36 P2 dies

CG sailor · February 06, 2013, 06:24:23 PM

Problem solved! Turns out to be the condensor was not working properly. Thanks to the two people that responded.

CG sailor · December 29, 2012, 10:55:24 PM

I recently stoped by a local tractor supplier and they have 6 volt coils. Before I spend the money on one, anyone have any thoughts? I understand that I will have to run a seperate wire from the original to the ( - ) side and run the (+) to the dist.

Lew, I'll have to check out the sites you gave, Thanks. I think if I can get by with a non-correct one for now, it may be worth doing. I just dont want to fry anything else.

Lew · December 28, 2012, 01:21:10 AM

try vintagepowerwagons.com; they did have 1 wire coils but were pricey. Bernbaums (oldmoparts.com) may have them also.

plym_46 · December 27, 2012, 11:30:59 PM

If your car has the coil mounted through the firewall, you will need to extend the sire comig from the ign switch to the rear of the coil, through the firewall to connect withthe after market coil, that wire should go to the neg terminal of the new coil ( which should be firmly mounted to something) and the pos terminal gets wired to the terminal on your distributor. While you are checking that termnal make sure it insulated properly from the body of the dist. Sometimes a fault there leads to the coil grounding through the dist body rather than the points.

CG sailor · December 26, 2012, 11:23:54 AM

I recently replaced the battery. Still no fire, sometime I do but it looks week. I followed the proceedures fron the book I have with mixed results. I am now suspecting that it may be the coil. Some times I have a spark and sometime I dont. The coil was warm to touch from cranking. The points have been replaced and look new as with the consenser. I pulled the coil out and figured I would try to use one from a local tractor store. Has anyone tried this? I noticed two terminals on the coil from the tractor store, any idea how to wire this? I dont want to burn anything up. If it will work, I'll get one for now until I can find the proper coil. The parts for these cars are hard to find and I can see why people street rod them. Thanks for your response 46.

plym_46 · December 20, 2012, 06:53:06 PM

a 6 v genny should put out about 7 to 7.5 volts and around 20 to 30 Amps when the battery is calling for a full rate of charge. If your battery is fully charged it should run the engine quite a while on the battery even if the gen is not operating. A low battery or one not in good health will not power the car very long at all. I had an old austin healy sprite that was used for hill climbs and auto crossing. The car had no charging system at all, a fully charged battery would power the ignition with out a problem for 3 or 4 weekends of events before it needed to go on the battery charger. So it acutally ran for about an half hour to an hour and a half per weekend depending on the event. I drove my 46 Plymouth more than 150 miles on the battery alone after the brushes went on the genny and the amp gauge was showing a discharge. Returning home from a car show when i noticed the discharge reading, don;t know how long it was out before I noticed. Also check the connections where the main power from the battery feeds into the rest of the electrical system.

CG sailor · December 17, 2012, 08:54:31 PM

Update: Today I pulled the cover off the regulator and realized that there was a fuse just belowe the regulator. Pulled the fuse and it was blown. This is a 6 Amp fuse and I had to order some because none of the local parts store carried them.

CG sailor · December 17, 2012, 01:20:25 PM

Thanks for your suggestions. I am leaning toward the ignition, coil or the generator. I rebuilt the fuel pump and am getting plenty flow. I also believe that if it was fuel related, it would have likely sputtered somewhat. Also, I drained the bowl and it filled right away. If it was the generator, I believe that it would have been running on the battery and that would have likely drained it suddenly. I would like to know how much voltage the generator is suppose to be putting out once its running. There is a small box on top of the generator, I asume that is the regulator? Is there a way to check the coil without it running? My coil connects to the key switch, can I use another type? Is the cable running to the coil removable? Can I buy a 6 volt Coil?

plym_46 · December 16, 2012, 06:06:58 PM

generator wouldn't lead to a no run situation. gotta be fuel or ignition. Next time you get it started, when it stalls, pull the airhorn off the top of the carb and see if there is fuel in thefloat bowl. If its full then its probably ignition related. So check the coil temperature. A normal coil in good working order will be warm to the tough after a period of run time. If it is too hot to keep you hand on it, then it's probably at fault. You can check you fule flow easily. remove the coil wire from the dist, so the engine won't start. Disconnect the fule line at the carb and direct the flow into a suitable container, an empty soda bottle works well. have an assistant crank the starter and count the pulses of fule going into the container. 12 pulses schould give you around 8 ounces of fuel. If not you have a problem with either the pump or the fuel line or the pickup in the tank. If it was sitting for a while you might have rust in the pickup of the line. Disconnect the fuel lin from the inlet side of the fuel pump and direct some low pressure compressed air throught he line back toward teh tank. you should be able to hear a steady stream of bubbles coming from the tank. Then check the flow again withthe previous test.

CG sailor · December 15, 2012, 12:07:24 AM

Sorry I havent been on this site for a while but, I have a problem with my Plymouth and need some help. My car was stored for a few years while I was in Alaska, (military service). I have had the car running recently and it just dies after a while, No sputtering, just dies. I thought maybe the coil or the generator? It is getting fuel and the way it dies make me suspect electrical. I dont know how to check the voltage from the generator. There is a square box on top that I removed the top and looks to be two capacitors or? Does anyone know how to check this? Any ideas I can check. Here are the details: 1936 P2 original 6 cyl, I re-wired the car with original style wire - 6 volt Pos. ground.