'60 intermittently dying

[Matt F.]

I don't seem to be able to resolve this. The car has a NOM 350 in it right now. It will at times just die, either at idle or while driving. I'm not getting any spark from the coil wire when this happens, it will crank fine, just won't fire. Previously, I jumpered across the ballast resistor, which seemed to fix the problem, so I purchased and installed a new ballast resistor. Now I'm getting the same symptoms again, and even with the ballast resistor jumpered to get me home, it still cut out a little bit, although perhaps the alligator clips on the wire were jolted around from driving.

Any advice would be appreciated. I've got a new coil, and new ballast resistor. Is my first course of action to just try a new ballast resistor?

thanks
Matt

[Jim K.]

Re: '60 intermittently dying

Hi Matt:
At first glance I'm thinking check all the wiring in the ignition circuit, ke switch and starter and coil ad resistor, may be a loose or bad wire, also could be a short in the coil that gets noticed once it's hot. Check the connections and wires first, trace them all the way, at 47 yeaes old, they could even have bare spots in them that short to ground somehow... I hope this helps!
Jim

[Ed #4324]

Re: '60 intermittently dying

Matt, had a similar problem for a couple of years, very frustrating, but it would start up again after coming to a stop while driving. My problem at the time, I found out, was a wire connection in the harness that was not secure enough and at times the power did not get through and the car died. After ensuring the connection was tight and secure, I never had another problem again. Hope that helps.

[Matt F.]

Re: '60 intermittently dying

Thanks to both of you. I checked all the wiring, and found a loose terminal on the wire going to the battery side of the ballast resistor. I replaced this, and drove repeatedly up a hill in my neighborhood (so I could coast back if necessary!), and did not have a problem. The points, condenser and coil all checked out OK, so I hope I've got it solved.