Con-fused

 

I have a manual for my 1929 Ford. All sources tell me that the manual I bought is the best. It tells you exactly how to fix your ninety two year old car when things go wrong.

About two weeks ago I went out to the garage and started the Model A. I pulled out of the garage and out onto the street. One thing I noticed was that the ammeter was not registering anything. The car wasn't charging, it wasn't draining the battery. So I did the one thing that made sense. I tapped on the ammeter's glass cover. Doing that did not fix it. In fact, tapping on it made it fall behind the instrument panel. The glass had fallen to the floor of the car, while the actual meter was wedged mostly out of sight. Once again, I did the one thing that made sense. I gently pulled it back up from behind the instrument panel. This made a loud cracking sound along with a nice spark. Now the car would not run, it would not start. So I looked it up in the manual. Sure enough, you cannot start a Model A Ford if the ammeter is not connected. So I ordered a new ammeter and installed it. The car would not start. So I went back to the manual and followed the circuit. It told me to measure voltages and resistances off the coil. Ah, ha! It was all wrong, so I ordered a new coil and installed it. The car would not start. In the circuit is the ignition switch. Had I shorted that out? So just in case I had ordered that too. It hasn't arrived yet, but up to this point I have spent over one hundred dollars. I was kind of stumped. I stood there with the hood open looking at my lifeless car. That's when I noticed a small cylindrical object on the side of the starter. A fuse. A small fuse attached to the starter and it was blown. So I ran off to Home Depot, bought another fuse for seventy nine cents, and put it in. The car started right up. The manual and every source I have ever read, stated clearly that Ford did not put any fuses in the Ford Model A automobile. So I didn't look for one. Although, I am glad that one of the previous owners had the good sense to install one.