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Hi Everyone,
I recently purchased a 1948 Ford F1 with a V8 Flathead 6V system. When I test drove the truck during 3 different occasions it ran fine. The minute I got it home and off the trailer I wanted to drive it around. I took it around my neighborhood and it kept dying on me. I've replaced the battery, battery cables, starter solenoid, and the voltage regulator. I also cleaned the carb and replaced all the spark plugs. After putting in the new solenoid and the voltage regulator, I'm trying to reconnect the battery and when I try to reconnect it, the battery sparks but the truck try's to start without having the keys in the ignition. The positive is the ground wire. I have that mounted to the sidewall for power. Any suggestions? Super bummed this truck won't start because it ran great before I bought it. Thanks for the help!
Some of our experts will be along soon. You seem to have some electrical issues. Usually the positive battery cable goes to the engine block in positive ground systems, and the negative cable goes to the starter solenoid. Once you have established that your truck is properly grounded, the next thing to determine is if you have fuel and spark. Good luck and welcome.
FSounds like you may have two different problems. First a fuel problem when the truck dies when you try to drive it. Does it die when you come to a stop or as as you are driving it down the road? Second are you sure you have the correct starter solenoid? Sounds like your solenoid is stuck. Try to post pictures of you solenoid and connected wiring.
Hi, the car dies when I'm driving it. I just got the new solenoid from O'reilly's auto parts. They did a part match and it's supposed to be the correct one. Thank you!
Hey, Sam! Welcome to FTE. Sorry to see you are having issues.
You might try reinstalling the old starter solenoid, if it was working properly. That would at least eliminate the possibility of a bad/wrong replacement. You might be surprised how many are bad, right out of the box.
You can't really trouble-shoot the running problem until you work out the starting problem, but I'm with Bob. It sounds like a fuel problem. When it dies while driving it, does it start right back? Or does it have to sit, or require a lot of cranking?
Okay, I’ll try reinstalling the Starter selonoid. Thanks! When I drive and it dies it will for the most part take a while to start up again. Sometimes I’m lucky and it will start up right away but for the most part it takes a while to start. Thanks
It could very well be your distributor condenser is bad. As it heats up it sometimes breaks down and won't work properly. Then when it cools down it will work again. Worth checking.
It could very well be your distributor condenser is bad. As it heats up it sometimes breaks down and won't work properly. Then when it cools down it will work again. Worth checking.
where is the distributor condenser located?
thank you
A very helpful addition to your tool kit is the 1949 - 52 Shop Manual. Available in paper and electronic format, this will be a source of information as you learn about old iron. Look for it on Amazon and ebay. Just Google the title.
Just a thought, as you start any part swap task, take pictures of the existing setup before launching into the work. Saves much frustration.
If the truck runs fine as you're driving down the road but stalls when you slow down it could be what I would call the "idle tower" in the caburater. Ive had problems with the one in my truck pluggiing up. It has a very small passage. Pretty,easy to fix if it plugged. A can of carb cleaner with a straw. Part #9921 in the drawing.
Hi everyone,
Thank you for the responses. I just ordered a new ignition coil, distributor condenser and another new starter solenoid that I'll be getting tonight and which I plan on installing tonight too. I did clean the carb throughly so I hope its not clogged again. Hopefully with then new parts installed tonight, thats makes a difference. I will upload pictures tonight to show you the current set up and make sure my wires are connected properly!
Thank you all!
The starter solenoid may simply have the smaller wires on it backwards ?
Does it have the 2 large terminals for bat leads and 2 smaller terminals for starter wire ?
The starter solenoid may simply have the smaller wires on it backwards ?
Does it have the 2 large terminals for bat leads and 2 smaller terminals for starter wire ?
The original stock solenoid for a '48-52 only has on small stud. The starter button on the dash grounds out to the metal dash completing the circuit.
10-23-2019, 07:57 PM
Sorry to see you are having issues.
