"Intermittent
stalling, especially on right-hand turns," read the repair order.
Tony thought it was peculiar. "Right-hand turns? What's that got to do with
anything?" He opened the hood on the truck and looked things over. "Must be in
the carburetor. Float or something. Maybe the float is sunk and it's flooding
out."
A new float and carburetor kit was ordered and Tony disassembled the carburetor.
It was pretty clean inside and he had a hunch someone had been there before.
Somehow he wasn't surprised when he took the truck for a test ride and it
stalled on the first right-hand turn. "Drat! Now I'm in trouble... Did a carb
overhaul for nothing. What-ta-do-now..." He thought.
Must be something to do with gravity. Maybe the manifold is somehow developing a
vacuum leak when the inertia pulls it to the side...on right-hand turns. He
pulled the manifold and resealed it. The truck stalled, like a clock, at the
first right-hand turn.
What about left-hand turns? What if I back up? Nope, it would only stall on
right-hand turns. Maybe something is shorting out inside the distributor. He
disassembled it, looking for a loose wire or something. "Nothing, zip, zilch,
nix."
Maybe it runs out of gas when it goes around the corner. He rigged up a gas can
and hooked a hose from it to the fuel pump. It still stalled. Could the
carburetor still be the problem? Maybe it had something wrong inside, something
that couldn't be fixed. He tried another carburetor. It still stalled.
Tony had to go to automatic transmission class that night, so he thought he
might ask the teacher for help. "Hey teach, what's the deal with this Ford
truck?" He told the teacher about his dilemma.
"Bring the truck to class tomorrow night and I'll show you the cause," the teach
said.
"Aw, come on, you mean you know the problem and you won't tell me?" Tony
lamented. "Just bring the truck, you'll see."
Tony could hardly wait for the day to finish. Avoiding right turns, he made it
to class in the truck without incident. "Okay, teach, show me the problem," he
said as he opened the hood. The teacher didn't say anything, but put his hand on
the fender-mounted starter solenoid. "Teach, this isn't a starting problem, it's
a stalling problem," Tony said with irritation.
The teacher reached over and pulled one of the two small wires from its
connection on the solenoid. "Go ahead and make it stall now... Bet you can't!"
He was right. The truck made right-hand turns without so much as a hiccup. "But
how is this connected?" Tony asked.
"The solenoid is loose inside and is grounding out the ignition terminal on the
solenoid when you make right-hand turns." The teacher said, "I disconnected the
ignition terminal and prevented it from shorting out the ignition primary
circuit. All you have to do is replace the solenoid, and you've solved your
problem."
Tony thought it was peculiar. "Right-hand turns? What's that got to do with
anything?" He opened the hood on the truck and looked things over. "Must be in
the carburetor. Float or something. Maybe the float is sunk and it's flooding
out."
A new float and carburetor kit was ordered and Tony disassembled the carburetor.
It was pretty clean inside and he had a hunch someone had been there before.
Somehow he wasn't surprised when he took the truck for a test ride and it
stalled on the first right-hand turn. "Drat! Now I'm in trouble... Did a carb
overhaul for nothing. What-ta-do-now..." He thought.
Must be something to do with gravity. Maybe the manifold is somehow developing a
vacuum leak when the inertia pulls it to the side...on right-hand turns. He
pulled the manifold and resealed it. The truck stalled, like a clock, at the
first right-hand turn.
What about left-hand turns? What if I back up? Nope, it would only stall on
right-hand turns. Maybe something is shorting out inside the distributor. He
disassembled it, looking for a loose wire or something. "Nothing, zip, zilch,
nix."
Maybe it runs out of gas when it goes around the corner. He rigged up a gas can
and hooked a hose from it to the fuel pump. It still stalled. Could the
carburetor still be the problem? Maybe it had something wrong inside, something
that couldn't be fixed. He tried another carburetor. It still stalled.
Tony had to go to automatic transmission class that night, so he thought he
might ask the teacher for help. "Hey teach, what's the deal with this Ford
truck?" He told the teacher about his dilemma.
"Bring the truck to class tomorrow night and I'll show you the cause," the teach
said.
"Aw, come on, you mean you know the problem and you won't tell me?" Tony
lamented. "Just bring the truck, you'll see."
Tony could hardly wait for the day to finish. Avoiding right turns, he made it
to class in the truck without incident. "Okay, teach, show me the problem," he
said as he opened the hood. The teacher didn't say anything, but put his hand on
the fender-mounted starter solenoid. "Teach, this isn't a starting problem, it's
a stalling problem," Tony said with irritation.
The teacher reached over and pulled one of the two small wires from its
connection on the solenoid. "Go ahead and make it stall now... Bet you can't!"
He was right. The truck made right-hand turns without so much as a hiccup. "But
how is this connected?" Tony asked.
"The solenoid is loose inside and is grounding out the ignition terminal on the
solenoid when you make right-hand turns." The teacher said, "I disconnected the
ignition terminal and prevented it from shorting out the ignition primary
circuit. All you have to do is replace the solenoid, and you've solved your
problem."
