1949 Plymouth special deluxe

[Reggie1949]

Where is the fuse box located in a 1949 Plymouth special deluxe or does it have one at all. I drove it and it drove great, came home shut it off now won't start. O have replaced the coil and rotor button. Have spark and fuel any suggestions please help. This is my first antique vehicle. 

[Rusty_OToole]

They didn't have fuses, they have a couple of circuit breakers. They are up behind the instrument panel.

 

Fuses, or breakers, have nothing to do with not starting. They are never installed in the ignition circuit.

 

If I was there I could have your car running in half an hour, unfortunately I can't diagnose it from this distance. If it ran before, and has gas and spark I don't know why it won't run. Did you flood it? How do you know you have spark?

[Reggie1949]

I pulled  the #1 plug held close to metal and cranked over the car. I seen and felt the spark..lol 

 I even tried a shot of starting fuild just to check the fuel.  I mean it was driving great and starting with no issues 

.then drove home shut it off now won't start.

 

[Reggie1949]

Thanks in advance for your time and attention to this matter

 

[TerryB]

With spark and fuel it should do something, do you get any cylinders to fire?  Is it original engine and 6v system.  Can you post a photo of the engine bay?

[JFranklin]

Spark, fuel, and compression, all at the right time and it will run.

[Grimy]

Does it (1) fail to crank, (2) crank slowly, (3) fail to fire (i.e., catch)?

 

Before you replace any other components by guess work, you should diagnose the failure with the components at time of failure. For now, leave the replaced coil and rotor in place if either new or known-good.

 

For (1) and (2), FIRST clean battery cable contacts on both ends (4 points) and tell us the battery voltage at rest (should be at least 6.3V).

[Rusty_OToole]

If the engine was badly flooded the plugs could be too gummed up to fire and the oil washed off the rings by the gasoline. In that case the cure is to sandblast the plugs and squirt a shot of oil into each plug hole.

 

If it was flooded the plugs would be soaked and would not fire even in the open air. You could see they were coated with gas and oil.

 

We have had these problems before "O it was running great, I drove home and shut it off now it won't start for no reason at all" usually there turns out to be a reason the questioner is not telling.

 

Do not go tearing everything apart and replacing random parts. You do that and you will soon have it so lobblollied and messed up the oldest man in the world couldn't figure out what the original trouble was. You have to test and diagnose the problem.

 

As others have pointed out if you have gas, spark, and compression all happening at the right time the engine will run, it has no choice.

 

I would start by checking the spark,  go on to check the carburetor, the compression was probably ok if it was running the other day but you could do a compression test anyway.

[c49er]

Flooded.

 

[Reggie1949]

Does anyone know where I can purchase  a rebuild kit for a carburetor 1949 Plymouth special deluxe 

[Marty Roth]

Check to see if the choke is stuck - either closed or open, and inoperable.

If stuck closed, the mixture will be too rich to allow it to run, and maybe even to fire-

If stuck open, the mixture will be too lean for a cold engine to fire.

 

How much time elapsed between the time you drove it home and now?

If the car sat an extended time, is the gas very old? Does it smell old? did you add E-85 or some other Ethanol fuel?

 

I don't know if it is possible to get the distributor cap on wrong (180 degrees opposite) - 

Pull #1 Spark plug and slowly  rotate the engine, perhaps with a long thick plastic straw sticking straight up from the piston through the spark plug hole. When the straw/piston is at maximum height (aslo called TDC or Top Dead Center on compression stroke you will feel air pressure exiting the hole/straw (no pressure when at TDC on exhaust since exhaust valve should be open). With engine at this point (TDC on #1 cylinder), open the distributor cap and check the position of the rotor. The location it points to in relation to your distributor cap, and the wire at that location should be the wire to #1 cylinder. If it is not, then you have the cap or the cylinders incorrectly sequenced. Start from #1 location, follow the firing order is 1-5-3-6-2-4 with a clockwise rotation:

1949 Plymouth 217 Inline Six Engine Specs - Second Chance Garage

TUNE UP SPECIFICATIONS. Spark Plug Make: Auto-Lite AR5. Spark Plug Gap, Inch: .035. Firing Order: 153624. Ignition Timing: TDC. Timing mark: Vib. Damp. Engine Idle Speed, RPM: 475. Cylinder Head Torque Lbs.Ft.: 70. Compression Pressure & Cranking Speed: 120 Min.

