Start up New engine

[59elcooldsuv]

After years of saving up my nickles & dimes & buying one piece at a time, I finally have my 348 (1959- 250hp) ready for crank-up & break-in on the home built engine stand.

For lack of a battery, I pulled the batt out of the lil Ranger pickup (2.9L V6) and plugged it in to the wiring on the 348.

It cranks over very slowly but wouldn't fire. Every test I could think of seems to indicate that all my wiring is correct. The Pertronix unit with a ballast resistor has a wire from the 'start' circuit that temporarily bypasses the resistor while holding down the starter button. The timing light indicates that I'm getting hot volts at every spark plug. I checked the timing of the distributor several times.

What's buggin me right now is that it rolls over so slowly. Not like a dead battery, but maybe like a battery that's simiply too small for the V8. After trying for several hours to troubleshoot some other cause for not firing, I put the batt back into the pickup and it cranked up & ran immediately, so I guess the batt is good enough for the V6.

I guess my next trick is to take the battery out of the Buick and see if it cranks faster. If not I'll rig up my two sets of jumper cables from the running pickup to the Buick's battery in the garage and see if I get enough amps.

The initial tests with the compression tester don't look very good, but maybe that's a function of the engine turning so slowly. One thing I forgot is to squirt oil in the spark plug holes to 'wet' the rings before the first attempt. The good news is that I can't find any other reason for it not to run.

I hope I don't have to go out & buy a battery just to crank it up and break it in when I don't yet have a car to put this engine in.

Back to the drawing board.
What do you think?

 

[JimKwiatkowski]

If your using jumper cables from the batt to the engine this could be your problem.you need your neg cable bolted to your engine block and your pos cable bolted to your starter.

 

[Ronnie Russell]

Randy, Your problem is not the battery. The Ranger battery will turn the motor over easily, if it is hot. The problem is poor conections,( as Jim said) , or a bad starter. Wouldnt be the first time a new starter is bad. Does the motor spin fast without spark plugs? Stay with it, the problem will be something simple.

 

[Mr Goodwrench]

Make sure your cables arent too long also. A starter draws a very large amount of ampreage, and is lost in long lengths of cables very quickly unless very big in diameter cabels are used.

 

[Fathead Racing]

The Pertronix unit I used needed 12 volts after starting to operate correctly. Unless the instructions say different Loose the resistor wire.

 

[w ogden]

I agree with Ray, that the Pertronix needs a hot 12 volts and no resistor to function correctly. To test this just put a jumper around the ballast resistor. And wire the battery direct to the starter and ground, no jumper cables. Test with the plugs out and she should roll over fast. Let us know.

 

[johnnyrod]

I use the petronix in my 348 tri power and no resist wire needed. I have been runnig this for over a year now. I use their coil allso. John

 

[59elcooldsuv]

Thanks for answering guys.

I wasn't using jumper cables. I had short "battery" cables wired straight to it. All the wiring is new, but the starter is original. I meant that I was thinking of hooking up one battery to the engine and then using the other car with jumper cables to boost it.

The instructions that came with the Pertronix said to use the ballast resistor if the original car had a ballast. I followed Pertronix instructions & wiring diagram. I guess I could try by-passing the resistor & see what happens. It isn't a resistor wire; it's a ceramic block style resistor - a new NAPA replacement for the one that was in the '59.

I haven't tried spinning it without the plugs in. I guess that's what I'll try today. I'm assuming that I'll need to pull the plugs and squirt oil in the cylinders anyway.

I bought a new distributor cap and plug wires this week. I was using a set of plug wires that I bought at a swap meet. They don't have a brand name on them, they only say "Super Stock 8mm". I checked them with an ohmmeter and got NO reading at all.

I'll let you know what happens. I'm not going to spend much time on it today, since I'm going to the swap meet tomorrow and don't want to make my old knees sore & tired today.

Check ya later.

 

[59elcooldsuv]

... Pertronix needs a hot 12 volts and no resistor to function correctly. To test this just put a jumper around the ballast resistor. ....

Thanks guys!

Based on advice like this I tried by-passing the ballast resistor.

The whole wiring harness went up in smoke.

For all I know the Pertronix unit may also be fried.

I guess I'll be going up to NAPA & buy a points & condensor; then replace all the burned up wires before I try again.

Thanks for availing me of the voice of experience.


Before all that happened, I did squirt oil in the cylinders and cranked it without the plugs. It didn't turn any faster, but the plug wires were all *snaping* like firecrackers as they grounded to the heads. I'm guessing the spark was there. It didn't start, tho; even after I put the plugs back in. That's when I tried by-passing the resistor.

Back to the drawing board.

 

[mpris]

How did you by-pass the resistor? The resistor is by-passed during the cranking of the engine anyway. The only way you could burn up any wires is to place a ground on an unfused battery supply. If you by-passed the resistor correctly and something went up in smoke, you have something wired wrong or have a defective component. What type of Pertronix do you have? Type I or II. Do you have a Petronix coil also?

Poocho

 

[Fathead Racing]

The Pertronix unit I used needed 12 volts after starting to operate correctly. Unless the instructions say different Loose the resistor wire.

Sorry you lost your harness, I agree with the last post, something went to ground.
Always refer to the manufactures instructions.

Don't get bummed out, we have all been there at one time or another.

 

[Ronnie Russell]

Randy, Sorry for your problems, but the guys are right. Pertronix does need 12 volts. You have something wired up wrong. When you find the problem, it will probably fix your problem. Sounds like low voltage to the starter due to incorrect wiring. Good luck. It will work out if you stay with it.

 

[Ronnie Russell]

Randy, Start at ground zero. Remove all ignition wires,( shouldnt be a big problem now) Forget about the ignition and fix the starter first. Double check your two main battery cables and then jump solenoid. Since your engine is on a stand , that should not be a problem. After you have found that problem and your engine is turning over fast, then procede to ignition.

 

[bobs409]

Be sure your distributor is set to #1 as well. If the distributor is in wrong as in set on #6 it will not turn over very well. (and will not start) We've all done this at some point haven't we? :eek:

 

[dq409]

Be sure your distributor is set to #1 as well. If the distributor is in wrong as in set on #6 it will not turn over very well. (and will not start) We've all done this at some point haven't we? :eek:

Sorry also for your troubles !! Lucky it wasn`t in the car and that harness burned up.:eek:

But I agree with Bob about the timing.
I don`t know how many times I`ve been fooled by the timing being off after I checked it over and over.
The best way is to start from scratch. Remove the valve cover and make sure that #1 is at top dead. And the timing mark on the dampner is correct.
Then check your distributor to see if it is pointing at #1.
It is really easy to get fooled,,, been there,,,dq