I tried to start my 59 Coronet today, and it failed to
start. The battery was weak, so I changed out to a good
battery, and electrical issues seemed to crop out of nowhere, as the starter
relay began to smoke under the hood, and I saw some smoke under the dash
(seemed to be related, but separate issues of smoke).
Wiring from the relay to the firewall was hot and the wiring sheath tape
melted. I didn't see if the actual wiring melted, but will look
tomorrow (seems likely). The ignition seemed to work best when the key
was in the ON or RUN position, and the amp
gauge would drop off to negative and the starter would drag or stop cranking
at the normal ignition key START position. Of
course, this seems to be where the under-dash smoke was coming
from.
I'm not sure if the ignition switch or the starter relay went bad, or
both. This has always been an exceptionally reliable, 49,000 mile car,
but had not been started for about 8 months due to Winter and other
projects.
I looked at both starter relay and ignition switches tonight on eBay to
get ideas, and it seems listings for the ignition switch, either with keys or
just the switch, list the 59 as separate from 57-58. The car is a
326/Powerflight automatic.
Does anyone have any experience with this, or other relevant
thoughts? Thanks,
Larry (Akron)
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