If you are really careful, you can bypass the dash and hot wire the car. If it
runs that way, then you know that there is something wrong in the ignition
switch or in the wiring under the dash.
I had two '55 Imperials for a while. They both came from the same place. The
one I kept has always been dependable since I was able to get it running. The
other one had something wrong in the ignition switch. It would only start if it
was hot wired, but would stay running without the hot wire after it started. I
was pretty sure that the ignition switch was at fault, but gave the car away
before I got around to fixing it. The guy that I gave it to tracked down the
problem and it was the ignition switch, so they can, and do give trouble.
Paul
In a message dated 9/7/2004 6:48:59 PM Eastern Daylight Time, "Roger
Casagrande" <rdc2382@xxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
>My 55 Imperial has lost its "spark". The car has run from November 2003 when I
>got to about a month ago. I checked the spark by removing the #1 plug and with
>the wire attached put the plug base to the intake manifold and had someone
>turn over the engine. No spark was seen at the plug. I checked the coil by
>putting a plug with a 0.175" gap between the coil output and the manifold and
>got a solid blue spark. I changed the points and condenser and checked that
>the primary wire was not grounded when both points were open.
>
>Another note is that I have the center portion of the dash off to repair the
>radio and polish the knobs of the controls. I don't know if something in the
>ignition requires all of the dash controls and radio to be connected.
>
>I need some suggestions for further trouble shooting.
>
>Roger D. Casagrande
>
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