Sometimes ya just get lucky!
 

Today I was off from work and decided to have lunch with my girl. I picked her up at work and when went and had a couple of burgers from Whataburger. I had a pretty good time. Food and service were both pretty good. Anyways, I take her back to work and decided to run a couple of errands. Went to AutoZone to get a new gas cap as O'rieleys sold me the wrong one. :( Next I went to O'rieleys to return the incorrect gas cap. With not much else to do I went to a local muffler shop to see about getting a small hole patched up. They told me to come back after 1. So I decided to just go home for awhile.

On my way home, the engine just died on me. Luckily for me I was close enough and had just enough speed to coast into a parking spot at my apartment complex. :metal:

I was thinking AutoZone must have sold me the wrong gas cap. A non-vented one when I need a vented one. Took the gas cap off and truck still wouldn't start.

Ok, I think, must be something else. I check the usuals getting gas, new open element air filter, check fuses. Everything seems good. Well I must not be getting spark. I clean the battery posts and cables. No start. I pull the cap off of the distributor. I can't believe it but the rotor is just sitting on top not screwed down. Yes, it was just loose but apperntly still working. I replaced both cap and rotor last November. Either I forgot to screw it down or the screws came loose. I tightened it down and tried starting it again. No start!! :sumo:

All right, must be something more! So I spend another 30/40 minutes diagnosing things. Like I know what I'm doing!!! :lol:

Well I ended up replacing the ignition coil (HEI distributor) and cleaning all of the electrical contacts while I was allready there. Tried starting it again and BINGO she's alive again.

I allready had a new spare ignition coil. So all in all, I fixed it with no cost to me, well at least for today! ;)

I also checked my vacuum advance while I was at it and discovered it ain't working like it should.

Tell me I just didn't get totally lucky today. Nice weather, no time constraints, all ready had the parts, and made it home. I should probably go ahead and buy a couple of lottery tickets to see if I still have any luck left for today. :lol:

Keith

Re: Sometimes ya just get lucky!
 

Yep, that worked out well with you (especially if the girl would have stayed and helped ya ;) )

Re: Sometimes ya just get lucky!
 

Your truck is like your girlfriend, just needs a little TLC and it will take care of you. And it don't hurt to know how to find the problem and fix it either. :metal:

Re: Sometimes ya just get lucky!
 

No, I'm glad I dropped her off at work. I was afraid I was going to have to call her to take me back to the auto parts store. It sucked because I was just there not more than 10 minutes before! :lol:

Keith

Re: Sometimes ya just get lucky!
 

Thanks! My truck is my daily driver, well, it's my only transportation besides a bicycle. So I guess to give my truck a little TLC, I think I'm going to go ahead and replace the cap and rotor along with the non-working vacuum advance!! She should be happy then! :lol:

Keith

Re: Sometimes ya just get lucky!
 

Hey lil hoodlum I can't wait to be in Texas in December for Christmas so I can have some Whataburger. My wife and I only eat at places that we don't have in Iowa. So we will also be getting some Jack in the Box and will probably go to Ponchos. We will be in Denton new years weekend.

Re: Sometimes ya just get lucky!
 

Man ill never forget the first time I had a Whataburger.. That triple beef, triple cheese is a monster.. I think it took me two magazines to get rid of it. lol

Re: Sometimes ya just get lucky!
 

it could have been a lot worse! sounds like things went well

Re: Sometimes ya just get lucky!
 

That's funny right there!!:lol: My girlfriend and I eat at Panchos at least once a week! Usually on Saturdays because they have menundo on the buffet! My parents also enjoy going to Panchos when they come up to visit me. I grew up on Whataburger, but I must admit I really like the hamburgers at Braum's as well.

Anytime I go to Austin/ San Antonio or south of that I allways want to eat at Bill Millers BarBQue. It's pretty darn tasty!

Do you have family in Denton or go to school in Denton?

Keith

Re: Sometimes ya just get lucky!
 

Tell me about it! It seems that when things break down it is usually at the worst times. Like when it is cold and rainy or during rush hour or when it is too dark to see what the heck you are doing! :whine:

But yes, I'm glad it happened today when it did.

Keith

Re: Sometimes ya just get lucky!
 

1 set of grandparents live in Denton, and the other in McAllen, My aunt and uncle live in Justin, and my wife is from San Antonio where her brother and his wife live. We come down every 2 years for Christmas. We stay at my wifes aunt and uncles house on lake lewisville in McKinney. Its great. Never been to Bill Millers. We always go to Rudys.

Re: Sometimes ya just get lucky!
 

I eat at the Whataburger last Dec. when I went to see the Skins play the Cowboys!

Re: Sometimes ya just get lucky!
 

By the way the cup is false advertising. I wish there was one near me! :waah:

Re: Sometimes ya just get lucky!
 

