1957 Electrical problem, no start, smoke under dash

[John R. Dulin]

I have a 1957 T-Bird that I can't start. Recently had a new ignition switch installed as you could turn the switch to on and nothing would happen - and it still had the problem. Then I had a new neutral safety switch installed. The mechanic said that I had a bad battery when I went to pick up the Bird. I drove to the parts store, turned it off and again it would not start. We tried jumping it off with a battery jumper and nothing. The store manager then pulled his truck around to try and start it. Again nothing and this time smoke began to come out under the dash. The next day they installed a new battery and again nothing. The volt meter responds when the ignition switch is turned on but the starter does not engage.

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[biddle]

No need to include "Tbird" "Thunderbird' etc in your title, we are an all Ford Thunderbird site. Also, "electrical problem" is pretty vague, so I edited your subject to summarize what you posted- 1957 Electrical problem, no start, smoke under dash.

 

[Critterpainer]

From the factory, 57 Birds only start in neutral, not park. Try putting the car in Neutral first, not park,

 

[Boozeman]

Is this car new to you? If so, @critterpainter makes a good point about starting in neutral, not park. If not, I had a similar problem recently. My '57 wouldn't start, and I actually had smoke coming off the solenoid on the firewall. Turns out that the cable that runs from the solenoid to the starter had a small crack in the insulation, and was grounding on the firewall. I replaced the cable in question which fixed my problem. Good luck!

 

[John R. Dulin]

I've had the car just over two years. Have driven it less than 300 miles. It's had some ignition problems. Yes, I know that these original birds only started in neutral, but the new neutral switch makes it possible to start either in park or neutral. Neither one works however. A local friend had suggested the solenoid
issue. Will relay this to the mechanic.

 

[Boozeman]

I've had the car just over two years. Have driven it less than 300 miles. It's had some ignition problems. Yes, I know that these original birds only started in neutral, but the new neutral switch makes it possible to start either in park or neutral. Neither one works however. A local friend had suggested the solenoid
issue. Will relay this to the mechanic.

You might ask your mechanic to temporarily bypass the safety switch to see if you got a bad switch. With so much crap coming out of China these days, many new parts are failing much quicker than they should. Good luck!

 

[doug7740]

I have a 1957 T-Bird that I can't start. Recently had a new ignition switch installed as you could turn the switch to on and nothing would happen - and it still had the problem. Then I had a new neutral safety switch installed. The mechanic said that I had a bad battery when I went to pick up the Bird. I drove to the parts store, turned it off and again it would not start. We tried jumping it off with a battery jumper and nothing. The store manager then pulled his truck around to try and start it. Again nothing and this time smoke began to come out under the dash. The next day they installed a new battery and again nothing. The volt meter responds when the ignition switch is turned on but the starter does not engage.

The neutral safety switch is located in the tunnel under the car. The battery cables and the solenoid are under the hood. You said that recently had a new ignition switch installed and smoke stared coming from under the dash. Before you start replacing or bypassing the neutral safety switch, don't you think you should look to see what was causing the smoke from under your dash?

doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue