What did I do?

[ArtemisI6]

Okay, the distributor has been so difficult to turn that I couldn't accurately time the car. I removed it last night and put a new o-ring on it today, and cleaned it up. Now it goes in and out and moves just fine. This is my first time R&Ring a distributor so I'm second-guessing myself at every turn after tonight.

At first the distributor would not go all the way in, so I had my girlfriend bump the starter with the key a few times so it'd line up with the oil pump shaft. I finally got it to go all the way in except for the final 1/4". I figured that'd be ok for now, let's see if the thing'll start. I get in to start the car and it cranked for a little while, maybe five seconds. Then as it was cranking it began to hesitate. It would crank, stop for half a second, then continue, then stop cranking again, then continue... then it stopped and would no longer crank. It didn't slow down, it just halted. I can turn the engine over with a ratchet on the crank pulley so I know nothing is getting in the way of the rotating assembly.

So I figured I'd check everything out with my voltmeter. I'm sure this is something simple but electrical makes my head spin and I got out of it just as I started to comprehend it a year or so ago. I have 12.6v at the battery, which is cool by me.

However, this is where I'm baffled. I have 12.6v when I connect one probe to the battery and one to the starter post of the solenoid. That's basically a big switch - it seems to me that it should be an open circuit, no? I also have 12.6v at the starter with the key off. I disconnected the starter cable from the solenoid and put a probe on the starter's battery post and on the positive battery terminal... and still got 12.6v. Just to experiment I touched the cable coming off the positive side of the battery with the cable going to the starter - basically bypassing the solenoid. There was a very minor spark but nothing worth mentioning. I've done this before on other vehicles, and on this one once or twice, and usually there's a hefty freaking spark and it starts to try to weld the cables together while the engine turns over. The only thing that happened this time was I heard a very slight hissing coming from the battery.

When my girlfriend turns the key to start I hear a click that sounds like it's coming from the voltage regulator, but that's the only response I get from the car. Also, I unplugged the voltage regulator and checked the voltages again and there were no changes.

I am completely and utterly stumped here. What did I do to this car? Please help me.


It's a 1967 Mustang with a 200ci and a 3spd with a Pertronix module, by the way.

 

[61Futura]

You will read 12.6v if your voltmeter probe was on the + terminal of the battery & the other probe on the starter side of the solenoid. Make sure the probe to the battery is put on the negative terminal. As for not having the power to turn the starter, that is probably corroded terminals or a bad battery cable that can't habdle much current. A dead battery shouldn't give the 12.6v reading, but a poor connection would when not under load.

 

[Falcon Ranch]

First off, I would double check your timing...it sounds like you're retarded too much...hence the cranking hesitation...set no.1 TDC and pull the cap...and second...check to make sure your solenoid is tight and secure to the fender...if it's loose, it can cause starting problems.

Good luck!

 

[fordconvert]

Im thinking timing also since in your description I did not read anything about marking the rotor position. You first need to get the engine so #1 is TDC on the compression stroke. That should be when the timing mark gets to 0. The way to tell if its compression or exhaust is to remove the spark plug and put you finger over the spark plug hole. THe compression stroke will be the one where the air pressure pushes your finger off the hole. Without moving the engine you now need to get the distributor to drop in so the rotor is pointing at the #1 wire on the cap. Because of the spiral gear you will find that you have to start dropping it in either before or after the position you want because it will rotate slightly as it drops. You then also have to get the oil pump to go along with all this so it may take several tries. Next problem you could run into is that once its running you cant quite get it in time because the vacuum can hits something. To fix this problem you either have to pull it out and move it a tooth or two or switch all the wires over one terminal.

 

[jamyers]

Yup, sounds like when you bumped the engine over to align the dizzy / oil pump drive, you didn't have the dizzy / cam gear engaged and you lost your position.

 

[ArtemisI6]

I appreciate all the tips everyone's given me so far. I think what I ended up doing was setting the rotor to point at cylinder one at TDC on the exhaust stroke accidentally. However...

What's bothering me more than that is why the car is not even cranking anymore. I checked the solenoid and it's just as tight as it's always been. I didn't think that was the problem to begin with because when I bypassed the solenoid by connecting the positive battery cable with the cable going down the starter nothing happened, but I figured it was easy enough to check anyway. I appreciate the suggestion.

I'm thinking possibly it may be as simple as this battery cable not having the capacity to carry enough amperage any longer. I pulled the starter tonight and tested it, and it spun easily as soon as I connected power to it. The starter cable on the other hand is missing insulation in several spots, revealing rusty wires, some of which are snapped, though it still provides continuity. I'm going to buy a new cable when I go to work tomorrow and see where that gets me.

Thank you for the help so far guys, I'll update with my progress.

 

[ArtemisI6]

I replaced the starter cable and still no improvement. Then I figured I'd try hooking my jumper pack directly to the cable and the starter kicked over instantaneously.

I had just charged the battery earlier in the day so that told me that the battery was not holding a charge at all. We took a known good battery (the one out of my truck) and put it into the car and it cranked without issue. Since it looked pretty well used, and someone had forgotten to punch out the date on the label, my girlfriend decided to just buy a new battery. Got the thing running today. Moved the distributor forward a tooth so that I could have more freedom in timing it while keeping the vacuum advance away from the block a little bit. Thing's running pretty okay now.