Engine stalls intermittently…ignition switch?

[bobfake]

Hi all…

Just need a quick brain check here. Took Buzzbee to the local Cars and Coffee in Ocean City this morning. Ran great (and has been since the new Firecore distributor a few weeks ago), but when I was nearly there, I came up to a stop light and it stalled. Pushed in the clutch and turned the key and it fired right up. Odd, I thought, but OK. Went to the show, car fired right up when I went to leave. Drove a few miles and came to a stop light - same thing. This time, it wouldn’t restart.

Poked around under the hood and noticed the 2 pin connector from the distributor was not totally pushed together. Corrected that, it started and I made it home.

Still not entirely happy with that solution, I went back under the hood and check all wiring to make sure nothing is loose. Also checked the floats to make sure I wasn’t flooding when coming to a stop. All ok there.

Took it for a ride around the block and it ran great…until I got one stop sign away from home. It stalled, but on the way to stalling, it restarted. “What the hell!?!?” I thought to myself…

As I went to restart it, it seemed as though the ignition switch itself was very loose. I was able to spin the collar and tighten it up and it fired right up.

So…with these cars requiring really good grounding, my thought is the ignition switch became loose and was losing its ground, causing the stall to occur.

Looked at the service manual but didn’t see anything directly related to that, hence my question to you folks.

Will the poor grounding of the ignition switch cause the engine to stall? If so, that confirms my suspicion and I believe I have resolved it by tightening the switch collar.

Thanks!!
Bob

 

[R413]

The ignition switch does not get a ground from mounting it. It can hang in the open air and the car witill run just fine.

 

[twecomm]

413's correct, the ignition switch housing does not need to be grounded, but possible it could be something with the ignition switch. Might want to check your ballast resistor & coil they do go bad. The ignition start & run wires do pass thru bulkhead connector.
If you have a big block and running a mechanical fuel pump, have you ever checked the length of your fuel pump pushrod ? They can wear down to the point where they barely stroke the fuel pump lever. Like 14 years ago in my 383, the push rod was worn down so much that I had a fuel delivery issue where car would start and run fine but would randomly stall out. Worth checking if everything with ignition checks out.

 

[bobfake]

The ignition switch does not get a ground from mounting it. It can hang in the open air and the car witill run just fine.

Hmmmm…

413's correct, the ignition switch housing does not need to be grounded, but possible it could be something with the ignition switch. Might want to check your ballast resistor & coil they do go bad. The ignition start & run wires do pass thru bulkhead connector.
If you have a big block and running a mechanical fuel pump, have you ever checked the length of your fuel pump pushrod ? They can wear down to the point where they barely stroke the fuel pump lever. Like 14 years ago in my 383, the push rod was worn down so much that I had a fuel delivery issue where car would start and run fine but would randomly stall out. Worth checking if everything with ignition checks out.

I’m thinking the switch is loose due to the collar and causing intermittent fa. Will see how it goes now that it’s tightened up…thanks!

 

[R/T Boy 67]

In the bad old days we would pull the connecter off the ignition switch, and hot wire the car with jumper wires, no ground necessary.

 

[TorRed]

I was going to say check / swap out the ballast as well. That plagued me on a Barracuda I had until I found & replaced it. Kept a spare just in the car just in case after that.

 

[bobfake]

I was going to say check / swap out the ballast as well. That plagued me on a Barracuda I had until I found & replaced it. Kept a spare just in the car just in case after that.

Thanks...would the ballast cause an intermittent failure?

 

[Davefinan]

Thanks...would the ballast cause an intermittent failure?

A bad ballast resister symptom is ….you turn the key , the car fires up, let go of the key and the car and it dies.

 

[Dennis H]

Instant off or stumble first? Bulkhead Connector. Spray with electrical contact cleaner.

 

[TorRed]

Thanks...would the ballast cause an intermittent failure?

It did for me, symptoms like you describe. Start fine, drive down the road, pull up to a stop light or two, car dies, sometimes it would start, other times not. It still stalled every now and then, rebuilding the carter carb finally fixed that.

 

[Sinitro]

Double check ur bulkhead connectors...
These tend to get oxidized making poor connections.
Pull apart, burnish the contacts, slightly crimp tighter the female connector, coat with dia-lectric grease and reassemble..

Just my $0.02...

 

[Dennis H]

Double check ur bulkhead connectors...
These tend to get oxidized making poor connections.
Pull apart, burnish the contacts, slightly crimp tighter the female connector, coat with dia-lectric grease and reassemble..

Just my $0.02...

Very gently.

 

[Dennis H]

Difference between stalling and cutting off. Don’t let the boys here have you rebuild the entire car.