Love Whataburger.Lots of great places to eat in Austin and SA.Some of the best Mexican food around.

Keep the truck,it's really easy to fix.If you ever figure out how to find and fix the girl,learn to write,it'll be a best seller.

Re: Sometimes ya just get lucky!
 

Oh wow! What are you doing up in Iowa? Not that there is anything wrong with Iowa.

I was born here in Denton but I grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas. I loved to go skateboarding, surfing, and cruising around looking for some skirts!!! :metal: And I don't mean skirts to wear neither! :lol: I am familiar with McAllen and a few other little towns down in the Rio Grande Valley. It is a really nice place.

Keith

Re: Sometimes ya just get lucky!
 

Ok, I know this is bad, talking about food on a Chevy truck forum.

I really don't care for Rudys BBQ. They allways burn the meat. I hate having charred meat. I think Dickey's barbecue pit is pretty good and the little mom and pop places are usually pretty good too!

Keith

Re: Sometimes ya just get lucky!
 

If you never mentioned Whataburger there wouldn't be a group of hungry guys jonesin for some great southern fast food. I was born and raised in Iowa. I met my wife up here 7 years ago. She moved up to help take care of her grandma because her dad is originaly from Iowa but moved down there in the 70's. Her mom still wheres a shirt that says I'm from Texas, what country are you from.:lol: Maybe when I'm down I can take a look at that truck of yours?

Re: Sometimes ya just get lucky!
 

I was in san antonio for a shooting competition last year and the closest place to my hotel was bill millers BBQ. I ate there for breakfest, lunch, and dinner for a week straight. Its amazing, I wish missouri had something like that.

Re: Sometimes ya just get lucky!
 

yes, it is i don't know of one in 300+miles did see some when we went to new mexico earlier this year and in flordia maybe? Jack in the box just makes me cringe for some reason the name doesn't help and i remember all those sick people several years ago. I had a buddy form Iowa that came down during the summer he ate Krystal burgers and drank Sun Drop all summer because he couldn't get them up there.

Re: Sometimes ya just get lucky!
 

That's great. Truck broke down and you fixed it with parts at hand. What I wanna know is when is Whataburger coming back east? I bought my girlfriend a burger for supper at Checkers after she picked me up from my broke down truck I had towed to my daughter's house that I don't have any parts to fix and still need to trailer it back home 20 miles. Some guys have all the luck. WHY COULDN'T I HAVE A WHATABURGER!!!????

Re: Sometimes ya just get lucky!
 

at least she didnt die and coast into a buy here pay here car lot those people are crazy let me tell ya!! i know this first hand. oh and if its a powerball or a drawing type of lottery ticket dont buy more than one!! if you buy 2 then one is already a loser.

Re: Sometimes ya just get lucky!
 

Thats pure wisdom. :lol:

Re: Sometimes ya just get lucky!
 

Do you have both grounds in the HEI (the ground from the coil and there should also be a metal ground strap inside the cap) and a full 12 volts to it (the original wire to the coil was only 8 volts) Those are the 2 main reasons the ignition control modules die.

Glad you got lucky, but next time you might not be ;)

Re: Sometimes ya just get lucky!
 

I got on here to read about trucks, now I want a burger! :lol:


Glad to hear everything worked out, and it turned out to be a good day.

Re: Sometimes ya just get lucky!
 

To tell you the truth I'm not sure about the grounds. The ignition module was a 4 prong unit and there are 2 two-prong wire conections that hook up on the sides of the module.

My wiring is an aftermarket kit by Painless Wiring out of Fort Worth, Texas. The kit did include a ceramic "reducer" for the distributor but I did not use it. I guess I should check the "pink" wire to the coil to make sure it is supplying a full 12 volts.

You are right, I did get lucky and I have been wondering why it failed. I think the ignition module is probably close to 10 years old and I have no idea how many miles is has provided spark for. Maybe it just plain wore out!?

There were only two things that I could tell that weren't correct. The rotor wasn't even screwed down, it was just loose as could be but it was still on top of the shaft. :uhmk: Maybe it was causing the module to work harder to provide spark or there was too much resistance reducing its life. Second thing, my vacuum advance canister is NOT working. I hooked up a vacuum pump to check and no matter what it was not moving. I recently bought another one for a 1974 corvette and I verified it would move with vacuum applied. However, the corvette vacuum advance canister was too short to work with my distributor. I have some new ones coming in from Orielys. My old vacuum acvance canister was marked AR-10. I will have to take my old one out and were are going to "match" one up with the correct legnth.

Would anyone have any pictures or know of any links that I could use to verify about the grounds needed for the HEI distributor?

Thank you for the reply. Maybe this will help avoid another break down. I've allready bought another "replacement" ignition module incase the new one decides to lay down.

Keith