Cruising at 60mph, plug pulled, tow home

[Rob-a-Billy]

Billy has been running great for the past few months. No issues. We just turned 800 miles on the new engine and 500 miles on the new tranny. Still getting between 7.5 and 9 miles to the gallon - painfull, I know, but it is what it is. I drive him regularly; not too hard; not too soft, just enough to keep the wheels from gathering spider webs. I do remodel work and he is used when I have trips to Home Depot, etc, no heavy hauling or long hauls.

Anyway, I stopped for lunch two weeks ago Tuesday and when I came out to leave - (30 minutes parked in the restaurant parking lot) he would not start. In the past all I have to do is tap the accelerator (activate electric choke) and tap the ignition - he normally starts right up without incident. This time, I was very baffled. Popped the hood and checked to see if maybe the rotor wire fell off the ignition cap, or ??? I couldn't find a thing wrong. Took off the air cleaner, pumped the accelerator and saw gas squirt, stared at the engine for a minute, scratched my head a few times, asked myself over and over - what the $#&@^#%. Put the air cleaner back on, got in, started right up.

I drove my helper home (approximately 4 miles), turned Billy off and unloaded her things, said my good-bye (10 minutes stop, at most), started Billy and he immediately stalled. Started him up again and drove a few miles to the freeway, cruised to 60mph (maybe 70, to be totally honest) and a mile down the road he just “quit”. No hesitation, no backfire, no sputter, no lurch, no lag, nothing – just like someone pulled the plug. As I was coasting I put it in Neutral and tried to start it again. The starter turned but he would not re-start. I pulled to the side of the road, put it in Park, and tried to start him – all I could get was his basic turn over. By this I mean that he doesn’t allow me to crank the engine for very long. It is always a “tap” of the starter and never a long, drawn out engagement of the starter.

I popped the hood and again took off the air cleaner thinking that maybe the ____ was ____, and I looked at the ____, thinking the ___ had come off of the ____. *** You fill in the blanks… I was and still am completely clueless as to what could have happened.*** I looked into the carb again, squirts a plenty. I took off the cap and made sure I wasn’t fowled at the rotor; pushed all the plug wires to assure connection; the coil leads are tight; the cap isn’t cracked; checked the oil level and water in the radiator (those sound silly, but I was so confused I became overwhelmed with anxiety). Tried to start him and all I got was tap, small-vroom, nothing; tap, small-vroom, nothing. I floored the accelerator, tapped, BIG-vroom, nothing; tap, BIG-vroom, nothing.

Called a tow truck and he has sat in the driveway for 2 weeks. I went out to try again a few days ago… same thing, tap, vroom, nothing.

Help?

[Jake11]

Usually, when it just quits like that, it's no sparkee. Keep test light handy and ck for power at the coil. Could be-
Coil going bad, ignition switch, or even a loose wire somewhere. Make up a jumper wire with clips on the ends.
If it craps out on ya hook the jumper on the "I" to the batt. side on the solenoid. Get ya home. Jake

[Thunderfoot]

That does sound like the Ignition switch, or could possibly the starter solenoid itself.

To check if it is the solenoid causing the problem take the small Brown wire that is towards the firewall off, and tie it up so it doesn't short, and see if it will start and stay running... That is the easy test... If it does drive it a bit that way to be sure you don’t have anymore issues and if you don’t replace the solenoid.

If he still won’t go then get a test light and put it no the (+) side of the coil with the key in the run position it should light up. If it doesn't, then to be sure, bump the motor over just a bit (or be sure the points are open) and retest. If the light doesn't come on then your ignition switch is bad.
This is a pretty common symptom of the ignition switch going bad when the motor just shuts off without any other warning

[Rob-a-Billy]

That does sound like the Ignition switch, or could possibly the starter solenoid itself.

To check if it is the solenoid causing the problem take the small Brown wire that is towards the firewall off, and tie it up so it doesn't short, and see if it will start and stay running... That is the easy test... If it does drive it a bit that way to be sure you don’t have anymore issues and if you don’t replace the solenoid.

