1929 Starter issue

D

dnbdds

Junior Member
When I first turn on the ignition, the ammeter deflect, my starter attempts to turn, and then nothing happens. If I try it a second time, there are no clicks or attempts by the starter to turn, and the ammeter does not deflect. I can turn the engine by hand, so I didn’t think the Bendix was stuck in the flywheel. I removed the starter and bench tested it. It turns fast and smooth. I then rebuilt the starter switch with new insulators. No change. The fuse I placed on the starter is not blown, but I removed it any way. No change. The horn and lights work and the battery tests fully charged. If I let the car set for a bit, the ammeter deflects again and the situation repeats itself. I have a pop out switch, so I tried backing out the cable to the distributor to see if it was shorting out agains the distributor, but no change. I also dropped the dash panel to see if any screws were shorting out against the gas tank. No change. It seems odd that the ammeter deflect the first try but not the second, but I can let the car set and it will again deflect the first try but not the second. Help.
 
dnbdds said:
When I first turn on the ignition, the ammeter deflect, my starter attempts to turn, and then nothing happens. If I try it a second time, there are no clicks or attempts by the starter to turn, and the ammeter does not deflect. I can turn the engine by hand, so I didn’t think the Bendix was stuck in the flywheel. I removed the starter and bench tested it. It turns fast and smooth. I then rebuilt the starter switch with new insulators. No change. The fuse I placed on the starter is not blown, but I removed it any way. No change. The horn and lights work and the battery tests fully charged. If I let the car set for a bit, the ammeter deflects again and the situation repeats itself. I have a pop out switch, so I tried backing out the cable to the distributor to see if it was shorting out agains the distributor, but no change. I also dropped the dash panel to see if any screws were shorting out against the gas tank. No change. It seems odd that the ammeter deflect the first try but not the second, but I can let the car set and it will again deflect the first try but not the second. Help.
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Is your battery in good shape??Good,clean and bright ground strap?
 
It sounds like a battery issue. Even though it will show full voltage (6.4 volts or 12.7 volts) it may not be able to sustain any large current. After a while the battery will recover a little and the ammeter will deflect.

Take the battery to an automotive parts store and have it load tested.

It could also be bad battery connections. Starters take a lot of amps and all the connections must be bright and shinny and tight. Check the terminals and where the ground cable attaches. If the ground cable attaches to the frame, run a second cable to the one of the transmission bolts.
 
The battery connections are clean. The battery shows full on my charger, but I will check it out. Maybe enough charge for the horn and lights but not the starter. Thanks.
 
Took my battery in. It shows fully charged, but was putting out lousy amps. I feel kind of stupid, but I learned a lot about my car. Thanks again.
 
Check the internals of your starter, brushes, commutator, ohm out everything. Check the solder joints very carefully, I just went through this and found the solder joint under the button had a crack ! My starter would spin on the bench but only a couple of cranks on the engine and then nothing. While you have the starter apart clean the base both sides the case where it makes contact, your ground brushes ground to the case. After I got the starter repaired my starter spins much faster than it ever did !
 
dnbdds said:
Took my battery in. It shows fully charged, but was putting out lousy amps. I feel kind of stupid, but I learned a lot about my car. Thanks again.
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Did you purchase new battery? And is it all good now? Not stupid it happens to us all.
 
Yes, happens to all of us. My Model T would not start on the battery and the cure was a new battery. The battery was only 20 year old.
 
Turn the headlights on, shining on a wall or something so you can see them, or have another person watch them. Then try the starter. If the headlights go out or dim way down you have a battery or connection problem.
 
I installed a new battery. The voltage at the starter is 6.35. Starter did not turn over. I removed the starter and took it apart per Les Andrews instructions. All solder joint are secure, brushes are new, armature and inside is clean. Re-assembled. Bench tested with and without starter switch attached. Bench test was good through both directly on the copper button and by pushing the starter switch rod. Re-installed starter. Will not turn over. I can still crank by hand. I am at a loss now. I think I will take a vacation.
 
Take a voltage reading at the starter when you are trying to crank
the engine, if voltage drops real low you probably have a bad battery cable or bad ground.
 
dndds: You've sorta put the cart before the horse in your search for the problem.

I suggest you slow down and read post #11, Katy and #13, Bob C. They are suggesting you do a 'voltage drop' test on your cables, both the - negative cable to the starter stud and the + positive cable to the frame. If you aren't familiar with how to do this, reply and someone will lead you through it.

If you have the Les Andrews blue book "Troubleshooting and diagnosis" you can find a thorough description in the first pages of Chapter II. A friend or your club likely has a copy of the book.
 
As others have said, this will take some analysis. You have to take some measurements with your multimeter. The voltage at the starter must be high enough to run the motor.


  1. Set your multimeter on the voltage scale.
  2. Put one probe on the terminal on top of the starter switch and one on a bolt that holds the motor to the engine.
  3. Without turning on the ignition, have someone step on the starter switch and measure the voltage. It should be about 6 volts.
  4. If the voltage is low, less than 4 volts, then you have to search for the loss in voltage.
  5. Next put one probe on the ground terminal of the battery and one probe on a good ground point on the transmission and have someone step on the starter. The voltage should remain about zero. If not then you have an issue with the ground terminal or the terminal on the battery.
  6. If the ground terminal is OK then continue to search for the loss in voltage by exploring with the multimeter.
 
Try a jumper cable from the + terminal of the battery direct to a bolt on the starter. If that works then your problem is a poor ground connection.

I'm assuming that your car is + ground, if has negative ground, connect the jumper cable to the - terminal of the battery.
 
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dnbdds said:
When I first turn on the ignition, the ammeter deflect, my starter attempts to turn, and then nothing happens.
Click to expand...


To clarify, are you stepping on the starter button after turning on the ignition, or is your starter somehow wired into your ignitions switch through a solenoid?
 
Have you by chance done any recent painting on the starter or engine.
The surface of the starter and the surface of the flywheel housing where both meet need to be bare metal for a good ground. Scrape any paint off of these surfaces to assure a good ground.
 
I agree with the others that it could be a battery issue. I had non-stop starting issues with my 30 Tudor until I grounded my battery with cable (not strap) to the bell housing. For some reason I could not get good contact via the original frame strap no matter how well I cleaned the contact points. Lots of quirky electrical issues seemed to go away.
 
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