Quote:
Originally Posted by BRENT in 10-uh-C
I guess I am missing something but I fail to see how a burned contact would cause an engine to shut-off after driving 500 feet.
The burned contacts could be from several things. It can be from a driver who did/does not depress the start fully causing the contacts to arc. It could be from poor connections that allowed the bus bar to get extremely hot. It could also be from incorrect cable size and/or excessive crank times that caused excessive heat to be generated. And/or, it could be from a faulty starter that is drawing excess current. Generally speaking, once arcing has occurred where the copper contacts have burned, the contact connection continually gets worse with each subsequent start until you reach this condition like in the pictures. In other words, this just didn't happen, as it has been continually gotten worse.
One other thing that I am curious about since the starter failed. A stock Model-A has a provision for starting crank to be inserted at the front of the engine through a hole in the radiator shell. Is there a reason why you did not use that, -or maybe just push start the engine by rolling the vehicle and 'popping' the clutch? While the tow truck driver would not have received money to fix his transmission, you likely could have saved $300 though.
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The actual cause of the original post was never resolved. Replaced the new distributor cable with another. Drove it maybe three times and then the starter craps out. The crank hole is not aligned with the engine. Bought it that way. Need to lift the engine and see why. Anyhoo . . . when I got the car it was all original for the most part. Unlike most of these cars that have been gone through a hundred times over the last 50 years, this is never had that. This one here is definitely a money pit and it would probably have to be dismantled completely and everything replaced with new or refurbished parts. I've spent the last year and some months putting Band-Aids on everything by replacing each part at a time as they go bad or as they are found bad. Interestingly the car left me stranded with the starter problem less than 500 feet away from the last time it died. About 7 miles from home. Working on a federal installation doesn't allow me the luxury of working on the car in the parking lot. If I can just get it out the gate and into a ditch I could work on it till my hearts content.