Troubleshooting....the Solution May Bite You!

[Stumpy(NH)]

Hi Fellas,

 

 I haven't posted much, but figured you could use a laugh(at my expense). My B1FA began starting hard and running erratically. I had a hard time finding the cause. Timing, point gap, clean contacts, voltage, etc, etc. while grabbing the lever to throw the bendix in to the flywheel with my right hand my left hand came fairly close to the coil wire! BAM BAM BAM!!!!! I let go of that puppy like a hot potato. When all my bodily functions went back to normal and my vision went back to single, and focused I realized the coil wire had too much resistance. Yup, there was a bad connection at the crimped end and the wire had burnt back internally.

 

 A new coil wire and the old girl is running like a champ again!

 

 Beware, trouble can sometimes reach out and bite you!!!

 

 

[Jeff Balazs]

Stumpy;

I am laughing with you......not at you. I sure have had my fair share of similar things happen. They say that what doesn't kill you will make you stronger. Not sure if that is really true....but if in the end you can laugh at yourself there must be something to it.

 

Jeff

[HanksB3B]

Stumpy,

 

You know what they say "No pain No Gain"   Ouch !

 

Glad it's fixed...you paid the price !

 

Hank 

[Don Coatney]

What kind of voltage reading did you get

[seabee1950]

I was feeling kinda like a know it all while under the hood of my 65 Chevy and being newly married I yelled hey baby watch this and I pulled the coil wire out with the car running, the car still running while I raised the wire about an inch off the top, WOW didn't take me long to show her.

 

It only took one time to show that to her I don't show that trick anymore.

[William Davey]

My father used to drive Wonder Bread trucks on an overnight run of about 200 miles back in the early 1940's before he entered WW2.  Often he would tire on the return trip after topping a very long hill in a very low gear (the trucks were 6 cylinder gas Brockways).  To re-energize himself, he would open the hood, reach in and grab 2 spark plugs! Said he had no trouble staying awake for the rest of the run.

[Plymouthy Adams]

What kind of voltage reading did you get

 

 

I would guess...he read all of them....while it does not hurt you...it still is not fun....been about a week since I got hit with coil secondary spark...lol

Edited June 21, 2013 by Plymouthy Adams

[JBNeal]

A co-worker bought a gently used Pontiac Grand Prix a few years ago...a fine automobile it was, but it didn't sound right, like it had a miss or sumthin'ruther.  So we go out to the parking lot at lunch and fire it up, revving the motor a couple of times, and it definitely was not running smooth.  I start pulling plug wires off the coil pack, one at a time.  Cylinder 1: OK; Cylinder 2: OK; and so forth until I get to cylinder 5.  When I completed my firm grip on the boot, I commenced to doing my best Emmett Fitz-Hume impersonation for a couple of seconds before I tossed the plug wire.  Skipping ahead a bit, it turns out the coil pack for 5 & 6 was grounding out...coil pack replacement was like putting a new motor in that car, cuz it would fly in a heartbeat, and the economy went up considerably.  But my co-worker would on occasion bring up this shocking incident as one of the funniest things he'd ever seen...at least I got a cheeseburger basket for my trouble 

[MBF]

A battery ignition will sting a bit (sometimes a lot), but try getting bitten by a hot mag.  I accidentally did that do myself cranking on my old Gravely.  I was setting the timing on the mag, heard the impulse click and the next thing I'm lying on the ground wondering what happened.  I've seen old farmers shut off a 4 cyl Farmall by touching the spark club wires and grounding them out but that's one of those things I'm not gonna try myself.

[Jeff Balazs]

Many years ago I worked with an old electrician who would test 110v circuits with a wet finger. The first time I saw him do this it freaked me out. I don't know if it was directly related but he died in his seventies of a weak heart.

 

Jeff

[Merle Coggins]

Some people seem to have a higher tollerance to electricty. My dad used to test an electric fence by placing a blade of grass on it and then moving his hand closer until he felt the "tickle". When I would try that I would feel MORE than a tickle.

 

I've had my fair share of ignition system shocks over the years. Some I can laugh at now, others that still hurt when I think about 'em. I still get nervous when I have to shut down a small engine with the little metal tab that shorts out the spark plug. I've never been shocked by one of those, but the thought is always there.

 

This all reminds me of this email I got yesterday. I hope it doesn't offend anyone. Ya gotta get to the punch line.

