Need help, getting so tired of not understanding.

Discussion in 'Technical' started by comet666, Jul 16, 2007.

  1. comet666

    comet666 RAISE HELL AND DRINK WINE

    Joined:
    Jun 27, 2007
    Messages:
    325
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    92
    Location:
    Sweden/Gothenburg
    Vehicle:
    Comet -74 Inline Six 250, 4.1 AT
    Everything is/was running kind of smooth, changed fanbelt, bought a new airfilter, I get my comet running (most of the time, for a short while) but if i give it any gas at all the first minutes when i crank it, it dies immediately, so when I finally get i running, after like 15 minutes of driving it suddenly dies and I need jumper cables to get it going again, the alternator light glows red when it´s either in acc or in the start position, but not when running?

    What is the problem, I feel like a kid waiting for christmas morning, but the day never seem to come around, I got the chilton manual and waiting for the shop manuals (still), but It feels like there is something easy here, but I just can´t figure it out, I know I´ve been going on with my problems here again and again, but you guys really have helped me.

    So please anyone??????
     
  2. MNTony

    MNTony aka Godzirra

    Joined:
    Jul 8, 2003
    Messages:
    2,026
    Likes Received:
    43
    Trophy Points:
    123
    Location:
    Surprise, AZ
    Vehicle:
    72 Turbo FI Maverick, 2006 GMC Sierra Duramax 4x4, 2014 Ford Mustang GT 4spd
    It sounds like you may have a couple of different things happening. We are gonna need some more info to give you a good answer. You say it dies when you give it gas, so that sounds like a choke or fuel problem. To get it started again, do you need to pump the pedal? But then you said that the battery is dead although the alternator seems to work. You could have a weak or shorted battery, or a weak alternator or regulator. It sounds from your description that the light is telling you that the alternator is working. Let me ask you this, do you need the jumper cables because you have to crank it for so long, or does it just not want to turn over from the get go?
     
  3. Maverick Man

    Maverick Man The Original Maverick Man

    Joined:
    Mar 12, 2002
    Messages:
    3,559
    Likes Received:
    41
    Trophy Points:
    137
    Location:
    California
    Vehicle:
    Two 1973 LDO Mavericks (one 4 Drag one 4 driving like Mad on the roads :) ) also have a 75 6cyl Stock! Ok, well sort of Stock :P
    the devil did it to you. ;) hense the 666

    but really it's probably the alternator or regulator.. get a volt meter that will tell you what is wrong.
     
  4. comet666

    comet666 RAISE HELL AND DRINK WINE

    Joined:
    Jun 27, 2007
    Messages:
    325
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    92
    Location:
    Sweden/Gothenburg
    Vehicle:
    Comet -74 Inline Six 250, 4.1 AT
    Thank you for the fast reply!

    No, I don´t need to pump the gas at all, if I do at any point when I try to start it, it dies, the strange thing about the cables is that I have to leave them on for a while (everyone tells me It will start directly) and crank it a cuple of times, cause when it dies and I try to crank it a couple of times in the end it´s just a strange sound and absolutely nothing happens, but the headlights/wipers/radio are always working, which I find kind of strange, and my brakes are living some kind of life of their own, sometime they work from all thw way up, and sometimes I have to stomp the pedal to the ground, and this happens during the same trip....

    Thanks again!
     
  5. comet666

    comet666 RAISE HELL AND DRINK WINE

    Joined:
    Jun 27, 2007
    Messages:
    325
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    92
    Location:
    Sweden/Gothenburg
    Vehicle:
    Comet -74 Inline Six 250, 4.1 AT
    Yeah!

    I had to put in two rosary beads hanging from my mirror:)...

     
  6. Dave B

    Dave B I like Mavericks!

    Joined:
    Mar 9, 2002
    Messages:
    16,931
    Likes Received:
    215
    Trophy Points:
    347
    Location:
    Parts Unknown......
    Vehicle:
    3 Grabbers
    Sounds like your battery is shot, maybe pull the battery and have it checked? Whats the weather like in Sweden this time of year? you might have some choke issues?
     
  7. comet666

    comet666 RAISE HELL AND DRINK WINE

    Joined:
    Jun 27, 2007
    Messages:
    325
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    92
    Location:
    Sweden/Gothenburg
    Vehicle:
    Comet -74 Inline Six 250, 4.1 AT
    It´s been pouring rain for like two weeks and today was the first sunny day, this summer is one of the worst ever, the previous owner have installed lots of strange buttons, I can´t even seem to understand what they all do, and he has ripped out the emergency light switch as well, so the choke might be the issue?

     
  8. ratio411

    ratio411 Member

    Joined:
    Apr 22, 2002
    Messages:
    6,060
    Likes Received:
    22
    Trophy Points:
    138
    Location:
    Pensacola
    Vehicle:
    1972 Sprint and 1975 Maverick
    The cold natured thing is common to Fords in my experience.
    Has to warm up some before you go goose-ing the throttle.
    If your choke is adjusted right, that will cure the cold drivability issue.

