1949 Wayfarer won't turn over

[Dune1949DodgeWayFarer]

I am new to my1949 Dodge Wayfarer.  Can someone help me. 

 

I can not get the car to start. It turns but won't turn over.

 

Any suggestions 

[alsancle]

7 minutes ago, Dune1949DodgeWayFarer said:

 

I can not get the car to start. It turns but won't turn over.

Can you describe this in a different way?  I don’t understand.  What “turns”.? The key?

[Dune1949DodgeWayFarer]

The car cranks but will not start.

[Dune1949DodgeWayFarer]

Now after trying so many times. I just get a click. 

[TerryB]

3 minutes ago, Dune1949DodgeWayFarer said:

Now after trying so many times. I just get a click. 

Battery is now too weak to start it.  Do you have a manual choke on the carburetor, a knob that you pull to enrich the carburetor for starting?  Also did this just happen after it started ok for you many times before this?

[Dune1949DodgeWayFarer]

I am not sure about the manual choke. Here are some pictures. 

 

Yes this happened after it started ok.

[Dune1949DodgeWayFarer]

I am a rookie when it comes to this car.

[Dune1949DodgeWayFarer]

Hi Terry

[Ltc4748]

Check the battery voltage first. If at or below 6 volts on a digital meter charge the battery first. After charging if it turns over but doesn't start pull the coil wire and check for spark while cranking. You can hook a 12 volt test light on the end of the wire and hold the probe to ground to check if the bulb flashes or put a screwdriver in the wire end and lay it on the engine so the driver shank is 1/8 inch away from ground.

[Ltc4748]

BTW it has an automatic choke. I would still check for spark first.

[Dune1949DodgeWayFarer]

I will try this. 

 

Thank you

[Bryan G]

Are you a rookie when it comes to carbureted cars? Are you giving it gas while cranking it (pumping the accelerator?) Were you trying to start it from cold, or was it already warmed up and you were trying to restart it?

[Oldtech]

You say this car has an automatic choke but in the picture I see a lever and a mount for a choke cable, It looks to me like you have NO choke.  

Possibilities: it needs choke for a cold start - what is the temp there? If hot a few pumps of the accelerator should do it. 

It's flooded. Hold pedal to floor while cranking - Don't pump.

Spark? a different issue. Can you get an assistant to work the starter while you hold the distributor end of the coil wire neat a grounded surface to see if it sparks? (if the wire is old use insulated pliers)

That's just the beginning of troubleshooting. 

When you just get clicking from the starter the battery is dead. Put it on a charger. 

 

BTW the correct problem description is " crank but no start"

Edited July 27, 2023 by Oldtech (see edit history)

[marcapra]

You have a Sisson choke, but it looks like it's missing the rod that goes to the carburetor.  It won't start without that choke and a good battery and starter.  

Edited July 27, 2023 by marcapra (see edit history)

[Dune1949DodgeWayFarer]

Do you have a photo of what I should be looking for

[TerryB]

1 hour ago, Dune1949DodgeWayFarer said:

Do you have a photo of what I should be looking for

If you take a pic or two of your carburetor without the air cleaner on it that would be helpful in explaining what to look for.

[TerryB]

The thing inside the circle is the factory installed carb choke control.  It is controlled by both electric and temperature.  There is an arm that moves attached to it.  A rod goes from the arm to the carburetor choke and opens and closes the choke as needed to start and run the car when the engine is cold and warming up. With the air cleaner removed, a picture of that arm and rod from the drivers side of the car would be helpful.

[Hemi Joel]

First, the terminology: "turn over" means the engine is being spun by the starter. It does not mean start. If you tell someone the car won't turn over,  we think you mean the starter won't spin it. 

But it has been clarified, the engine turned over, but didn't start. Now the battery is discharged, so it won't turn over. 

Put a 6 volt battery charger  on it for a day. That will get the battery well charged. Plus it will give the engine sometime to dry out if it is flooded. Get a can of starting fluid. Take off the air filter off of the top of the carburetor. Spray starting fluid into the carburetor for about 1 second. Then get in the car, floor the gas pedal, and operate the key. Hopefully with the charged battery the engine turns over. The starting fluid should get it at least to fire a little bit. By fire a little bit I mean sound like it's trying to start. If it does, let off the gas and then pump it just a little bit, about quarter pedal on and off about once per second see if it will stay running. The reason I am recommending this. Is that an engine with an inoperable choke will usually start anyway with starting fluid. Plus if the ignition system is good so the spark plugs are sparking, it will always at least fire a little bit on starting fluid.

