55.2-59 My 1956 Chevy Truck won't start

[dolphans1]

Thanks everyone, trying to see if I can get a friend over to lend me a helping hand. Will report back.
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[dsraven]

this may seem like a goofy idea, but how old is the fuel? old gas can screw you over like this. maybe worth a look. take the fuel line off at the carb and put it into a gas can or some other safe method of collection, a semi clear jug will allow you to see the color. crank the engine and get some fuel in the can. take a sniff of the fuel and see how it smells, if it doesn't smell like it should then dump the tank and get some fresh fuel. this old gas thing has messed up many guys. the old gas doesn't burn like the new gas does. it may also have some water in the fuel system which can mess you around.
worth a try?

[dolphans1]

Originally Posted by 1project2many

I've been there before. One of the hardest parts of doing this by yourself is getting a handle on what's happening.

There are a few things you can do that will help.

1) Try to come up with a method to crank the engine from under the hood. I'm guessing you have the foot pedal start so a lever, a rope on the starter rod, maybe grabbing the linkage It's a helluva lot easier than trying to run back and forth from the driver's seat.

2) Check for spark starting with the coil wire. You can buy or make a simple spark tester but they're different for points and for electronic ignition. If you buy a tester like this one it will make a nice "snap" noise each time it sparks so you can hear it from the cab. In order to make a tester for points you need a clean plug with the gap opened up to about .045". Connect your new tester to the coil wire and ground the body to the block. Crank the engine and watch for steadily repeating blue-yellow sparks. If you don't get steady spark then you need to find out why.

Note: If you are still running points there's a chance that when the engine stalled and sat with the key on the points got burned. If so then you may be able to sand them and reset the gap and get it to run again.

If you do get steady spark then reconnect the coil to the distributor and move the tester to the first plug wire. Do the same check at each plug wire. If you have one or more wires that don't spark correctly you need to find out why. It could be wires, or the cap, or both.

Once you're sure you have steady spark you can move on to checking for fuel.

Good luck.

Well this is what I’ve done so far, I’ve got someone to help me and we changed the spark plug wires the rotor, distributor cap, points and condenser and I even purchased a carburetor kit and he rebuilt for me.

At times it sounded like it wanted to crank, checked for spark at the points, did not have anyone, found a lose wire from positive side on coil to starter and thought that was it. Tried again and nothing.

I told my mechanic friend the negative wire to battery was bolted to the firewall and I didn’t like that, so tomorrow we’re going to reroute to engine block. Could that present a firing problem?
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[DransportGarage]

Testing is key here, not changing parts. (Please see gentle guidance in post #12.)

If you want to feel good about the engine ground, just temporarily attach a jumper cable from the negative battery terminal to the block. Don't modify the existing ground circuit.

If I walked into your garage right now, these are the first two things I would do:

1) Check the condition of the spark. Pull the coil wire out of the distributor, stick a screwdriver into the clip in the wire, and position the shaft of the screwdriver close to the block while cranking the engine. The spark will either be blue (good), orange (fair/poor), or non-existent (very poor). If you get zapped (good for the engine, bad for you), let us know that too.

2) While looking down the throat of the carburetor, stroke the accelerator. You should see some gas squirting into the engine.

Let us know the results of these two tests and we'll go from there.

[dolphans1]

HEY FINALLY SUCCESS - Replaced the ground cable on negative side of the battery with a new one, which for some reason, someone bolted the cable to the firewall- so the new cable was bolted to the engine block. The gap on the new points was widened and we finally got excellent spark and she finally woke up and started just fine.

In between all of that trouble shooting, the old coil was put back on, thinking the new one was to blame, the older coil appeared to be a higher performance style coil (tan color) than the newer original coil (black) I had purchased from Autozone with a life time warranty.

Thanks for everyone's input and advice and a sure learned a lot. I drove her 5.5 miles today and made some history in a 62 year old American icon.

Here's a short video - https://youtu.be/ZFMbUFZtz3o

Originally Posted by DransportGarage

Testing is key here, not changing parts. (Please see gentle guidance in post #12.)

If you want to feel good about the engine ground, just temporarily attach a jumper cable from the negative battery terminal to the block. Don't modify the existing ground circuit.

If I walked into your garage right now, these are the first two things I would do:

1) Check the condition of the spark. Pull the coil wire out of the distributor, stick a screwdriver into the clip in the wire, and position the shaft of the screwdriver close to the block while cranking the engine. The spark will either be blue (good), orange (fair/poor), or non-existent (very poor). If you get zapped (good for the engine, bad for you), let us know that too.

2) While looking down the throat of the carburetor, stroke the accelerator. You should see some gas squirting into the engine.

Let us know the results of these two tests and we'll go from there.

[dolphans1]

Today I ran 2 new grounds, I ran one from the firewall to the negative battery terminal, and a ground wire to the firewall to the starter that was missing.

