I had a heck of a time with the motor. im trying to learn how to work on my own motor and i the elelctric kills me. the starter will turn the motor then it sounds like a boat motor with the gear drops off the flywheel. like you turned on the heater motor. now it seems to be grounded. im getting over 6volts to the starter cable but when i attach it to the brass stud on starter the starter just sits there and it test o on the voltmeter. the starter box is hot like the starter is grounded and hasnt been the last 100 times i started or tried to start it but when i touch the stud on starter it sparks and i dont have power. help
I see nobody answered so I'll jump in. Never worked on one this old for cars but have fixed old Ford tractor starters. Found there are some parts common to cars and tractors back in those days. Old Henry wasn't going to build two parts when one would do the job. Check the bolts for tightness, have seen loose starters grinding and binding/locking more than once. I'd pull it off and put power to it to see if the drive kicks in. The gear should slide on the shaft when it gets power. Just hook jumper cables to stud and starter body. Don't forget it's positive ground! Especially don't put your fingers near the gear when you juice it. I've seen me do it. Not sure if this works like the 50-60's starters but if it does it's got a pull-in coil that moves the drive into the flywheel. If not the same it's got to be similar. When the drive contacts the flywheel the starter is grounded and starts to spin. If the coil is bad it can't move the drive so it won't spin. On the newer starters that coil and pull-in mechanism is under a tin cover on top. Check the drive gear and flywheel for damage. Damaged teeth can bind and lock up. Not all of this may not apply, it's been way to long and I'm too old to recall for sure but the following is pretty well common to all. You might also have a dead short in the starter itself. Check the field wires for continuity and shorts to the case and armature continuity with a VOM. You can get a usable cheapie at what my buddy calls "The Chima (his pronunciation) Store, Harbor Frt for less than 10 bucks if you don't have. I had a starter/alternator tester in my NAPA store, kept it and still in my garage. Used to test for free whether you bought from me or not. Don't know what stores do now but should be cheap or free. Not only will that tell you if the motor spins, it will show the amp draw. It that's high, it's a sign the unit needs repair. Amp draw will depend on the size of starter, can' tell you what that will be but should be listed in tech manuals or found on the net. Often you can often fix with new bushings and brushes. That and a clean and polish is all you get with a cheaper "rebuild". I used to stock common sizes, came from Echlin, couple bucks apiece. If the slip rings have deep groves you should turn smooth, can be done in most metal lathes. If armature needs to be rewound you're probably better off just buying a new starter. If local parts stores can't help you might go see the Ford tractor dealer but be prepared to dig deep in your pocket. Priced a glass sediment bowl for my OT 78 Ford tractor and it was 78 bucks for just the glass bowl! They used an oddball tiny bowl nobody else uses. The parts man kind of shrunk down in his boots when he told me the price then reached under the counter for the smelling salts in case I fainted (or maybe for the long breaker bar in case I got radical). One last thing....check the battery state of charge and cables/terminals. I spent way to much time on the starting system of an OT pickup only to find that the positive terminal only had about 1/4 inch of stripped copper stuck in the terminal. Truck got to be a couple years old and the terminal expanded and lost power intermittently. Looked like a new cable but pulled apart with my hand when I checked. Remember that a 6 volt system takes way bigger cable than a 12 volt. If somebody has replaced cables with small size or terminals with those cheap clamp-on ones it's going to amplify any problem elsewhere in the system due to low amps/high resistance. Electricity is like water. Volts are the the pressure in your hose and amps is the resistance (size of the hose). Start with the simple stuff first because that's usually what it is. Riding mowers won't run with no gas in the tank even after you replace the plugs, points and cuss for a while. Don't ask me how I know. Like I told customers at the counter, my free advice is worth just what you paid for it. Being a counterman is like being a bartender but the drunks usually take their shit and leave after telling you all their troubles. Tips aren't so good either. Best example; "plant your corn early this year."
Where are you located? Maybe someone nearby can stop by and get you straightened out. There are actually two types of starter solenoids on old fords. One grounds the solenoid when pushing the starter button. The other applies hot positive current to the solenoid. Is your starter solenoid new? Will the engine turn over by hand?? Are you running heavy gauge 1.0 battery and ground cables? Is your system positive or negative ground?????? Since you’re new with electronics this video may help you by pass the solenoid providing current directly to your starter.
to the best of my knowledge i dont have a starter solenoid. the 8ba is set up like it was in 32. one reply was that the starter grounds to motor while starting cause the gear locks up with the motor. is that right? i took the starter off and the gear seemed stuck to the end closet to the motor and not the end with the spring. could it have ground out because of that?