 

Good luck, and let us know how you make out from here

 

Per your carburetor rebuild kit request, unless you are absolutely certain that is the problem, DO NOT TEAR INTO IT YET !!!

 

If you do everything else, and nothing works, have a more experienced club member confirm the cause !!   

 

Larry Isgro is a good source for carburetor kits:

516-783-1041

mention my name

Edited December 3, 2017 by Marty Roth (see edit history)

[Reggie1949]

The car ran great before I park it 2 days ago. I went into my homevfor about 4 hours, came out to start the vehicle and it would not crank.

I have put the fuel additive when fueling 1.oz per 10 gallonsof 87 octane. I will replace the plugs tomorrow.

 

Thanks in advance for your time and attention to this matter.

 

[SC38dls]

I don’t know Plymouth’s but is it possible when you replaced the rotor you moved the points or the small wires in the distributor?  Did you put the cap on backwards (180 degrees off) ?  As someone else asked did you check the choke to see if it is stuck. That is the butterfly valve or plate in the carburetor. You have to take the air filter off to look down inside the carb to see it. 

Good luck. 

[Jon37]

Wait.

You said you came out to start the vehicle and "it would not crank".

 

So, when you turned the key, the starter didn't even turn the engine over?

 

If it didn't turn the engine over,  did you even hear a "click" from the engine compartment when you turned the key?

 

If you didn't hear a "click" I would suspect either the battery or ground connections, or the starter solenoid.  Or the starter switch.

[Marty Roth]

1 hour ago, Reggie1949 said:

The car ran great before I park it 2 days ago. I went into my homevfor about 4 hours, came out to start the vehicle and it would not crank.

I have put the fuel additive when fueling 1.oz per 10 gallonsof 87 octane. I will replace the plugs tomorrow.

 

Thanks in advance for your time and attention to this matter.

 

 

Reggie, Where do you live?

Does this car have a manual choke, and do you know how to use it?

As I noted 3 or 4 posts up, do not just start throwing parts at it - and changing plugs may be a "red herring"

 

Do as I suggested to find Top DEAd Center on #1 Cylinder and see where the rotor is pointing - Is it #1?

 

Also, as Jon37 noted , there is a difference between not cranking, and cranking (turning over) but not starting.

Which is it?

Edited December 3, 2017 by Marty Roth (see edit history)

[c49er]

Oh... it won't crank!

 Focus on fixing just the current issue. Don't mess with installing a carb kit or plugs

Look at the battery voltage....  must be 6.5 volts or higher to be fully charged....How old is your battery? Do you even have a good volt ohm meter to check the battery voltage?

Make sure the battery starter cables are extremely silver bright/clean at the battery posts and tight at the starter solenoid on the fender wel.

Clean the battery ground cable  connection at the head..

Carefully look at and clean the battery cables and battery posts..

All this is considered normal annual maintenance.

 

[Harold]

Assuming you have a 2nd-Series '49 (ignition lock on left of steering column, turn key to crank the engine like a modern car) I'd use a test light to see if there is 6V going to the 'start' wire on the solenoid when the key is turned to the start position.  If yes, I'd use a test light to see if there is electricity to the starter when the key is in the start position.  If nothing is going to the starter, you probably have a bad starter solenoid.   Make sure whoever is helping you has the transmission in neutral and/or the clutch depressed so the car won't move if it suddenly begins to crank.  If you have a first-Series '49 (with starter button on dash) the same suggestions  apply.

Edited December 4, 2017 by Harold (see edit history)