    The other does sound like a battery/alternator issue.
    Hard to say.
    Could be as simple as a bad ground.

    There should be a few ground straps/cables running to different parts of the car.
    A cable should go to the block below the alternator, a strap should go from the back of the engine to the firewall... Those are the important ones.
     
  9. Mavaholic

    Mavaholic Growing older but not up!

    Joined:
    Mar 9, 2002
    Messages:
    14,993
    Likes Received:
    214
    Trophy Points:
    258
    Location:
    Live Oak, FL
    Vehicle:
    Original 72 Sprint Owner, 71 Comet GT, 57 Ranchwagon, 57 4 dr Wagon
    First thing I would do is check the battery and charging system. If you can get your hands on a volt meter, put it across the battery with everything turned off. It should read 12 volts or slightly higher. Put the headlights on, it should not drop below 12 volts. If it does, the battery is not charged enough or defective. Then get it started and while it is running at a semi fast idle, You should read around 13.8 volts. If it is less than around 13.4, your not charging the battery.
     
  10. newtoford

    newtoford Member

    Joined:
    Mar 16, 2006
    Messages:
    5,475
    Likes Received:
    8
    Trophy Points:
    157
    Location:
    New Castle Delaware
    Vehicle:
    '76 Maverick, '76 Comet, 78 Monte Carlo, '85 Cutlass Supreme, '86 Regal Limited, '87 Grand Prix
    when i got my mav it had the problem of suddenly dieing, usually when i would go to take off from a light. after changing alot of the electrical components it ended up being the ignigtion module. i was hoping it wasnt going to be that since it was kinda expensive ($50) but it definatly solved the problem.

    good luck
     
  11. hotrod-daddy

    hotrod-daddy Member

    Joined:
    Mar 11, 2005
    Messages:
    1,438
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Rock Springs,Wyoming
    Vehicle:
    a 1971 Grabber with a 302/351
    Your ALT lite being on is normal.......sounds to me like you have a fuel delivery problem, like too much fuel. Check your carb adjustment,even float level. When you jump start and it doesn't jump start right away tells me that your starting system needs attention. Check your battery as mentioned earlier. Good luck Dude!
     
  12. Rick Book

    Rick Book Member

    Joined:
    Mar 9, 2002
    Messages:
    5,744
    Likes Received:
    13
    Trophy Points:
    197
    Location:
    Thailand
    Vehicle:
    Missing my old '70 Maverick
    A quick way to tell if your alternator is charging or not is to start the car, bring the rpms up a bit, remove one of the battery cables. If the car still runs, that means the alternator is putting out the voltage it needs. If that is the case (the car continues to run), then you have another issue (dead battery, other??).

    If the engine dies when you remove one of the cables, more than likely your problem is that you are having charging issues (dead/weak alternator).


    I believe you have two issues also. The fuel problem sounds like it's Choke related (choke staying closed too long, not long enough, other??).

    Just my :2cents:. Good luck with it.


    (If anyone disagrees with my post, shut up, I mean, please feel free to correct me. ;) ).
     
  13. comet666

    comet666 RAISE HELL AND DRINK WINE

    Joined:
    Jun 27, 2007
    Messages:
    325
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    92
    Location:
    Sweden/Gothenburg
    Vehicle:
    Comet -74 Inline Six 250, 4.1 AT
    Hey guys!

    Today I bought myself a voltmeter, tried it out on the battery, and everything is just fine, (even) the alternator is charging, took it out for a spin and it only died once...

    Seems like there is a lot of electrical problems, the guy before med must have really had his own ideas on how to connect cables, nothing is really where it´s supposed to be, I got the lighter working today (new cables) and the wiper motor new cables as well(for the fluid), but I realized today that the carburator is missing pieces, the back of it is missing, and there is somekind of homemade device for the gaspedal and the choke...

    I´ll try to post some pics and you´ll see...

    Is there somekind of electric device that is supposed to be connected to the airfilter housing???
     
  14. comet666

    comet666 RAISE HELL AND DRINK WINE

    Joined:
    Jun 27, 2007
    Messages:
    325
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    92
    Location:
    Sweden/Gothenburg
    Vehicle:
    Comet -74 Inline Six 250, 4.1 AT
    I must really say you help me out a lot, I would have never got this far without you...

    Thank you all...
     
  15. wagesofsin

    wagesofsin Official Lurkologist

    Joined:
    Sep 4, 2006
    Messages:
    597
    Likes Received:
    16
    Trophy Points:
    90
    Location:
    sarasota, florida
    Vehicle:
    74 challenger , 73 'cuda , 72 challenger , 74 barracuda
    the correct way to shadetree the battery is disconnect the positive when its running. disconnecting the ground will almost always shut er down at the battery. and if you disconnect the positive and it stays running, it only means the alternator is putting out, not that it is functioning correctly. i.e. bad regulator. so the multimeter idea is always money well spent. sounds like you have multiple wires in question. it is always something simple, its just gonna be the last thing you check thats the problem. hehe:drive:
     

Share This Page