The negative battery post is grounded to the body https://www.trifive.com/garage/56%20...nual/12-12.gif , The body is grounded to the engine at the lower starter bolt https://www.trifive.com/garage/56 Chevy Assembly Manual/12-15.gif The frame is not grounded.....However, if you have a strap, you can ground it to either the body or engine.

I noticed when I ran the new ground wire my turn signal worked on both sides of the instrumental cluster panel whereas it never did before.

https://youtu.be/gkhXA00Ae8I

[dolphans1]

Well I committed a sin, I let the 1956 Chevy sit for a year and now it won't start and I am not getting any spark again. No spark at the coil or plugs. Any suggestions on what it might be this time?

Could it be the ballast resistor at the firewall causing this?

Also my brake pedal goes to the floor now when I had solid brake pressure back in June 2018, what is the best way to remove the square shaped filler cap screw on top of the master cylinder ?

[dolphans1]

Originally Posted by dolphans1

Well I committed a sin, I let the 1956 Chevy sit for a year and now it won't start and I am not getting any spark again. No spark at the coil or plugs. Any suggestions on what it might be this time?

Could it be the ballast resistor at the firewall causing this?

Also my brake pedal goes to the floor now when I had solid brake pressure back in June 2018, what is the best way to remove the square shaped filler cap screw on top of the master cylinder ?

Discovered my condenser and points went bad after a year of just sitting. Seems hard to believe, tested my voltage ballast resistor on firewall and was getting voltage, getting voltage to the coil lead but noticed no spark on points.
Changed out points and condenser and it fired right up.

Discovered brake master cylinder has a leak will have to change out.

[DransportGarage]

Originally Posted by dolphans1

Discovered my condenser and points went bad after a year of just sitting. Seems hard to believe, tested my voltage ballast resistor on firewall and was getting voltage, getting voltage to the coil lead but noticed no spark on points.
Changed out points and condenser and it fired right up.

Discovered brake master cylinder has a leak will have to change out.

I have had mild corrosion on the points after the car sat for the winter months in a damp garage. A little 400 grit paper fixed the problem for me.

[dsraven]

sometimes a white bussiness card drawn through the points will tell if they are dirty.
starter should have a wire from solenoid to coil to supply 12 or 6 volts (depending on your system voltage) and then another wire from ign switch through a ballast resistor to supply a lesser voltage once the engine starts. this helps the engine start by supplying a hotter spark when the engine cranks but a lesser voltage when it is running will help the coil live longer.
in case you maybe didn't know, point style ignition system needs to be turned off when the engine isn't running. leaving the igntion on to listen to the radio or something will burn your points. use the accy position for those car wash/radio days
accellerator squirt should be aimed at the leading edge of the throttle plate so it will shoot gas right at the crack opening when you step on the gas.
run a ground cable to the engine, another possibly smaller cable to the firewall to supply ground to gauges and interior lights, another to the rad support to ground your headlights etc, and another from the frame to the box to ground your taillights unless your taillights have their own frame ground.

[dolphans1]

Thanks DdsRaven and DranSportGarage - I replaced the points and condenser 13 months ago new so I was surprised. I used a power-boost battery charger to start it the first time and I wonder if I messed it up my leaving the ignition on.

[dolphans1]

https://youtu.be/3RHIkUgIpNs

[dsraven]

just as a heads up, NEVER look down the throat of a carb with the engine running or cranking over. if a backfire should occur you can cause some serious damage to your eyes. I watched a guy do that once when trying to start a chevy 350 in an old truck. he crawled under the hood and sat on the inner fender/rad support area while his girlfriend cranked it over. I was boosting his truck so I was inside mine to rev the engine and give more charge capacity. when it didn't start right away he pulled off the air filter and hand cranked the throttle lever to see if there was gas squirting. at the same time the girlfriend cranked the engine over. it backfired up through the carb right into his face and started his hair on fire. the engine didn't start, thank goodness, and his eyes didn't get burned by some miracle but he could have been seriously injured had the engine started while he was clambering his way outta the engine bay. good thing he wasn't wearing clothes from the latest trends today or he may also have had some synthetic material burned onto his skin as well. close call for sure.

[dolphans1]

Originally Posted by dsraven

just as a heads up, NEVER look down the throat of a carb with the engine running or cranking over. if a backfire should occur you can cause some serious damage to your eyes. I watched a guy do that once when trying to start a chevy 350 in an old truck. he crawled under the hood and sat on the inner fender/rad support area while his girlfriend cranked it over. I was boosting his truck so I was inside mine to rev the engine and give more charge capacity. when it didn't start right away he pulled off the air filter and hand cranked the throttle lever to see if there was gas squirting. at the same time the girlfriend cranked the engine over. it backfired up through the carb right into his face and started his hair on fire. the engine didn't start, thank goodness, and his eyes didn't get burned by some miracle but he could have been seriously injured had the engine started while he was clambering his way outta the engine bay. good thing he wasn't wearing clothes from the latest trends today or he may also have had some synthetic material burned onto his skin as well. close call for sure.

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[dolphans1]

Originally Posted by dolphans1

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Great advice wouldn’t want something like that.
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