by jdlaugh Tue Jan 27, 2015 4:09 pmGot my '65 Econoline pickup started today. I only ran it for a few seconds but the old 240 started easy and sounded great. I was pleasantly surprised at how quiet it was! I had my fingers crossed it would actually work. I've had this truck for almost two years now and never heard it run. I was told it was "running when parked" an un-specified number of years ago. I always wonder about those claims.
Even if it did run when parked, no guarantee it would run now. Not only did I have the motor I had never heard run, I was using a Carter YFA carburetor I bought for $10 and then rebuilt, a new DuraSpark II ignition system I wired up from scratch and a used battery I bought at a junk yard. Rather than put gasoline in the new gas tank and charge the entire system, I dribbled gasoline through the vent tube into float bowl of the carburetor – maybe one or two ounces just to get it started.
On the first try, nothing happened at all – silence when I turned the key. My first thought was the JY battery was bad, despite their guarantee. I tested voltages and everything looked correct. It had to be a wiring mistake. I was moving things around and disconnected power to the ignition module – forgot that I had – and tried to start it. It turned over but wouldn’t start. I realized the ignition module was unplugged, plugged it back in, tried to start and got silence – nothing. For some reason plugging in the DuraSpark ignition module killed the starter circuit.
The various diagrams I've found for the Dura Spark system show a white wire running from the "S" terminal on the starter relay to the module, to tell the system when you are in start mode. I read a couple discussions saying it wasn't really needed. As far as I could see, everything was correct, so just as a blind test I disconnected that white wire and gave it a try.
I turned the key and it fired and ran on about the second or third revolution. What a surprise! It even had a nice smooth idle for the few seconds I let it run.
Now I get to start putting it all back together so I can actually drive it down the road one day ....
Even if it did run when parked, no guarantee it would run now. Not only did I have the motor I had never heard run, I was using a Carter YFA carburetor I bought for $10 and then rebuilt, a new DuraSpark II ignition system I wired up from scratch and a used battery I bought at a junk yard. Rather than put gasoline in the new gas tank and charge the entire system, I dribbled gasoline through the vent tube into float bowl of the carburetor – maybe one or two ounces just to get it started.
On the first try, nothing happened at all – silence when I turned the key. My first thought was the JY battery was bad, despite their guarantee. I tested voltages and everything looked correct. It had to be a wiring mistake. I was moving things around and disconnected power to the ignition module – forgot that I had – and tried to start it. It turned over but wouldn’t start. I realized the ignition module was unplugged, plugged it back in, tried to start and got silence – nothing. For some reason plugging in the DuraSpark ignition module killed the starter circuit.
The various diagrams I've found for the Dura Spark system show a white wire running from the "S" terminal on the starter relay to the module, to tell the system when you are in start mode. I read a couple discussions saying it wasn't really needed. As far as I could see, everything was correct, so just as a blind test I disconnected that white wire and gave it a try.
I turned the key and it fired and ran on about the second or third revolution. What a surprise! It even had a nice smooth idle for the few seconds I let it run.
Now I get to start putting it all back together so I can actually drive it down the road one day ....