If it does nothing on that first squirt, try repeating a couple of times. If that doesn't get it to fire at all, and it's time to pull the spark plugs and see if they're wet, and check for spark.

I highly recommend finding a factory service manual for the car. Reprints are available. That will have a troubleshooting guide that will walk you through the no start situation. Also there are a lot of aftermarket manuals like Glenn's or Motors that you can find reasonably priced and are very educational to the novice mechanic. Unlike the much of the internet, the information is organized, vetted, and presented by high level experts.

Edited July 30, 2023 by Hemi Joel
Correcting autocorrect (see edit history)

[marcapra]

12 hours ago, Dune1949DodgeWayFarer said:

Do you have a photo of what I should be looking for

here is a blow-up view of your Sisson automatic choke.  It looks like you are missing the rod that connects the arm to the choke plate on the carburetor.  

Edited July 30, 2023 by marcapra (see edit history)

[c49er]

A carburetored  engine will start with out a choke.

The choke helps it start quicker and run smoother when cold.

The OP has breifly had this engine running.

The choke is not his main problem at this point.

[WPVT]

I agree with c49er.

The car was running before, but probably not as well as it should. It no doubt has a number of things that need attention, but the problem at present is that it won't start.

A few shots of starting fluid sprayed down the carburetor, along with a fully charged battery, should get some results. It's usually not a good idea to start tearing things apart, or readjusting components when the engine won't start. Unless you are a skilled mechanic, that only adds to the number of things that could be wrong. 

 

You've got an old, poorly tuned car with a nearly dead battery. Get it running, then start addressing issues needing work one by one. 

First off, after you have it running, buy a new battery, and look into having beefier battery cables installed. 

 

And hats off to you for driving a great old car.

[Dune1949DodgeWayFarer]

So it looks as though everything is connected. I have a fully  charged battery. 

 Now when I turn the key nothing happens. No crank not a sound. 

Edited July 31, 2023 by Dune1949DodgeWayFarer (see edit history)

[TerryB]

How are your troubleshooting skills for this kind of car?  Do you have and are comfortable using a voltmeter to measure different places on the ignition system?  Do you know if your car still has the original mechanical action fuel pump?   Have you ever tested to see if spark is present at the distributor?  Just trying to establish a starting point for you based on your background.  First check I would do is to check to see if you are getting spark from the ignition system.

[Oldtech]

You need o start at the start, pun intended. At minimum you need a test light, a multimeter would be good too. There is a solenoid in the big wire from the battery to the starter. Is there power there? battery cable to ground. If you connect the small terminal on the solenoid to the battery cable does it crank? does the solenoid click?  if no click it may be bad. If you get a click check the voltage at the starter connection to ground. If power there, starter may be bad,  The other side - the ground needs to be checked the same way, one cable at a time. Is the ground connected to the engine? if just to the body there MUST be another strap or cable to the engine. Let us know what you find.

[Dune1949DodgeWayFarer]

I will do so. Thanks

[Rusty_OToole]

Dune from this distance I can't tell how experienced a mechanic you are but get the impression you are new to working on cars. In that case possibly the best thing you could do is find a local mechanic who is familiar with the old models. Someone who knows all about new, overhead cam, fuel injection, crank trigger ignitions and computers, is no use to you.

 

[TerryB]

I was assuming that the engine was turning over when the starter was activated.  The past explanation was turning over but not starting.  If the symptoms now are not turning over when the starter is activated then as Oldtech says you have to start at the battery and go from there.  Good luck and ask questions as needed.  The help of someone locally who knows old cars would be ideal.

[TOM H. S.]

Hi 1949 DWF, I suggest not to trust anything that your fresh gasoline is feed through. Run a gravity feed directly into your Carburetor via a new fuel filter of course. Pull all sparkplugs and make sure they are clean and set at correct gap and make sure the electrical connections to the sparkplug wires is clean and strong. You could also check the continuity of the plug wires with simply Multimeter. Make sure small wire connections are clean ( Such as that Automatic Choke ) connected to the Intake Manifold. I'd suggest that you contact your local Model T Ford club as someone in the club may be able to come to your car to help you out or suggest someone who has a shop that can work on Antique Cars. Best Wishes, Tom