I have got a new problem on the old 500.
First off let me thank Hanky for all the help he is giving me. I ran with his advice and got the old ford running pretty good. I've put about 300 to 350 miles on it in the past week.
The problem, my son was driving down the highway and the engine just died, shut down, at 70 miles an hour. My son says that when he opened the hood there was a lot of smoke, I don't know if it was smoke or steam. He said it had that burnt wire smell. When I arrived I didn't smell smoke or coolant but we did put almost a gallon of water back into the radiator reservoir. Now it just cranks but won't start.
The car is now sitting in my driveway but I don't have access to a code scanner. Any ideas?
Thanks, Ken

 

Did your driver happen to notice if the engine ran hot either by the temp gauge or the overheat lite? Some engines had a protection system where if the engine ran hot it would disable alternating cylinders to allow getting off the road after which it would disable fuel injection to "hopefully " prevent further damage.
What you might do is to see if the engine has spark available. If so, try a shot of carb& choke cleaner into the intake and see if the engine starts and runs for a few seconds. Let us know what you find. In the meantime do a good visual inspection and look for anything unusual like charred wires or any indication of possible overheating.
Did your son notice an area where smoke output was greatest? Look for clues.

 

I talked with my son and his friend who was in the car with him. My son says that the temperature gage went from normal to above the hot almost instantly. The engine shut off as soon as the gage pegged out. There were no warning lights or chimes. Just like the key was turned off.
His friend tells me that the smoke seemed to be coming from around the center of the engine and it wasn't thick smoke but it smelt like burning rubber. I had him show me and he pointed at the intake.
I've checked everything over and I couldn't find any crispy wires or anything out of place.

 

It is possible a cooling system hose burst and sprayed coolant over the hot engine and possibly wet everything so it will not start. Consider renting a cooling system pressure tester and apply up to 15 lbs pressure to the system and look for any leaks. Let us know what if anything you find..
Unfortunately, when an engine overheats to the point it quits future problems keep presenting themselves.

 

Thanks hanky, a pressure test is a pretty good idea. I should've thought of that. I do have access to a pressure tester that will work on this cooling system. I'm sure that you would probably agree that whoever designed this cooling system probably stayed up late and drink a few beers.
In the meantime, I have to figure out why this thing won't start. I believe I will start of the crank sensor and that is pretty hard to get to on this car.
I do concur about overheating but this car is pretty worn out as it is, a lot of hard driven miles.

 

Usually if the check engine light goes out when cranking , the crank sensor is OK.
You might check the coils for being cracked. They can really be fun to get to.