1931 Model A starter help.

C

ckain16

New member
This 31 model a was starting fine, has new battery. This morning wanted to move it and the starter 'clunked' and was locked up. I cannot get it to release.
Any ideas ? ? ? Thanks. ckain2004@yahoo.com
 
Common problem with old cars. Put the car in high gear and rock it back and forth, you will hear a snap and be back in business. I had my John Deere do that today. Since it is a crawler, it would take several men to rock it, so I put it in neutral and used the hand crank. This isn't as good as rocking but it worked the second time I kicked the hand crank.
 
You can unlock it by rocking in 3rd gear, however mine was beginning to do it a lot, needed a new starter drive spring and have since had no problems,!!
 
I've read if it still doesn't break free with rocking backwards in 3rd gear, you can also open the transmission inspection cover and use a pry bar to try to turn the engine in the reverse direction (use a board to pry against as you don't want to pry against the bell housing for risk of damaging it.)
If it does break free but you find it's happening more frequent, you may want to lubricate the bendix on the starter (not too much but just enough to allow free movement)
 
Mine used to do it a couple times a year, since I replaced the ring gear no more problems the last 25 years

The ring gear gets the teeth blunted and worn usually in 2 spots--- sometimes a little work with a dremel putting the tapers back and cleaning up burrs can get you by
 
And be sure the ignition key is OFF when you rock the car in gear! It's easy to forget to turn it off when the starter locks up and you raise the hood to diagnose the problem. Should you rock the car in gear with the key still on, there's a chance the engine will start and the car takes off. 'Hasn't happened to me, but I'm sure one of the millions and millions of Model A owner in the last 85 years had this happen!
Marshall
 
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