Plymouth Cuda: Ignition or Fuel - crank but no start

[dd76uj]

My ‘73 Plymouth cuda’s steering column connector melted (common problem with the oem connector apparently) so I swapped all wires to new Anderson connectors except for the two orange wires that only connected to one side of the connector. I left them in-tact with the old connector. Before I did all this the car would start. After I finished it cranks but won’t start. Not neutral safety switch, and I have spark. I have no fuel at the carb. Fuel filter before fuel pump seems completely empty, post-fuel pump there’s a little sitting in there. There is fuel in the gas tank. The car did sit for about a month without running before I tackled the connector (before that it cranked and fired up although it needed some effort if it sat for too long, generally about three sets of 3-4 pumps of gas).

Is it possible that it’s something with the orange wires or ignition related?? I find it ridiculously odd that this only happened after my work on the connector… I had no fuel issues prior to that. Thats why I am confused, don’t know if this is electrical related to ignition switch or if it’s fuel related. Does the ignition switch control anything fuel related? The fuel pump is a mechanical pump.

 

[Chryco Psycho]

First you know you have spark so the electical is good ,
Second Never put a fuel filter before the pump , there is a screen on the tank that catches bigger particles & the filters are on the pressure side & pressure is far more efficient , it takes nothing to stop fuel flow on the suction side so get that out of there & confirm fuel flow .

 

[dd76uj]

First you know you have spark so the electical is good ,
Second Never put a fuel filter before the pump , there is a screen on the tank that catches bigger particles & the filters are on the pressure side & pressure is far more efficient , it takes nothing to stop fuel flow on the suction side so get that out of there & confirm fuel flow .

Good advice there, thank you! Never actually thought about the filter before pump… I’ll get rid of that and check for flow. Its just that I got baffled if it truly happened at the same time as I was doing work on the electrical stuff haha it had me wondering what the heck I could have done down there for a good 3 days

 

[Deathproofcuda]

To answer your question, if you have a mechanical fuel pump then the electrical system does not control anything that is fuel related.

Your issues are not related.

 

[72RoadRunnerGTX]

My ‘73 Plymouth cuda’s steering column connector melted (common problem with the oem connector apparently) so I swapped all wires to new Anderson connectors except for the two orange wires that only connected to one side of the connector. I left them in-tact with the old connector. Before I did all this the car would start. After I finished it cranks but won’t start. Not neutral safety switch, and I have spark. I have no fuel at the carb. Fuel filter before fuel pump seems completely empty, post-fuel pump there’s a little sitting in there. There is fuel in the gas tank. The car did sit for about a month without running before I tackled the connector (before that it cranked and fired up although it needed some effort if it sat for too long, generally about three sets of 3-4 pumps of gas).

Is it possible that it’s something with the orange wires or ignition related?? I find it ridiculously odd that this only happened after my work on the connector… I had no fuel issues prior to that. Thats why I am confused, don’t know if this is electrical related to ignition switch or if it’s fuel related. Does the ignition switch control anything fuel related? The fuel pump is a mechanical pump.

The two small red (orange?) wires are the key-in-switch leads, issues there would kill the key-buzzer only. As mentioned, you apparently have a fuel supply issue from your description. Anderson connectors? Anderson Powerpoles? You can use those for the key switch wires as well for a better looking repair.

 

[Bret Schneider]

Pump might just be having a problem getting primed. Fuel in the tank doesn't necessarily mean fuel at the pump. I'd take the fuel line from the tank off at the pump (agree, get rid of the before pump filter), take the gas cap off, and using a rag around the filler to cap it off a little, blow a little compressed air into the tank to see if you can induce fuel to flow from the open line. Don't get crazy, just a little pressurization of the tank should force some fuel through the line. Assuming the tank sock isn't totally plugged from rust or other gunk... If that's the case you'll need to pull out the sending unit.