Won't start. 77 Newport

[NewportLover77]

Tried to start, didn't work. The battery has been dead for a while and we've had to change it every time we had to start it. We've changed the distributer and the spinning thing inside. We changed the plug and wires. Can charging the battery too much fry the system?

We've only had problems recently when it would bark then randomly stop. We've ruled out that it's a gas problem and it was still having trouble. We drove to the gas station then on the drive home not even 5 feet away from the gas station after it died. It seems to be electrical. After changing the distributer it didn't even bark. I knew it didn't burn any gas because I smelt the old gas as it was popping back at me in the carb.

I'm not sure what it what I did differently. You can look at my previous post of what we did

 

[65Port]

Get it back to the point when it was running and start there. If you're changing parts before confirming the problem (like the distributor swap), you are muddling the issue and making way more work for yourself. Start over with the parts that worked then troubleshoot. Nice heater valve btw

 

[NewportLover77]

Get it back to the point when it was running and start there. If you're changing parts before confirming the problem (like the distributor swap), you are muddling the issue and making way more work for yourself. Start over with the parts that worked then troubleshoot. Nice heater valve btw

Thank you! I love the heater valve, it's quite genius.
But we were having a problem before the distributer change. So we bought a new distributor trying to troubleshoot. Thinking that was the problem.

 

[NewportLover77]

Thank you! I love the heater valve, it's quite genius.
But we were having a problem before the distributer change. So we bought a new distributor trying to troubleshoot. Thinking that was the problem.

It seemed to turn off when there was a major movement in the car. Once it turned off over a speed bump. Another was when I shut the door closed

 

[NewportLover77]

Get it back to the point when it was running and start there. If you're changing parts before confirming the problem (like the distributor swap), you are muddling the issue and making way more work for yourself. Start over with the parts that worked then troubleshoot. Nice heater valve btw

Additionally we also changed the coil. No dice

 

[65Port]

That def sounds electrical.. So.. if it were me.. I would start it (if it will start) and shake the key/tap the column. If no change check battery posts and cables (good ground?) then connections to coil etc.. Maybe the cap has a clip off/broken? Look for stupid **** too. Sometimes spade connectors open up and will cause intermittent issues. Keep hunting!

Oh, and don't trust new parts. Not one bit. Good luck

 

[CBODY67]

ONE issue I see in the picture is the "twisted-together" connectors rather than solderless-terminal, OEM-syle electrical connectors going to the ign module, near the heater hoses. That the module is NOT mounted to a solid piece of metal, those could be your "vibration" problem?

Just some thoughts,
CBODY67

 

[Big_John]

See the wire nuts in the orange circles? This is most likely where the problem is.

Those are the worst connectors you can use in a car and are pretty much a point for failure and even worse, fire.

Speaking of fire, I'm not a fan of the plastic fuel filter as they can melt in a fire and since the fuel hose is looped over the ignition box and fender well, along with those wire nuts, there's a good chance that will happen sooner or later.

 

[NewportLover77]

See the wire nuts in the orange circles? This is most likely where the problem is.

Those are the worst connectors you can use in a car and are pretty much a point for failure and even worse, fire.

Speaking of fire, I'm not a fan of the plastic fuel filter as they can melt in a fire and since the fuel hose is looped over the ignition box and fender well, along with those wire nuts, there's a good chance that will happen sooner or later.



View attachment 721006

I did try to mention it and mess with it and try to make the connection stronger, but I was told to stop messing with it. And that wasn't the problem. Im really curious to see if that would work. Cause I didn't do it, but for some reason we cut some to rewire it with those connectors.(To make it organized). I did say that it might be the problem but was brushed off.

Also the fuel filter, yeah I learned the hard way . But not the way you mentioned. I had it break on my while cranking so it started pouring a bunch of sentiment from the tank. Or whatever was in there . Got a metal one, works wayyy better. No problem


Also, with the wires could there be an additional problem with heat? It's very hot were I live 100°+ in the summer.

 

[NewportLover77]

In that bottom left there you can see one wire just sitting on the engine there

I did try to mention it and mess with it and try to make the connection stronger, but I was told to stop messing with it. And that wasn't the problem. Im really curious to see if that would work. Cause I didn't do it, but for some reason we cut some to rewire it with those connectors.(To make it organized). I did say that it might be the problem but was brushed off.

Also the fuel filter, yeah I learned the hard way . But not the way you mentioned. I had it break on my while cranking so it started pouring a bunch of sentiment from the tank. Or whatever was in there . Got a metal one, works wayyy better. No problem


Also, with the wires could there be an additional problem with heat? It's very hot were I live 100°+ in the summer.

 

[NewportLover77]

In that bottom left there you can see one wire just sitting on the engine there

Since for some reason it was decided to cut the wires? Where might I find more? Wasn't my choice to cut them, I exactly said " don't mess with it for now, it runs".

 

[NewportLover77]

That def sounds electrical.. So.. if it were me.. I would start it (if it will start) and shake the key/tap the column. If no change check battery posts and cables (good ground?) then connections to coil etc.. Maybe the cap has a clip off/broken? Look for stupid **** too. Sometimes spade connectors open up and will cause intermittent issues. Keep hunting!

Oh, and don't trust new parts. Not one bit. Good luck

Well its really confusing, like we have sparks. But it just for some reason doesn't bark. It did before

 

[Big_John]

Since for some reason it was decided to cut the wires? Where might I find more? Wasn't my choice to cut them, I exactly said " don't mess with it for now, it runs".

Yes, you could replace the wiring. I'm not sure what's cut though and not sure if a "universal" replacement would work without more splicing, so I'm not going to try to recommend something that may not work well for you.

You could replace those connectors with crimp on butt connectors. That would be a step up.

 

[CBODY67]

It is VERY easy to get a 2' stick of 5/16 brake line tubing and BEND a new line to attach to the carb, downward and forward to parallel the valve cover to put the fuel filter in the OEM location, rather than where it is. I did that when I did a TQuad on my '67 Newport 383. Takes a little finesses to figure out how to do the bends, BUT doable and can look pretty good when done. Safer than what is now there!

For just a FEW total minutes more of time, you can from "mediocre at best" to a much higher level of execution which will not need to be re-done later. Works better that way, from my experiences.

CBODY67