won't start
- Thread starter coolcoupe
- Start date
Flathead Fever
Well-known member
Turn on the headlights and try cranking it and see what the headlights do. If they go dark the battery is not charged. If they stay bright, you have an electrical problem or a bad starter. Tap on the starter while somebody tries to start it or rotate the engine by hand just a little bit to see it the stater gear and flywheel teeth are not lining up. You can also put it in high gear and rock the vehicle to move the engine to a different spot. If that don't work, its time get out the voltmeter and do some testing. We used to go out and get vehicles stuck in remote locations back to the garage by smacking the starter with a hammer, half the time it usually worked. That way we could get them back to the shop and up on the hoist and not have to crawl on the ground to replace it. I aways took a battery, jumper cable's and a big hammer with me on a "engine will not crank" repair ticket. If the starter is bad the hammer trick usually works for couple more starts but then the starter finally quits. If you get it started with the hammer don't shut it off again until you get it where you want to work on it. You can take jumper cables and jump directly from the battery to the starter terminal and the housing or mounting bolt. It's going to make a big spark, so make your battery connections first, then the cable to the starter cable stud and lastly the cable to a mounting bolt. If it cranks that bypasses your entire electrical circuit and eliminates it as the problem.
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Drbrown
Well-known member
I have a '47 also - it was converted to 12 volt system years ago. Be sure the battery is fully charged. I think your problem may be a loose cable connection. An option might be that the started motor is locked-up. What voltage are you running in the electric system, 6 or 12 volts ? a 6 volt system would be a positive ground system, 12 volt conversion is normally a negative ground system. You should have three wire connection terminals on your solenoid, the smaller one being the wire that comes from your starter button. One of the larger terminals would have the cable from the battery. The other large terminal would have the cable going to the starter motor. Carefully check all the wire connections .... the battery posts, solenoid and the starter motor; make sure the starter motor is tightly bolted to the engine. Clean and tighten connections if necessary. Using a jumper wire touch the SMALL terminal on the solenoid to a grounded point on engine, The solenoid should "click" as it does when you press the starter button - this just confirms that the starter button works. Do these things and come back here to report any results.
petehoovie
Well-known member
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coolcoupe
Well-known member
Well, I had to take the starter out in two pieces as the starter drive was locked
into the ring gear !! With some patience I managed to wrestle it free. So while it's on the bench I'll get brushes, bushing and done it right. thanks for all the ideas but it felt good hitting with the hammer. Hopeful will cure the problem.
into the ring gear !! With some patience I managed to wrestle it free. So while it's on the bench I'll get brushes, bushing and done it right. thanks for all the ideas but it felt good hitting with the hammer. Hopeful will cure the problem.
Flathead Fever
Well-known member
When your done rebuilding the starter and before you go through the effort to install it bench test it with a battery and jumper cables just to make sure it does that spinning thing. Remember to hook the cables to the battery first, then the cable to the starter cable post and lastly the cable to the starters' case otherwise the arc from that last cable hookup could melt the threads on the starter cable stud. The sparks won't hurt the starters' case. We had so many failed rebuilt starters right out of the rebuilder boxes at work that we bench tested every one of them first. Some of them can be a nightmare to install. We would open the failed rebuilds and find one new brush and one old worn out one. They only replaced the bare minimum to get them to work. I won't buy a rebuilt starter for any of my daily drivers. It costs a lot more, but I only buy brand new factory starters. Motorcraft for Fords and Delcos for Chevy.
If you enjoyed hitting it with a hammer, you could be qualified to be a phone company fleet mechanic like me. The favorite saying in the phone company garage among us mechanics was, "who has the BFH"? Big Fricking Hammer. Let's just say that the repairs done in the shop, although perfectly safe, might not meet with the Pebble Beach judging standards for fit and finish.
If you enjoyed hitting it with a hammer, you could be qualified to be a phone company fleet mechanic like me. The favorite saying in the phone company garage among us mechanics was, "who has the BFH"? Big Fricking Hammer. Let's just say that the repairs done in the shop, although perfectly safe, might not meet with the Pebble Beach judging standards for fit and finish.