Back from the Grave

[Author nameAuthor names are only available to PAS members.]

I hope the Subject line didn’t shock anyone. The reference is to our 1932 Model 54 Brougham Club. Let me explain. A while back (just short of a year ago), after enjoying several short trips with the car all of the sudden it stopped running. Yep, one day I went out to start it up and nothing. Thinking it was the battery I tested it and sure enough, nothing, dead as door nail. So, charging the battery was the next move. But, no luck, the battery would not hold a charge. After purchasing a new battery and installing it I was ready to go to work. Or so I thought. Some was wrong, with the new battery in place still nothing. No starting and further investigation revealed no lights or horn. My thought was the STARTIX has gone bad. I immediately reached out to the PAS membership and Paul Johnson contacted me and we began working through possible solutions, He even offered to send me a replacement STARTIX. Upon our inspection we came to realize the STARTIX was not the problem and that possible shorts in wires could be the problem. After months (couple hours a day when I had some free time) I could not locate any wiring issues other than a bunch of wires were exposed and could possibly causing shorts. Still no luck in getting it started. I thanked Paul and told him I was just going to have to keep tracing wires and trying to sort things out. Well, I dropped the ball, got side tracked and the car sat for a good while longer until one day I just decided to get back on tryng to get this thing fixed. I sent another note out, this time to Robert Brown who was very helpful in getting me to David Coco and Greg Long. The three of them provided me with a plethora of information based on their knowledge of the Pierce. I printed off all they had provided me and into the garage I went. With a friend we explored and probed and read and tested out different options until finally, SHAZAM! we where able to get things back together again and the car started. Here I what we found… Several cracked and damaged wires. A bad current limiter, a loose connection on the starter switch, a broken wire on the ammeter and a wire on the STARTIX that was on the wrong terminal. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to Greg, David and Robert for their patience and help. Since getting the problem resolved I have taken the car out three times on short drives and it is running better than it has run in a long, long time. For anyone is new to these old cars I recommend seeking out those who know. Read the materials. Read the owners manual. Touch and feel the car and all the wires, control devices and learn all you can. These vehicles are gems and we really need to preserve their legacy. If anyone would like greater details of my quest to resurrect this car please feel free to drop me an email [email protected].

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