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Help! Strange problem - Engine dies w/ key in 'run position'

BillyTungsten

BillyTungsten

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Calling all shade-tree mechanics! Wierd issue with Chevy 350 R&R
I am in Tennessee. My friend Josh is in Minnesota, putting the original chevy 350 back into my 1973 Chevy Blazer (#2 B.O.V.) so I can fly up there and drive it down. Yay! Here she is with friends:

PICT0098.JPG





BUT - he just called. Engine is in & starts up fine, when he releases the key (it of course returns to the 'run' position) the engine instantly dies.

I do not suspect the ignition switch / column, because there has never been an issue and the truck is garage-kept.

I am no expert, so I am lost and so is Josh (he is a good wrench, but not an electrical guy).

Any ideas? Help!
 
the power to the coil sounds like is wrong, he needs to make sure the coil has power with the key on, sounds like it only has power in crank.
 
What Jason said...

And I like the "SS" grill. More pics of the grill please. :D
 
Beautiful truck, man! I'm with Jason on the coil wiring. Is the ignition stock? A friend of mine had a similar problem when we installed an MSD box.
 
Well, they only made a handful of SS's... like, uh one? It was on there when I bought it and I never took it off. Good for a chuckle. So, Jonrpick, here you go:

PICT0030.JPG


...Power to the coil, huh? I will call him this morning and pass that along. It would be GREAT if it were that simple! I am dying waiting for my truck and I have a one-way plane ticket burning a hole in my pocket...

cdoggwsu: Yes, the ignition is stock, and thanks for the compliment, yeah, she is pretty. I can't believe I haven't bounced her off of anything and scuffed her up, but so far the body is very nearly perfect. My brother (who has a gen1 with about 4 coats of herculiner inside and out) gives me a lot of crap about how clean mine looks... I think he is jealous!).

Thanks a lot for the answer... I will find out about the coil. Is it simple for Josh to check? He is missing the electrical gene and admits it.
 
BillyTungsten said:
Well, they only made a handful of SS's... like, uh one? It was on there when I bought it and I never took it off. Good for a chuckle. So, Jonrpick, here you go:

PICT0030.JPG
Click to expand...

You have the exact paint scheme I want, except mine's white. Black mirrors, bumpers, grill. I love it. Nice truck man.
 
Thanks, Jonrpick... here are a few more recent, after I herculined the bed & installed some boxes:

boxes-in.JPG



These boxes have been great. You can pack a lot of goodies in there, and they are lockable and weather-tight.

PICT0037.JPG


... hard to see in the above pic, but they are mounted on aluminum bars with big rubber bushings to isolate them from vibes and such.

Another one:

boxes.JPG


BTW, I left a message w/ Josh about the coil... haven't heard back yet.

You guys rock.
 
Not from a jeep. I had a local marine shop make it up. They took the truck for two days and did the cut & sew right on the truck. Best $150 I've spent on her. No flapping or chattering at 90 MPH. Uh, theoretically.
 
BillyTungsten said:
Not from a jeep. I had a local marine shop make it up. They took the truck for two days and did the cut & sew right on the truck. Best $150 I've spent on her. No flapping or chattering at 90 MPH. Uh, theoretically.
Click to expand...

Well the whole thing looks very nice... Where are you in TN?? I'm from Knoxville.
 
Knoxville, huh? Cool!

I am in Lewisburg. Small town about an hour south of Nashville. I was born up North, but I have always loved the South... it is good to be here.
 
BillyTungsten said:
Knoxville, huh? Cool!

I am in Lewisburg. Small town about an hour south of Nashville. I was born up North, but I have always loved the South... it is good to be here.
Click to expand...

Oh ok, I know roughly where you are.

Glad you like TN... me too. :D
 
If that is the original distributor it was pre HEI. That meant when you turn the key to crank +12v from the starter solonoid was sent to the + side of the coil. That made the engine crank and start. When he let go of the key a resistance wire supplied the distributor with +9v to keep from burning up the points in the distributor. The restance wire either was not hooked up to the coil ( two + wires should be connected to the connected to the + side of the coil), or the resistance wire to the ignition switch is broken (open) some where between the coil and ignition switch.
If it is a point distributor replace it with a HEI and 8mm wires. It is a simple one wire hook up.
 
If you still have points ign system, there is a bypass circuit that gives 12v to coil while cranking. In run position, power goes through the ballast resistor to drop voltage to coil. If ballast res is bad or not hooked up, it causes this. If you have HEI you need to have 12v from run position to dist without the ballast res. Hope you get it squared away.:D
 
Thanks, Mike! And thanks Throttle!

Very good info. And BTW, it is HEI (changed along the line before I bought her 5 years ago).

I will pass this along to Josh. He can only wrench on the weekends, so I hope to hear something then.

;-)
 
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