66 start up issues : (

Ok so it happened again today.....

A few of you know from the last lunch meet that the 66 didnt start up for me, thought it was the bat so we jumped it, it turned over and all was good (except that I was late to the BB game)...

well it happened again today while at the Auto store, the car wouldnt do anything when I turned the ignition, silence. The kid checked out the bat and alt and both were fine. I tried to turn it over a few times before he checked it out and once while he was checking, nothing, and then it cranks.... what gives?

What can cause this, any ideas?? Additional info: when I first bought the car and trailered her to NC, the ride on the trailer shifted her out of park, so when I went to crank her, nothing. Took me a sec to realize it was not in park, corrected it and presto, all good.

Since the recent no-crank issues I have made sure that it is in park when this occurs, can there be something wrong with the shifter and its not sitting in park, thus causing the issue???

Any help or direction in what to check out would be great, thanks.

I would check for juice at the starter while this is happening. Could be that simple. If no juice at the starter, you'll have to move upstream in the system. Does it have a fender mounted solenoid? If so, that would be the next place to check.

does it have a starter or is a pertronix type ignition?

PRO50SC wrote:I would check for juice at the starter while this is happening. Could be that simple. If no juice at the starter, you'll have to move upstream in the system. Does it have a fender mounted solenoid? If so, that would be the next place to check.

I had check the solenoid previously, juice going past it, how excactly do I check the starter?

wecircletheproblem wrote:does it have a starter or is a pertronix type ignition?

has a starter and pertronix points/coli.....

Dad just reschooled me on what to check...

while someone cranks car use voltmeter and check voltage on 2 smaller bolts on solenoid, if 12 +, good, check ground to larger bolt connected to starter, 12 + good, check ground to bolt on starter itself.....

He also explained that the solenoid has contacts inside that may wear which can cause the issue to occur randomly, will check on ordering a new solenoid and replace it.

I wish I had tried to jump pass the solenoid yesterday to crank car and determine if that is the problem, thought the issue had to be between the ignition and the batt, oh well, I will let you guys know how it turns out...

Your dad is a wise man. You can also try banging on the starter while someone holds it in the crank position and see if it starts.

Juan - my dad has a 65 and I ran this passed him and he had the following to check.

First he said to check the solenoid as it's easy as it's on the fender and can be crossed with a screw driver to kick it in. This could eliminate the key switch and transmission neutral switch. He said back in his day it took about 30 second to hot wire a Mustang by doing this to the solenoid. When it doesn't start, the screwdriver would by-pass the key and neutral switches. Then you just work your way back from there.

Hope this helps.

HeavyG wrote:Juan - my dad has a 65 and I ran this passed him and he had the following to check.

First he said to check the solenoid as it's easy as it's on the fender and can be crossed with a screw driver to kick it in. This could eliminate the key switch and transmission neutral switch. He said back in his day it took about 30 second to hot wire a Mustang by doing this to the solenoid. When it doesn't start, the screwdriver would by-pass the key and neutral switches. Then you just work your way back from there.

Hope this helps.

I wish I would have tried that yesterday while it was acting up, I picked up a new solenoid at Autozone today, hopefully i will get a chance to swap it out before the weekend, would hate to have issues (other than keeping up with you speedsters) on the montain cruise. No idea if the current one is original (doubt it) but this new one looks different and hopefully will prevent the issue....

your 4v 289 cant keep up with the speedsters? my 302 can

ndnboy wrote:

HeavyG wrote:Juan - my dad has a 65 and I ran this passed him and he had the following to check.

First he said to check the solenoid as it's easy as it's on the fender and can be crossed with a screw driver to kick it in. This could eliminate the key switch and transmission neutral switch. He said back in his day it took about 30 second to hot wire a Mustang by doing this to the solenoid. When it doesn't start, the screwdriver would by-pass the key and neutral switches. Then you just work your way back from there.

Hope this helps.

I wish I would have tried that yesterday while it was acting up, I picked up a new solenoid at Autozone today, hopefully i will get a chance to swap it out before the weekend, would hate to have issues (other than keeping up with you speedsters) on the montain cruise. No idea if the current one is original (doubt it) but this new one looks different and hopefully will prevent the issue....

Sorry about that but hopefully the new part will fix your issue. Also, can't remember you original post but I'm assuming you checked your battery leads right for good contact? You will keep up to just fine....you will not be left behind! ;-)

wecircletheproblem wrote:your 4v 289 cant keep up with the speedsters? my 302 can

I normaly cruise her around 75 - 80 mph on the hwy but when the last cruise hit rt70 ALL the Stangs seemed to go from 80 to 100, I've had her at that speed but aint looking at doing that for an hour plus drive : (

Its all good, worst case I'll catch up at the meet spot : )

New one is installed, hope that takes care of the issue, will post up if it happens again, thanks