Rumplestiltskin
Member
Hi, All.
I'm working on an Allis B for a friend of a friend. His wife was dragging an arena with it when it suddenly quit -- no sputtering, just instantly dead like "throwing a switch."
At first there was no spark. In the process of tracing the wires, I moved and jiggled some of them and now there is spark, although it's so weak it almost has to be nighttime to see it.
Although the wires aren't in very good shape, I didn't see any places where the (non-original)wire from the magneto straight to the ignition switch could have shorted to ground. The switch is working properly. There is, however, a second (very old-looking) wire that goes from the magneto to the upper front of the engine, then disappears into a loom on the left side.
My question: Is there any reason I can't disconnect this second wire? It looks like all it does is provide another ignition ground, which would be unnecessary as well as prone to causing trouble by shorting to ground.
Next time I go over there I'll take a mirror and try to get a better look at where these wires connect to the magneto.
Thanks in advance.
Mark W. in MI
I'm working on an Allis B for a friend of a friend. His wife was dragging an arena with it when it suddenly quit -- no sputtering, just instantly dead like "throwing a switch."
At first there was no spark. In the process of tracing the wires, I moved and jiggled some of them and now there is spark, although it's so weak it almost has to be nighttime to see it.
Although the wires aren't in very good shape, I didn't see any places where the (non-original)wire from the magneto straight to the ignition switch could have shorted to ground. The switch is working properly. There is, however, a second (very old-looking) wire that goes from the magneto to the upper front of the engine, then disappears into a loom on the left side.
My question: Is there any reason I can't disconnect this second wire? It looks like all it does is provide another ignition ground, which would be unnecessary as well as prone to causing trouble by shorting to ground.
Next time I go over there I'll take a mirror and try to get a better look at where these wires connect to the magneto.
Thanks in advance.
Mark W. in MI