Hello all. I have a '67 f100 with a 352 cid engine. Due to some health issues I haven't really driven it yet.
My problems started with an electric fuel pump a PO put in. I removed the electric and put in a new mechanical pump as was from the factory. The truck started and ran well. A couple of days later I went to start it and take it home. It is going to be my daily driver. It started for about 5 seconds and died. I thought perhaps that the old (original) coil had died. So, I put a new distributor cap, new plugs, plug wires and am in the process of putting a new coil on. That when I noticed a condenser looking object mounted on the engine block between the distributor and the coil. I saw a condenser in the distributor when I changed the cap. I haven't check to see which of the two is active, or not. The condenser wire runs to the - side of the coil where there is also a wire for the distributor condenser.

Anybody know what the engine condenser might be?

Mike

 

If memory serves correctly the external one is a noise suppressor that use to be installed to cut down on electronic noise in the radio. there use to be one on the alternator sometimes as well

 

1941 Ford PU,
Ignition condenser under cap with points is normal. There may be a condenser mounted near the voltage regulator to help with Radio interference, noise suppression from the charging system and as RP67F100 mentioned could be at the alternator or at the volt regulator. Someone may have added the one near the coil. Your engine and all of the ERA, came with TVRS ignition(spark plug) wire's to suppress interference to homes TV's and Radios as you drove by. DO CHECK to see if a PO has installed stranded ignition wires, None TVRS type and added that extra condenser to quiet the trucks radio.

As far as starting and dying. AFTER rereading your description of what you are calling a condenser between coil and distributor (dizzy), may be a resistor someone added, it's not stock to the Ford system. A picture of this condenser / resistor and we can verify. The stock Ford system has a resistor wire in the wiring harness to reduce the voltage and on the coil side of that resistor wire is a spliced in wire the goes to the R terminal on your starter solenoid to give Full Battery Voltage to the coil when the starter is engaged. When the key is released from start to run position the coil then receives reduced voltage for the engine to run on.

Cap

 

Thanks for the replies. I Had never heard of a condenser put in to reduce radio interference.
I'll look things over and see if I can find any other condensers. I'll also see if I can take a photo
of the one that I have. I knew the condenser in the distributer was normal, just not the one
outside of it. Hopefully, I'll be able to download to my computer.
I'll report back.

 

So, hopefully here is a photo of the coil area and the wiring as it is.
The spark plug wires I removed were "Autolite 10-67 Radio Resistance"
I had assumed they were original. I replaced them with Pertronix 7mm wires.
Other less expensive wires were either (1) 8mm, a bit fat, or (2) too short
to fit.

#ad


Thanks
Mike

 

One of my old 6cyl f100 way back had an extra condenser attached to the outside of the distributor with the wire going inside, and also had the standard one inside in the normal spot. I don’t know what its purpose was or if it was factory or added. But if it’s connected to your points and it fails it could ground out your points
I would disconnect it and see what happens

 

Yes that is a condenser or radio noise suppressor, not a resistor. As per RP67F100, disconnect it and try starting/running. Of all you have replaced, did you replace the points and condenser in the Dizzy? Or inspect for the points being pitted and check the gap??

Also as a test, remove coil wire from the cap, hold the end about 1/4" from metal on the engine while someone else cranks the engine over, hopefully you will see a nice blue spark and least a yellow spark. If good, put back together and try same test for spark with a spark plug wire.

Cap

 

I'll remove the extra condenser, check the distributor condenser and points and check the spark.
I'll get back to both of you with the results.
All of this seems strange considering how well it ran before I changed the fuel pump back to
original. The reason I changed it was that I think the electric pump had gone out.
I could only drive the truck about 1.5 miles and it would die. A few hours later it would
restart (gravity feed from the tank) and run for the 1.5 miles again.

 

The reason on checking verifying spark, you can then move on to the fuel problem. A question while here, do you know if this truck sat a lot of years with old gas in the tank?

Cap

 

Cap

I checked spark at the coil. Had spark. Today, I'll check spark at the plug wire(s).
I rebuilt the carburetor because after putting in the standard fuel pump I had gas flying out
of the carb vent tubes. The gas in the cab tank is new. I drained it and blew out all the lines.
I replaced the two rubber hoses after checking the pump for function with a 2 gallon fuel tank
on the floor under the pump. I also totally drained the OLD gas out of the auxiliary tanks that
are mounted on the truck. That gas looked more like root beer than gas. I haven't refilled either
one of them and won't until I get the truck running good.

Todays plan is to check spark at the plugs, recheck that I'm getting gas to the float bowl.
If all goes well, I'll try to start it.

Mike

 

So, I have spark at the plugs. I disconnected the fuel line before the fuel pump and
I got no gas. I should get gravity feed gas from the cab tank. So, I started to backtrack.
The first place was the selector switch mounted on the floor. I started to disconnect the
fuel line and got nothing. I turned the spigot and got nothing. Tomorrow, I'll
check for fuel from the tank. It has a new sending unit and shows 1/2 tank. I had put
5 gallons of gas into the tank. Then I'll either clean the existing spigot or buy a new one.

 

Oddly, the selector valve has an "off" position, I have no idea why. You can clean up the faceplate and read the positions, but you may just have it in the wrong spot.

 

Oldiesask: I had thought of that and check all four positions to be sure. Still no gas.
I suspect that the spigot is so gunked up with the old gas from the two aux tanks that
it just isn't working. I started to remove it this afternoon, but will have to sand off
the screw heads in the morning. The mounting screws on the underside are gooped
up with an anti-rust material that although it works really well, it is also nearly
impossible to remove and get a socket on. The threads are gummed up as well.
Tomorrow, I'll get the spigot off and see if I can clean it with mineral spirits. Otherwise
I get a new one and see if that is indeed the problem.
Mike

 

This is just a FYI.

In cab, upright tanks (behind seat, my experience, twice ) or I guess all tanks. The truck sits along time, maybe years, the air above the fuel/varnish line will have moisture in it. The steel suction/stand pipe will rust at the fuel level enough to flake away and cause a pin hole in the stand pipe and the fuel pump can't pull the fuel. If you filled the tank above that pin hole, all will work fine, until the fuel level goes down and exposes the pin hole and you run out of gas.

The stand pipe is adjacent to the gauge sending unit. With the sending unit removed and strong flashlight, inspect the stand pipe all the way top to bottom. Be suspicious of any area of the pipe that is not nice and clean and smooth.

I like that you drained and cleaned all you did, replaced hoses. You don't want that Coca Cola/ Varnish gas getting into the engine if you might have been lucky to start it. That Varnish can lock your intake valves to the guides and next attempt to run engine will bend all the intake push rods.

Cap

 

Cap: I had looked at the stand pipe when I put a new sending unit in. All looked ok.
The truck hasn't been sitting all that long. I have photos and related sale information
from 2017 when it first came up for sale. Since then someone bought it and I am not sure
what all transpired at that point. I bought it in December 2023. So it hasn't really sat all
that long. I can only hope it isn't a pin hole scenario. I would assume that would require
a whole new fuel tank?

Mike