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+--- Thread: car died after a short ride. (/showthread.php?tid=7228)
car died after a short ride. - combat32 - 05-12-2021
Last month it wouldnt start i changed the coil still wouldnt start, changed the points and while i was doing that replaced cap and rotor.
still wouldnt start, adjusted the points again and she started up, i ordered a new VR since my dash lights were still flickering.
put that in and everything was great, no more flickering lights and it was running.
adjusted the carburetor (4300 autlolite) got her running pretty smooth. (side note i need to send it out and get it rebuilt)
well took my 69 Mach 1 out over the weekend, went and got some new gas about 5minutes down the road.
came back and took my brotherinlaw for a ride, thats when it happened.
I went down the road about 5 minutes and got on it a little, it got up to 70mph and i let off and was just coasting.
stepped on the gas and it kinda bucked a little and shut off. put it in neutral and coasted, tried to start it and nothing.
once we stopped in a driveway i pulled a plug wire, no spark. opened the distributor and the wires on the points were almost touching the vacuum advance wire/arm.
i rotated the wires away from that, she started up and died again. put some tape under the connection, tried again nothing.
took the connector off the Voltage regulator and re-seated it, started up stayed running, started to put the air cleaner on and noticed the VR was starting to smoke.
ran over shut the car off. got a new VR and popped it on car started up and drove it home.
would the Voltage Regulator cause the car to shut off like that?
i got a new one from autozone, should i order another one, if so what kind? solid state or old school point style?
the one i put on was a solid state and didnt notice until i got home with it, that it was made in china
I still have my old one that the interior lights flicker, that is a reproduction i got from Mustangs unlimited years ago.
never had this happen before.
sorry for the long post, just trying to include everything i can.
RE: car died after a short ride. - combat32 - 05-18-2021
update.
so anyone having an issue like this, for me it was the bolts holding the Voltage regulator to the engine compartment.
i threaded some bolts through and star washer with lock washers, bolted the new voltage regulator on and everything seems fine now.
RE: car died after a short ride. - JTS71 Mach1 - 05-18-2021
No, I haven't, and I've been around since before these things were new. The issues you are describing are quite weird. If fixing it was accomplished by bolts, and star washers. That would point to a ground issue? I never knew the voltage regulator to need grounding? But hey when you find a solution like that it could point to a bad ground somewhere else, and it's finding ground at the voltage regulator. Think path of least resistance. If it has a choice of a big but dirty, painted, or loose ground. Or a clean tight smaller ground. Guess where it's going to go! Which as long as the load remains low it should be ok. When the load increases say AC, heater, big stereo etc. You may end up with a burnt up wire, or harness. My suggestion as I'am not there. Would be to go over the whole car. Find every ground, clean, and tighten every one. "Clean" being the operative word here. Paint is pretty but it makes a lousy ground. so fix them, and you may find you problem goes away. Battery Negative to engine, Battery negative to chassis, I wouldn't simply rely on the little engine to body ground strap, by itself. Add another one. Also add a small ground from the engine to the distributor housing itself. You'd be amazed, because if the distributor is left slightly loose (so you can adjust it) or it has been painted,. You can very easily cause a poor ground. Which will wreak havoc on the best ignition system. Anytime a light goes dim it's usually due to a lousy ground, and that's seeable. A quit running suddenly, or fluctuation is hard to pinpoint or diagnose. Good Luck Hope it helps.
JTS
RE: car died after a short ride. - combat32 - 05-18-2021
I went through the engine compartment and checked every ground I could find.
they all seemed to be good.
I do like what you said about adding a ground from the negative on battery to the chassis and the distributor.
the only problem (knock wood) was the voltage regulator, my interior lights were bright, dash lights bright and my headlights are on relays off the battery.
no fancy stereo, i like to hear the car
thanks for the reply
RE: car died after a short ride. - JTS71 Mach1 - 05-18-2021
You just said a BAD word. "Seem" to be good. Yeah Right! I can't tell you how many times that exact statement, has bit me in the ass! LOL. Take them off, and clean them! it's the only way to know.
JTS
RE: car died after a short ride. - combat32 - 05-19-2021
(05-18-2021, 11:50 PM)JTS71 Mach1 Wrote: You just said a BAD word. "Seem" to be good. Yeah Right! I can't tell you how many times that exact statement, has bit me in the ass! LOL. Take them off, and clean them! it's the only way to know.
JTS
yeah, I did that, but the one on the engine from the battery I didnt do yet. its PIA to get to.
I should of used a better word the the "seems" lol
RE: car died after a short ride. - JTS71 Mach1 - 05-20-2021
Yep I here you, words are dangerous. LOLJTS