1957 Engine suddenly shuts off & no 12v

[Billy-Bird-FiveSeven]

Out on my weekly cruise. Everything going fine. Stopped and got some gas. Car starts right up as normal. Put in drive and start to pull off from pump. The auxillary radio stops and car engine cuts off. Put in neutral and car starts right up and I go on my way. A few miles down the road I get to a stop sign and it does the same thing. Starts right up again as normal. Head back to the barn with no other issues.

It is like the ignition switch is cut off. Except that the auxillary radio (actually a bluetooth reciever) is not connected to the ignition switch. I have it feed directly from the battery. I also have a battery cut off switch on the battery.

Any suggestions?

 

[biddle]

Please use the four digit model year in your posts which aids in site searches and google search. Updated for you.

 

[Boozeman]

Out on my weekly cruise. Everything going fine. Stopped and got some gas. Car starts right up as normal. Put in drive and start to pull off from pump. The auxillary radio stops and car engine cuts off. Put in neutral and car starts right up and I go on my way. A few miles down the road I get to a stop sign and it does the same thing. Starts right up again as normal. Head back to the barn with no other issues.

It is like the ignition switch is cut off. Except that the auxillary radio (actually a bluetooth reciever) is not connected to the ignition switch. I have it feed directly from the battery. I also have a battery cut off switch on the battery.

Any suggestions?

Have you checked your battery connections? Sounds like a loose connection at the battery.

 

[Ward 57]

Hmm, If your radio cuts off when connected directly to the battery I'd suspect a bad ground. If it were a bad battery with shorting plates it would still run off the generator.

 

[Billy-Bird-FiveSeven]

Yes, checked battery connections and the battery cut-off switch.

I will check the ground when I get a chance.

Thank you for the responses!

 

[1957Bird]

Had a very similar scenario
Cleaned battery posts and cable ends and connections, solved the problem TEMPORARILY:-(
The permanent fix was new pos. And neg. battery cables. I’m fairly confident it was the positive cable that was the culprit but did both.
very reasonable through various TBird vendors.
good luck

 

[Dale Leonard]

Had a very similar scenario
Cleaned battery posts and cable ends and connections, solved the problem TEMPORARILY:-(
The permanent fix was new pos. And neg. battery cables. I’m fairly confident it was the positive cable that was the culprit but did both.
very reasonable through various TBird vendors.
good luck

I had an old 57 ford airline and I could be running down the road and it would die.Put in neutral and crank it back up. Turned out it was the ballast resister. turns out the wire in it was broken and when it got hot it would break the connection. When it broke connection it would shrink back together and make a connection and I could crank it back up.Your aux radio may be connected into the same circuit. Just look at everything.

 

[sylvurhfox]

Out on my weekly cruise. Everything going fine. Stopped and got some gas. Car starts right up as normal. Put in drive and start to pull off from pump. The auxillary radio stops and car engine cuts off. Put in neutral and car starts right up and I go on my way. A few miles down the road I get to a stop sign and it does the same thing. Starts right up again as normal. Head back to the barn with no other issues.

It is like the ignition switch is cut off. Except that the auxillary radio (actually a bluetooth reciever) is not connected to the ignition switch. I have it feed directly from the battery. I also have a battery cut off switch on the battery.

Any suggestions?

Just a thought,
I have had ignition coils heat up and kill the engine and then start right back up. I changed the coil and that problem was solved. The other issue, I have no idea.

 

[Billy-Bird-FiveSeven]

thanks for the responses!
The battery is new
The battery cables are new including the ground cables
The ground connections are tight.
The battery cable connections are tight.

It may have been that I didn't tighten the battery cut-off screw all the way down?? Don't know yet as it hasn't repeated since then, but only one short trip out since.

Thanks again!!