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Hello,

I'm putting my truck back together, and tried to start it for the first time today. It didn't start.

It is a 1953 with a 1954 235, and a 6v system. I did not rebuild the engine. What I did was:

1. Carb rebuild
2. New Fuel Pump
3. Many new gaskets and seals
4. New 6v battery
5. New regapped spark plugs
6. New wiring harness

Before disassembly, the engine ran. It leaked all over the place, but it ran. I wasn't able to locate all problems as it was very dirty. Now I need to get it started and see what else needs replaced/fixed.

Problems:

1. I seem to be getting too much fuel to the carb. Plugs smell of fuel, and fuel is leaking around the top of the carb gasket. I rebuilt the carb 'by the numbers'. I followed the instructions precisely, and took pics for reassembly.

2. Foot starter is active regardless what position the key is in. I bought a new key switch, and no matter what I do, the foot starter kicks in when I depress it. As the wiring harness also connects through the ammeter, I still put the key 'ON' in case it needs something connected there. The instrument lights light up whenever I ground them, even if the key is off.

3. My 6v battery doesn't seem to have the amps, rated at 84 amp, to turn over the engine right now, and so I hooked up a 12 volt batt to turn over the engine. It turns over great, but all I get is a bit of a back fire. I've tried to move the distributor back and forth a bit to get the timing closer, but still nothing.

4. The coil is getting extremely hot. Is this because of the 12v bat? Or, is this an indication that the coil is bad?

So, I am confused a bit as to why the starter will always turn over regardless of key position. It seems to make sense as there is a direct connection to the battery. The new wiring harness diagram doesn't really specify which side of the ammeter terminal the black (battery) wire connects to. I tried both, with no change.

Settings seem to be close, as at least it's backfiring. But, it won't start.

Any suggestions? Not sure where to go from here.

The starter will turn the engine over regardless of key position.

The truck will start with the key on.


If your carb is leaking from the top it is flooded. Maybe a little debris under the needle.

The instruments lights will come on if the headlight switch is pulled to the first position.

what DADS said, plus, yes the coil is getting hot[er] because of 12V and having the key on - also having the ammeter connected wrong just changes the way the ammeter reads it doesn't affect the operation of the system or starting, if it reads toward charge when cranking you have it hooked up backwards

Bill

What about distributer position? I set in on 0 on the mark on the block, as per the shop manual. Should I advance or retard it? Still not starting.

Did you remove the distributor for any reason during this work?

I made a distributer error on a SBC years ago, found out i was 180 off of where i was supposed to be. It would crank and backfire. Just a thought since i am new with the stovebolt engines and trying to learn about them.

Chris

I did that also, 180 out. I chased my tail for a good week. Sounds lame but it happens

Many of us have made that error, one time.

Well, I am surely no better than the rest. I've made similar errors in the past, and so tried to take extra care. However, can happen.

Yes, I did remove the distributor for cleaning, etc. I did not remove the spark plug wires, wrote which cylinder the wires went to on the caps, but......anything can happen in the craziness.

So, to eliminate that I did install the cap 180 deg out....Should I just lift it off and turn it 180 deg, or should I switch the cap 180 deg, and re-locate the spark plug wires? At present, the #1 wire is at the 1130-1200 position, and then rotate in proper order from there.

Thanks so much for all of the input that is sure to be just a bone head issue.

The cap is indexed. So it won't fit 180 degree rotation. But and this is the good news, the wires will. If you can turn the engine with #1 spark plug out and a finger in the hole you will know where #1 compression is. Start with the BB on the pointer, Lift the cap and see where the rotor is pointed. That is #1. If it is about 5:00 O-Clock you are fine. If it is somewhere towards 10:00 O-Clock you are 180 out. Move wires accordingly. Easy fix.

Most likely when you reinstalled your distributor you lost your timing.


Put your pointer on the ball and see what wire the rotor rest under.

You may or may not be 180 out but you may be off enough so that it won't start.

If your off just loosen the distributor Clamp and turn the distributor untill its timed.

Ok thanks all for this. Yes, I too am sure that it is a distributor issue. I'll try tomorrow with that. Thanks.

From what I've read here it sounds like your jumping all over
the place randomly looking for a reason the engine won't start.
Setting up an engine is like building a house. You start at the
foundation and build from there.

First thing you need is to bring the engine up to top dead
center on the compression stroke. From there line up the timing
pointer with the ball on the flywheel. Drop your distributor
in, lining up the oil pump with the tang on the distributor may
take a couple of tries. You can start the rotation from any
where you like but the standard position for #1 is the lower
left quadrant, anywhere from 6-8 o'clock will work just fine.
Once the distributor is seated and the rotor is pointing to
6-8 o'clock, turn the distributor in a counter clock wise
position till the points are just beginning to break. You can
do that visually or if you eyes are bad and you prefer, you can
use a cheap multimeter to tell when they break. Seat the tang
in the cap in the notch in the housing and fasten it with the
clips. Run #1 wire, which the rotor will be pointing
at, to it's plug, then in a clock wise rotation run
#'s 5,3,6,2, ending with #4. If you have over heated
the coil you may have opened or shorted the coil, I
would use a known good 6v coil.

There is no need to use a 12v battery to start your engine.
Timed properly it should start right up on 6v. Once it's running
you can zero in on the timing with a timing light and set it on
the ball.

The carburetor should start the engine with the idle mixture
out approximately 1 1/4 turn, then adjust it from there once
the engine is up to operating temperature by turning it in till
it begins to stumble then backing it off an eighth to a quarter
of a turn.

With clean tight electrical connections, a good battery, fresh
ignition parts and a newly rebuilt carburetor that engine
should start first turn over. Unless of course your foundation
is shaky, meaning the compression is non-existent and or the
valves aren't adjusted some where in the ball park.

The leak from your newly rebuilt carburetor, if it's a
Rochester 'B' is most likely coming from the all to common
warped air horn if the float is set properly.

It's no more complicated than that.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Denny,

Thanks for the time to write out all this info.

I will definitely start at the top of your post in the morning, just to make sure that I haven't over looked something.

Thanks,

Ya go thru it once in a methodical way and you will be amazed at
how simple it is to get one set up to run first time you turn
the key.
Good luck.

DG

Ok. Distributor on backwards All lined up now. Got it started once, but did have to use the 12v bat as the 6v was outta juice. I couldn't seem to get it started again.

However, noticed a water pump leak at the pulley shaft...uggg. No rebuilds here in Italy. Back for another order.....taxes, taxes, taxes. Get that on, and a good battery recharge, and I should be ok. Found a few leaks in the process, but it looks like they're fixed too.

Thanks for all the input.

Steven

glad to hear that it wasnt anything serious! go drive a few kilometers and enjoy!

Maybe your American engine is intolerant of your metric roads.