Craig107 Posted June 6, 2013 Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 Alright, so the battery is full power, the connections to the battery are clean but I still can't get the engine to turn over. Its trying but it is missing that spark to get the thing going. Any advice for a newbie? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig107 Posted June 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 I'm thinking this could be an electrical issue...I knew I had to do some eletrical work but I was hoping to drive the truck around a bit lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Coatney Posted June 6, 2013 Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 Wont turn over? Same as wont start? Have you looked at anything or did you jump on here and ask questions first? Have you used the forum search function? Same issue was recently discussed. Follow this link. http://mopar.pairserver.com/p15d24ph_forum/topic/33294-help-turns-but-no-fire/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merle Coggins Posted June 6, 2013 Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 As Don asked to clairify your termonology, when you say it won't turn over does that mean the starter motor won't rotate the crankshaft, or the engine rotates, cranks, turns over, but won't start, fire up, run. If it won't crank or rotate then I must ask if you can turn the crankshaft manually. If it'll crank over manually but not with the starter, then you may need to have the starter checked out by a starter shop. If it will crank but won't start, is there any spark? Pull a spark plug and reconnect it to the wire with the tip grounded against the head while cranking. (don't hold it by the wire connection ) If no spark then you'll need to check out your distributor (points, wiring, cap/rotor, etc). If you do have spark, is it sparking at the right time? Have you checked the timing? And the next thing... is there gas available from the carb? You need air, gas, and spark at the proper time if you want it running. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Coatney Posted June 7, 2013 Report Share Posted June 7, 2013 And compression Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBNeal Posted June 8, 2013 Report Share Posted June 8, 2013 What's limiting my '48 from road travel is some sort of internal problem that makes the crankshaft difficult to rotate...I've read various info that says that on a properly running flathead, the fan blade can be grasped to rotate the crankshaft. This jives with the fact that the flatheads have a provision for a hand crank start. At any rate, since my crankshaft is difficult to rotate, the starter must work harder, further draining the 6V battery, leading to a slower rotating starter. And if the starter isn't rotating the crankshaft fast enough, my spark plugs become fuel fouled and it is almost impossible to get ignition to start. This scenario played out a few weeks ago as even jump starting could not get my stalled truck to fire. But once the '48 was chained to the back of Dad's '01 CTD and the speedo read about 20mph, popping the clutch in 2nd gear got the motor to fire. It stumbled about a minute, then idle smoothed out and it ran well enough to drive 4 miles back to the house under its own power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Young Ed Posted June 8, 2013 Report Share Posted June 8, 2013 Sounds like you have some sort of issue in the starting circuit. Undersized battery cables, bad battery, bad starter, etc. What's limiting my '48 from road travel is some sort of internal problem that makes the crankshaft difficult to rotate...I've read various info that says that on a properly running flathead, the fan blade can be grasped to rotate the crankshaft. This jives with the fact that the flatheads have a provision for a hand crank start. At any rate, since my crankshaft is difficult to rotate, the starter must work harder, further draining the 6V battery, leading to a slower rotating starter. And if the starter isn't rotating the crankshaft fast enough, my spark plugs become fuel fouled and it is almost impossible to get ignition to start. This scenario played out a few weeks ago as even jump starting could not get my stalled truck to fire. But once the '48 was chained to the back of Dad's '01 CTD and the speedo read about 20mph, popping the clutch in 2nd gear got the motor to fire. It stumbled about a minute, then idle smoothed out and it ran well enough to drive 4 miles back to the house under its own power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBNeal Posted June 8, 2013 Report Share Posted June 8, 2013 New battery, new -0- size cables with soldered lugs, ground is attached to the starter mounting bolt, starts fine on a freshly charged battery, but by the 5th or 6th start, battery voltage has been dragged down because the crankshaft is so hard to turn. I can put a wrench with a 3 foot cheater on the crank pulley nut, and it takes a grunting effort to rotate the crankshaft. Turning the crankshaft with the fan blade is impossible. I liken it to trying to start the truck while it is in 1st gear: the starter can rotate the crank, but the load is so great that the battery is quickly drained. The generator is working full time to try to recharge the battery while the engine is running, but I don't drive the truck enough for a full recharge to take place. When I rebuilt the engine in the truck back in '95, I was a novice that didn't do enough research & assumed I had a '48 Dodge truck 218 that had never been touched. Thanks to finding the right books to read & info found on the internets, as well as pulling the starter and discovering a rebuild tag located on the block, I have a '55 Plymouth 218 that was rebuilt in OKC some time ago (not sure when; no one remembers the engine being replaced, and the truck has been in the family since new). Since I didn't measure anything when I rebuilt the engine, I don't know for sure if anything was within specifications. The only problem I found internally was a stuck ring in #6 that was the source of severe oil burning when the truck was parked back in '78. And when I installed the re-ringed pistons, I recall it being much more difficult than when I installed the re-ringed pistons in the '49 230. That 230 can have its crankshaft rotated by turning the fan blade, but it could benefit from a new rear main seal and timing cover seal as I didn't replace those when I rebuilt the motor in the truck. So my theory on the 218 is that the piston rings are not the correct size and I am chewing up the piston bores when I run the engine. When I rebuilt the 218, I didn't have a shop manual and had a difficult time with the rebuild that has since been plagued by 10,000 miles of technical issues that have kept this truck from being something to talk about. When I rebuilt the 230, the rebuild went much faster with the shop manual, and the motor has not been the big problem with that truck. Now that I have several spare flatheads to work with, a shop manual that I'm very familiar with, and access to a wealth of internet info, I reckon I'll get the next rebuild done satisfactorily Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judsonhauling Posted June 17, 2013 Report Share Posted June 17, 2013 if its turning over but wont start make sure you have 6V (assuming you are still 6V +G) at the coil and make sure you have a negative wire to the rotor. then pull a plug and check for spark. if you have spark then you need to check for fuel. I always start engines with a little starter fluid/carb cleaner and keep them running till the fuel pump takes over. Just some suggestions. Hope you get her running! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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