and condenser, install them, and retest. If still no spark, the coil is probably bad. If you have access to a coil/condenser tester, you can simplify the test procedure. If you have electronic ignition, do the same preliminary tests to see if there is spark and the distributor is turning. If yes, you'll need to do a control module plug test. I can explain that procedure if you have that system but I'll need to know your year and if it has a 5 wire or 4 wire plug.
 
If you have the 5 wire control module, do yourself a favor and replace it with a 4 wire. It will eliminate a lot of occasional no spark conditions.
 
You guys are all way off base;
throw two Midol down inside the carb with a glass of wine,
stick several Dove chocolates in the glove box and then read to it
from one of your wife's/girlfriend romance novels.
Wait 5-7 days and gently approach her with a tentative smile....
 
Okay I know I am new here and don't want to step on any toes but a ballast resistor will not stop a car from starting!! When the key is turned to start the ballast resistor is bypassed and full voltage is supplied to the coil. When the vehicle starts and the key is returned to the run position the ballast resistor is utilized to reduced voltage to the coil. If your vehicle is suffering from a start and die condition then check the ballast resistor. If your vehicle is a no start the ballast resistor is not the problem. I do recommend however that an extra ballast resistor be carried in the vehicle.
~Michael
 
340_dart_power said:
You guys are all way off base;
throw two Midol down inside the carb with a glass of wine,
stick several Dove chocolates in the glove box and then read to it
from one of your wife's/girlfriend romance novels.
Wait 5-7 days and gently approach her with a tentative smile....
Click to expand...

Thank you :cheers::D:D LMAO, Know I am ready to go shoot some pool
Looks like he will be getting it home tonight..
BUT!! If the flout is stuck up (no pun intended) :D your / will not have gas getting to your intake, thus looking inside the carb to make sure you are getting gas ..
stuck ups need more then candy and a good novel 340_dart_power :D

memike signing out :glasses7: time to hit the tables.
 
340_dart_power said:
You guys are all way off base;
throw two Midol down inside the carb with a glass of wine,
stick several Dove chocolates in the glove box and then read to it
from one of your wife's/girlfriend romance novels.
Wait 5-7 days and gently approach her with a tentative smile....
Click to expand...


HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!! Now THAT was funny.

I'll definitely check out that ECU...It's on the firewall in the engine bay, correct?
 
If all else fails,ckeck to see if the dist is turning. They will eat the plastic gear every once in a while.
 
Dartman1969 said:
Okay I know I am new here and don't want to step on any toes but a ballast resistor will not stop a car from starting!! When the key is turned to start the ballast resistor is bypassed and full voltage is supplied to the coil. When the vehicle starts and the key is returned to the run position the ballast resistor is utilized to reduced voltage to the coil. If your vehicle is suffering from a start and die condition then check the ballast resistor. If your vehicle is a no start the ballast resistor is not the problem. I do recommend however that an extra ballast resistor be carried in the vehicle.
~Michael
Click to expand...
Exactly right, that's why I didn't even mention the ballast resistor.
 
Whoops forgot to re-post here...

When I pulled up to my car on Monday, I was determined to get it to start. I threw a couple of shots of Starter Fluid into the the air cleaner and boom, it started right up....

I drove her home with no problems and filled the gas tank up. I've put about 100 miles on the car since, and it's yet to not start back up on me....Weird..
 
ValiantBandit said:
I drove her home with no problems and filled the gas tank up.
Click to expand...

Interesting. Was the car almost out of gas when this happened?

It would drive me buggy to have the car fail for an unknown reason and then start working without any repair. I'd keep worrying that will happen again at a less convenient time.

The facts as you presented them:
- the car wouldn't start the first or second day.
- the fuel pump was delivering fuel.
- The car started after sitting for another day.

Any chance the engine was flooded with fuel? If that car has the stock carb, has the float ever been replaced? My '74 /6 Valiant developed a case of "sunken float" and had flooding problems until I replaced the float. The most interesting symptom was that the engine would stall in a hard left turn.

Other than that, I'd support the ignition system comments above- possibly a poor electrical connection.
 
yarcraft91 said:
Interesting. Was the car almost out of gas when this happened?

It would drive me buggy to have the car fail for an unknown reason and then start working without any repair. I'd keep worrying that will happen again at a less convenient time.

The facts as you presented them:
- the car wouldn't start the first or second day.
- the fuel pump was delivering fuel.
- The car started after sitting for another day.

Any chance the engine was flooded with fuel? If that car has the stock carb, has the float ever been replaced? My '74 /6 Valiant developed a case of "sunken float" and had flooding problems until I replaced the float. The most interesting symptom was that the engine would stall in a hard left turn.

Other than that, I'd support the ignition system comments above- possibly a poor electrical connection.
Click to expand...

It was close to being out of gas...it was just hovering above the line for E.
The carburetor frequently reeks of gas - so yes, I know the carb is getting gas dumped into it.

Look, I really, really, REALLY wish I took full pictures of this car when I 1st got it. I paid $700 for it and it was mickey-moused to high heavens with a "fantastic" paint job that consisted of generic wal-mart primer quickly sprayed on. Here, I still have pictures of it:

100_0316.jpg


That's a generous shot. I took it last year during one of our rare cloudy days last September.

I couldn't stand looking at the atrocious paint job regardless of it being "An old cool car." By January, I applied a "I work at K-Mart PaintJob." and this is her in her current state:

120_0519.jpg


There's still some mickey mousing that needs to be fixed, but nothing TOO serious. I had to re-wire all the wires running to the battery, plus the grounds for a LOT of things were horribly wrong. I have the carburetor tuned to the fact that I'm 2,500 feet above sea level and it's powering a beast with a dinky 1 barrel. Plus the way people drive out here has to be tuned to performance or I'd get rear ended. It's not "Optimal".

...Regardless, the more slanters I talk to, the more I think the carburetor itself needs work. The previous owner (Who did all the mickey-mousing) "Installed a 'new carburetor'. " It DOES look new, but then again I'm out in Nevada...So the corrosion factor is severely limited. I'm kind of at a cross-roads of whether or not I want to have work done on the carburetor or just buy a super six setup. Not to mention with my "Pay", money is extraordinarily tight right now but it won't be forever.

It's just a P.I.T.A. always fixing and dealing with other people's stupidity. It's reason #1 why I smoke lol..:banghead:
 
THANKS! you just gave me the perfect answer when somebody asks me again why I smoke!
I smoke because you are stupid! :glasses7:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top