Is your car an original 32 with an 8ba installed? Do you have stock 32 wiring? 4 cylinder 32 started withva knob on the column, v8 32 with push on the floor. Do either of these conditions exist on your car or Do you have a 2 position key with push button or 3 position key? An answer to this will enavbe us to sort this out. Or are you starting from scratch? Its also ok to not really know what youve got we can figure it out but that'll require some pictures
Please be more specific. Yes the starter gear could be stuck into the flywheel of the engine. Did you mean the starter shaft was not stuck into the flywheel but was stuck into the (starter) motor?
Please answer these questions. Will the engine turn over by hand?? Are you running heavy gauge 1.0 battery and ground cables? Is your system positive or negative ground?????? I’ve never heard of running a starter without a solenoid. If your statement is true I have no knowledge of that info.
Most likely the Bendix is jammed into the ring gear. Put the car in 3rd gear (if std shift) and rock the car back and forth. It should free up. You could also pull the starter and visually inspect. Paul in CT
Do you have the correct starter plate? Using the angled plate with anything other than the full size stamped steel '49-'51 Ford car bell will position the starter out of parallel with the crank and cause problems.
Starters getting stuck on the flywheel used to be a fairly common problem. We used to just put the car in high gear and push it backwards to dislodge it. Your description is a little vague but I hope this helps. The starters on the old fords can be a bit finicky to remove. You need to raise the back of it to get an angle where the drive will clear the flywheel then pull out. Check for a bad starter drive, loose bushings, shorts to ground, bent shaft, etc. Those starters are not polarity sensitive. There is a little brace that goes between one of the starter bolts to one of the oil pan bolts. Do you have the little brace? It helps keep the starter from climbing the flywheel ring gear and getting stuck. V8Bob makes a good point. An angled starter plate will cause the thing to jam up and do exactly what you describe. The starter mount surface should be parallel to the plate mounting surface.
im building a 32 with an 8ba. go to sparklecityspeedshop.com for pictures. im trying to leave it as original as possible. its still positive ground and i had tyree harris make an wiring harness for a 32 with a turn signal at cowls. im not sure of all the terms but the part that spins up and down the starter shaft. is an earlier post saying that when for a short time the gear spins up to the flywheel is grounding? if so i would assume that it was stuck as it was when i pulled starter off and was grounding. it has the two position key switch and just runs into the floor starter. yes it still has the resister for the coil and the fuse for the lights. hope it helps so you can help me but i checked and i was getting 6.3 volts to the starter cable at the starter end when i stepped on the starter button. after i took starter of i check. its seemed grounded when i tried to check it with starter on and the starter switch on the steering box was getting warm but didnt when the starter was off and trying the same thing. any help? i dont think a 32 had a typical solenoid and i have had engine running. and i am using the 32 starter cable. just need to know more about the starter and how it works and what could have happened. thanks
to follow up with some of you because i appreciate your input. i do have the starter bracket to the oilpan and it was used. i rebuilt the engine myself so im familiar with most of what you guys are saying. I dont know how the starter works with the flywheel. does it move to the center with the centrifugal force like it does on the bench test and engage the flywheel? if so what or why does it get out of the way once started. ive had the engine running to where it will start before i step off the starter button so all is good but starter problem. thanks for your replies it is all informative.
from Brando1956... is what i think happened and maybe it was a fluke but i have had the gear spin out and sounds like a starter going bad on a boat motor. "Not sure if this works like the 50-60's starters but if it does it's got a pull-in coil that moves the drive into the flywheel. If not the same it's got to be similar. When the drive contacts the flywheel the starter is grounded and starts to spin. If the coil is bad it can't move the drive so it won't spin. On the newer starters that coil and pull-in mechanism is under a tin cover on top. Check the drive gear and flywheel for damage. Damaged teeth can bind and lock up. Not all of this may not apply, it's been way to long and I'm too old to recall for sure but the following is pretty well common to all."
the starter is grounded all the time by being mounted on the engine, which is, or better be, grounded all the time. sounds like you are using the original floor starter switch. those are the same function as an electric solenoid, just manually connected with your foot, instead of electrically connected with a coil. both types have big connections inside to handle the big amp draw of the starter. if yours is hot, it is probably not making a good connection. the floor types can be taken apart and cleaned up sometimes if they are not burned up too bad. if you have your starter out, clamp it in a vise and hook up a battery to see if it works. if it does, then check out the starter switch. NOS ones are usually on ebay
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