If he still won’t go then get a test light and put it no the (+) side of the coil with the key in the run position it should light up. If it doesn't, then to be sure, bump the motor over just a bit (or be sure the points are open) and retest. If the light doesn't come on then your ignition switch is bad.
This is a pretty common symptom of the ignition switch going bad when the motor just shuts off without any other warning

Thunderfoot, I am very happy you took notice of my plight. I will run your suggested tests in the morning and post the results. Thanks for taking the time to respond.

Rob (and Billy)

[seattle67]

As usual, I think Thunderfoot is dead on, odds are it's the ignition switch. Before you replace it though, I would just make sure the connections on the wires going to the ignition switch are clean and tight, especialy the pink wire.

[kaptnkaos]

I was having the same thing happen to me with my '68...
The entire electrical system was going dead...
I'd be cruzing down the road , and it would just shut off and not hit a lick.
My problem ended up being a bad battery to block grounding cable.
The cable was corroded on on the inside... It didn't look bad at all from the outside.
I haven't had any problems at all since replacing that cable with some #4 gauge cable...
I thought it was my switch... but it still did it after I put the good switch out of the '71 CS in the '68.
Now, the switch that was in the '68 CS is in Olde Skool my bump bus, and it works great.

KaptnKA S

[69rangerman]

Just something else to check if it's an auto tranny..

A while back I had similar starting problems. It turned over, caught, and immediately died no matter how I did the throttle.

After 3 days of scratching my head, I was underneath checking something and noticed the modulator hose had popped off = massive vac. leak.

Stuck it back on and it started right up.

I agree it's electrical but just something to check.

Good luck.

[Rob-a-Billy]

YUP! Ingnition switch!

I took off the bezel and let the switch hang (after crawling under and checking the modulator all hoses were tight and intact) and I heard a mysterious clicking akin to a relay switching on and off. Light click; heavy click. On the light click he started right up and if I let the switch hang just right he immediately turns off. So. That pink wire is not making a good connection... had I known that 2 weeks ago... live and learn... would-uvs, could-uvs, should-uvs, right?

You can't imagine my Fordification praise - even my neighbor's are happy with y'all!

I am a little confused by Jake11's jumper...
"Make up a jumper wire with clips on the ends.
If it craps out on ya hook the jumper on the "I" to the batt. side on the solenoid."
Would I put the jumper on to avoid the mishap at the switch only when I want to drive? I mean, should I disconnect the jumper when I turn off the truck and, say, go into Home Depot, then come out, connect the jumper, drive home, turn off the truck, disconnect the jumper, etc. Is the Jumper a temporary bypass of the ignition switch's short?

** and/or ** If I do the jumper, will I not be able to turn the truck "off" unless the jumper is disconnected? I just want to know what to expect before I direct connect anything to the battery - sparks, explosion, Genie with 4 wishes...

Thanks again guys... you saved me.

[Rob-a-Billy]

Recently I received the Painless harness (with switches #10118) and I decided to use the ignition switch from the new set - it worked beautifully. I am running again and "Ranging" the road once more.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Rob (and Billy)

[Thunderfoot]

I am a little confused by Jake11's jumper...
"Make up a jumper wire with clips on the ends.
If it craps out on ya hook the jumper on the "I" to the batt. side on the solenoid."
Would I put the jumper on to avoid the mishap at the switch only when I want to drive? I mean, should I disconnect the jumper when I turn off the truck and, say, go into Home Depot, then come out, connect the jumper, drive home, turn off the truck, disconnect the jumper, etc. Is the Jumper a temporary bypass of the ignition switch's short?

** and/or ** If I do the jumper, will I not be able to turn the truck "off" unless the jumper is disconnected? I just want to know what to expect before I direct connect anything to the battery - sparks, explosion, Genie with 4 wishes...

Rob,

Glad you got it figured out and your up and running again.

for the jumper wire, you would only want to use this "jumper" in an emergency to get you home.
1. It will be hard on your points, as it is not a resistive wire anymore cutting the voltage down to the coil...
2. There is no way to turn the truck off other then to disconnect the jumper wire, and you need to disconnect it when the motor is off or it will drain the battery and could fry the points.
But to get you home and off the road this is a good way to get you to safety

[Rob-a-Billy]

VERY good to know - in detail.

Brilliant thanks!