The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay 235 Chevy engine

Someone mentioned ballast resistor when I posted my truck tried to start but would not . I checked it and I thought it checked ok ,however today I ran a wire from the pos.battery post to the pos.side of the coil and bingo it started right up and Idled smooth and very quiet. It's a 54 in a 49 3800 chevy pickup. Now it's either a ballast resistor or something almost as simple . A ballast resistor is little over $8.I might try that first .Now does any one know if there could be a problem with the starter switch? It has a foot starter only thing left after that is ignition key switch right? I might ad that on occasion when I hit the foot starter the starter motor just spins like it would if it had a bad solinoid.

you need the resistor first off, when you push the foot switch you're bypassing the resistor, and it starts, when you let off the starter, the bypass is opened, but a bad resistor doesn't provide the current to the coil to keep running, that's the classic symptom .... the starter is a different matter, a foot start has no 'solenoid', the spinning is very possibly just from inactivity, probably go away if you use it regular

Bill

This is what I love about this place.I learn things every time I'm here. My thank's to Red58 that makes good since.