Car won't start

[Guest]

Get a 59 bird, ran good at start it idled fast .pulled into garage took off air filter turned electric choke lean tighten screws .
Car won't start turns over.(coincidence)
Turns over no spark at coil.
It has a Mallory electronic ignition .
Put in new coil, new key switch, tracing items and wondering what this is? Can't seem to find it on goggle or this board.
Seems to have something to do with coil. (Pass side above heater)

http://postimg.org/gallery/14e6q9sea/

Not sure this the issue but no one seems to know what it is.
Buddb47@sbcglobal.net
Looking for someone to help in north Indy area.

[jopizz]

That's your power window relay. It has nothing to do with your ignition.

John

[jopizz]

Put the choke back to where it was and adjust the fast idle screw to lower the idle. Sounds like too much of a coincidence to me.

John

[Guest]

Doesn't start

I apologize I guess I wasn't clear it just turns over now it won't start, no spark at the coil.
I replaced coil, replaced ignition.
Funny thing is it turns over and when you let ignition go to run, it stops turning over(like it is suppose to) but when you go from run to off position, it starts turning over again for a split second and that is when I got spark from the coil.
<----- throughly confused now!!!
Bud

[Frango100]

Looks almost as a problem with the ignition switch. If you, just for test, put 12V directly on the coil, will it start?

[jopizz]

Did you verify the connections on the new ignition switch. Some of the new ones have the terminals in different places than the old switches. If you just copied from the old switch that may be your problem. I know from experience.

John

[Guest]

Won't start

Hi and welcome to the forum. I had the same problem with my 60 and you might try this. Where the wires come thru the firewall there are two connectors with 2 wires each that go to across the firewall to the right side. Unplug those wires and check for corrosion or bad wires. Plug them back together and see if that cures your problem. That where my problem was.

Westfield is only about 25 miles from me.

[Guest]

Doesn't start

I put ACC to ACC, Ign to IGN. BAT to BAT and then the center wire.
I placed them according to the writing, not position, but thanks...

I cleaned every wire.. Results Windows fly up and down...clock works...

I replaced coil, resistor on firewall , solenoid, negative bat cable(looked bad), and ign switch.
It does appear in my thinking ign switch but since I replaced it does the same thing.
I also tried a remote starter jumped across the solenoid and nothing happen (key on) all that happen is the wires got hot!
Because of this a little apprehensive about jumping across from bat + to coil+.

[Yadkin]

New car (to you) with after market ignition parts, so forget about the OEM wiring diagram. Look at the one for your Mallory module. It may be wired up differently.

The OEM Ford ignition system uses the starter solenoid and a pink resistor wire (buried in the harness under the dash) to run the factory coil at 12 volts while cranking, then 5 to 6 volts while running. Many aftermarket ignition kits want you to bypass this.

[newyear]

Not wishing to confuse,but looking through the 1958 Ford Thunderbird shop manual and another resource
No spark at the coil(checked by testing HT lead to cylinder head)..is the HT lead faulty?
Is your replacement coil correct for your electronic ignition system?

[jopizz]

Most electronic ignition systems want you to remove the coil resistor and run a wire directly from the ignition switch to the coil. I would remove the wire from the + side of the coil and run a wire directly from the battery and see if it starts.

John

[simplyconnected]

Let's go through the wiring for your '58. Use a 12-volt test light with one lead connected to a solid ground.

BTW, make sure your engine has a solid ground and so does the body. If need be, run a short #10AWG wire from the neg Battery terminal to the car body (All modern cars do this.)

+12 starts at the battery side of your Starter Solenoid and it runs through a yellow wire directly to your Headlight Switch (Batt terminal).

From the Headlight Sw., a short yellow jumper feeds your Key Switch (Batt terminal). There is NO fuse on this hot wire.

With the Key turned on, a power wire feeds your ceramic Ballast Resistor. There is no other obstruction or fuse. Turn the key to run and the resistor becomes hot. Check it with your test light. If you don't see power and your ground is good trace it back to your Key Switch.

If you do have power, this full power terminal is where your Mallory should be connected, not from the resistor side.

The other side of your Ballast Resistor should show a slight voltage drop and it should connect to your Coil (Batt terminal). Again, check the Coil's B terminal with the key on. If you had power on one side of your Ballast Resistor and not the other, change the Ballast Resistor. The IGN side of your Coil should be connected to your Mallory system. Mallory simply grounds this side whenever a spark should happen. Again, your ground side is equally important as your power because a circuit requires BOTH wires.

Your post indicated a wire got hot but I'm not exactly sure where you connected the remote start button. At the expense of being wordy, I need you to be very descriptive for a thorough understanding because all I know is what you write without 'reading into it'. A properly connected remote start button should not produce a heated wire. - Dave

[Guest]

Won't start

Well guys thanks for all the help. I checked everything and all voltage , amps, continuity checked out... So guess what I did!

I threw out the Mallory unilite distributor.
From what I can gather when they go bad they can back feed thru the wires and that is what was giving me no spark when it turned over and spark when key in the off position.
Again thanks.
On to new issue, guy put in new motors for front seat but never made them hot, where do I get the electric from? Switch?
Bud

[simplyconnected]

Are these Ford replacement motors or are the seats from another car?

In other words, do your motors have two wires, or more?

This isn't the first time I have heard of Mallory Unilte failures. Glad you got it going. What distributor are you running, now? - Dave

[jopizz]

Bud,

Here's the link to the wiring diagrams for the seats. As you can see the hot wires from the motors get connected directly to the relays.

http://www.oldcarmanualproject.com/manuals/wiring/1957-65Accsy/pages/3WD-433_jpg.htm

John