Engine wouldn't shut off

[tbirdave]

I pulled into my garage on the way home from work, put my '58 in park turned the key to off, and the engine just kept running. No matter what I did it wouldn't shut off. I called my mechanic friend and while on the phone with him, it died. I pulled the battery cable and had it towed to his shop. I could smell an electrical smell. Have any of you Thunber-heads had this problem? If so what was it? I would like to know so I can give my mechanic a possible place to start looking.

HELP!!!!
Tbirdave

[Alexander]

Was the engine running normally or was it dieseling?

[tbirdave]

It was running normally.

[Guest]

I would check out the ignition switch and see if its fried due to a short. Your mechanic should be able to check this out easily with a test light to see if there is juice going to the switch while on and when the switch is oft you should not be getting any juice to the pole that leads to the coil. I would check this first. I would also look under the hood for any wires that might be close to the ignition coil wire that could be shorting out to that wire. Kind of weird but also kind of interesting.

Did the car still have allot of power when it wouldn't turn oft? If it did than it was not a dieseling problem.

[tbirdave]

Ya, it was running normally. It did have a smell like something electrical was burning.

[Guest]

Did you notice if the generator light was on after you turned oft the key?????? I'm going to pass this on to a group of mopar guys on the internet and see what they come up with. Jon

[Guest]

I had the exact same problem.. EXACT. But my key also got stuck in the ignition switch, has to change out the switch and never had a problem again
mark

[Guest]

Some answers from my Dodge site:
Very common Ford issue. Can cause the other common Ford issue of Fire. The neighbors 58 Ford did this to him 2 summers ago. I believe with his it was a faulty ignition switch. The other thing that can happen is a bad starter that gets stuck and keeps turning. That leads to over heating wiring.

My recollection of the fifties Fords and into the sities, the tumblers used to wear in the ignitions quite bad. A good indication of this is having to wiggle the key in the ignition to start it. Brendan

[tarps3]

Dieseling?

this may be a dumb question but what is meant by "dieseling"? I read it in the above posts and was unfamiliar with the term.

[Alexander]

dieseling

"Dieseling" is the run-on after ignition is switched off, usually in older engines. It is not normal combustion as the ignition is switched off. The gasoline is ignited by hot glowing carbon deposits, not by the spark plugs. The engine runs, but not smoothly.

[tbirdave]

Thanks for all the info and help. Apparently it was my starter, it was pulling too many amps. The pits of it all is that the starter is 18 months old and no longer under warranty. Well anyway, tuck this away for future reference for frustrated Thunder -heads.

[Guest]

As Alex said dieseling will cause you engine to continue running after turned off.yet will not rev up when you press on the gas.But if you turn the key back on it will run normally.Also when going down the road and you accelerate the engine will make a crackleing sound.(Pinging)This is normally caused by using a low octane gas.I use a mid grade in my 60 352 and it runs good. George 60HT