An elderly couple are sitting in a restaurant booth having dinner. The husband leans over and asks his wife, "Do you remember the first time

we had sex together over fifty years ago? We went behind the village tavern where you leaned against the back fence and I made love to you."

 

"Yes", she says, "I remember it well."

 

"OK," he says, "How about taking a stroll around there again and we can do it for old time's sake?"

 

"Oh Jim, you old devil, that sounds like a crazy, but good idea!"

 

A police officer sitting in the next booth heard their conversation and, having a chuckle to himself, he thinks to himself, I've got to see these

two old-timers having sex against a fence. I'll just keep an eye on them so there's no trouble. So he follows them.

 

The elderly couple walks haltingly along, leaning on each other for support aided by walking sticks. Finally, they get to the back of the tavern and make their way to the fence. The old lady lifts her skirt and the old man drops his trousers. As she leans against the fence, the old man moves in... Then suddenly they erupt into the most furious sex that the policeman has ever seen. This goes on for about ten minutes while both are making loud noises and moaning and screaming. Finally, they both collapse, panting on the ground.

 

The policeman is amazed. He thinks he has learned something about life and old age that he didn't know..

 

After about half an hour of lying on the ground recovering, the old couple struggle to their feet and put their clothes back on. The policeman, is still watching and thinks to himself, this is truly amazing, I've got to ask them what their secret is. So, as the couple passes, he says to them, "Excuse me, but that was

something else. You must've had a fantastic sex life together. Is there some sort of secret to this?"

 

Shaking, the old man is barely able to reply, "Fifty years ago that wasn't an electric fence."

 

[Don Coatney]

My wife gets mad every time I tell this story so dont let her know I am telling it again. On the farm we had when we lived near Buffalo I installed an electric fence to contain the livestock. One day my wife took a step backwards and her backside touched the fence. She jumped and screamed and I could do nothing but laugh. She was not hurt but she was embarresed.

 

Then another time my son was running the weed wacker near the fence. He suddenly tossed the wacker about 10 feet into the air after he got too close.

[Guest bewillie]

Don, Do you dare use EB as a pet name now???

[Plymouthy Adams]

Hey  Bill......shocking maybe.....

[Jeff Balazs]

Some people seem to have a higher tollerance to electricty. My dad used to test an electric fence by placing a blade of grass on it and then moving his hand closer until he felt the "tickle". When I would try that I would feel MORE than a tickle.

 

I've had my fair share of ignition system shocks over the years. Some I can laugh at now, others that still hurt when I think about 'em. I still get nervous when I have to shut down a small engine with the little metal tab that shorts out the spark plug. I've never been shocked by one of those, but the thought is always there.

 

This all reminds me of this email I got yesterday. I hope it doesn't offend anyone. Ya gotta get to the punch line.

 

Merle;

You will love this one. When I was a youngster who had the need for speed I bought an old home made go cart from a pal. It was a real death trap. The frame had been cobbled together from a old metal bed frame......it hard solid tires on axle stubs and no brakes. My Dad bought me a new Briggs & Stratton but would not pop for a centrifugal clutch.......so it was direct drive. My limited 12 year old skills came up with a hand throttle that utilized fishing line. Hope you are getting the picture here.......push start.....hand throttle....no brakes.....but fairly fast due to the direct drive. Emergency stops were made by running into a curb, etc... and planned stops by releasing the hand throttle and reaching over the shoulder to fumble for that little metal kill tab. After getting zapped many times .....routine stops became a crash which was almost always better than the kill tab. I can't tell you how many times I had to get a buddies dad to weld that front end back together.....but sometimes while waiting for his services we would actually lash it together and go.

 

There were 3 or 4 kids in the neighborhood with "fancy" real go carts......brakes, foot throttle etc.... and they hated my old piece of crap as it had a higher top speed. When I think back it makes me shudder. But it never fails to make me smile too.

Jeff

[seabee1950]

Great times great memory's it was all so insane some of the things we all have done but we just didn't think, why should  we where is the fun in that, I once took a pee on an electric fence not funny at the time, before that I thought how is it the one wire keeps them cows in, it only took me one time.

Edited June 21, 2013 by seabee1950

[ggdad1951]

as a kid by brother would hold the cow trainers and show me there was no issue, until he had me do it with damp gloves....