| Pair of 40's | -- 11-26-2013 @ 6:06 AM |
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My 40 flat head starts fine cold. When hot it turns over very slow or sometimes not at all. It can be jumped but will not turn over on it's own. I have a new optima 6 volt battery. I was reading a previous post on starting problems and read where it was suggested the resistor be changed. I have not tried this yet. Would a warm or hot engine effect the resistor? Could the solenoid cause this problem? My started has been rebuilt. Thanks
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| 4dFordSC | -- 11-26-2013 @ 7:12 AM |
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Don't know what you've tried so far, but make sure you have the larger 6 volt battery cables, and not the smaller 12 volt versions. Also make sure all the connections are clean and the block is grounded to the firewall.
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| Pair of 40's | -- 11-26-2013 @ 7:20 AM |
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That I have done. Starts great cold. Thanks
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| TomO | -- 11-26-2013 @ 7:39 AM |
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If you have a voltmeter, connect the COM meter lead to the NEG post of the battery and the POS lead of the meter to the POS terminal of the battery. Crank the engine with the ignition off and read the meter. It should read at least 5.5 volts while cranking. If it doesn't your battery is not fully charged. If your battery is fully charged, move the lead from the POS terminal to the bolt on the starter. Crank the engine again with the ignition off. The meter should read .3 or less. If it reads higher, you have excessive resistance in the cables or solenoid. Move the meter lead back to the solenoid side of the cable going to the starter and repeat the test. Each connection should not add more than .1V to the reading. The grounded side of the circuit can be checked out this way also. If you don't have a meter, check all of cables for at least a 2 gauge wire, check to see that the starter face and the mounting surface on the oil pan are free of paint and that the starter bolts are tight. Check that the ground cables from the battery to the firewall and from the firewall to the intake manifold are tight. I like to use a star washer between the cable and the body and the intake. If all of these are OK, find someone that can do a current draw test on the starter. The starter may be drawing too much current. It should draw between 150-200 amps. Tom
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| supereal | -- 11-26-2013 @ 11:24 AM |
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Tom nailed most of the answers, but another couple of things came to mind. Put a voltmeter across the battery posts when the engine is running at a fast idle. You should see a reading of between 7 to 7.5 volts if the charging system is functioning. It is important not to overcharge an Optima, or any glass mat battery. Many common chargers exceed the two amp limit. Once the battery is overcharged, it loses power from then on. Be very careful about jump starting. Check the battery voltage with the headlights on and the engine running at a fast idle. The starter current load is as high as 550 amps if the starter is locked, too high to measure with non professional equipment. Hot engines do require more power to turn, and starting is often difficult because the voltage at the coil input falls below the 3 volt minimum. A recently rebuilt engine can be difficult to start when hot, and a worn starter also loses power when hot because of the higher internal resistance. It also may cause the starter armature to drag as resistance increases. That problem was so frequent on GM vehicles years ago that they had to install a starter heat shield. A six volt system in good condition should provide reliable starting, cold or hot. This message was edited by supereal on 11-26-13 @ 11:45 AM
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| Pair of 40's | -- 11-26-2013 @ 12:39 PM |
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Thanks for tips and advice. Russ
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| murphy1936 | -- 12-01-2013 @ 12:52 PM |
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Can you jump start with 12 volt jumper? If so how are the connections made. Or should one jump with a six volt battery. A appreciate. Help as before I got car they used 12jumper hooked up until it ran out. John
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| supereal | -- 12-01-2013 @ 7:00 PM |
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Use only a six volt jumper on a six volt vehicle. Higher voltages will damage starters, coils, points, bulbs (if lit). Using a higher voltage to try to start a car falls in the "get a bigger hammer" range. It is an approach used by those too inexperienced to properly diagnose and repair the cause of problems. If you need help, there are Club members in your area to help.
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| TomO | -- 12-02-2013 @ 8:27 AM |
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Yes you can use a 12 volt jumper battery to start the car, but if you connect it to the battery side of the solenoid, you can destroy some of the electrical components and as Supereal said, even when you hook it up correctly, you can damage the starter as well. The correct hookup is: connect the POS terminal of the jumper battery to a good ground and the NEG terminal directly to the starter. If your battery is in good condition, there should be no need to jump start the engine. My preferences are to use a good 6 volt battery that has been fully charged for starting the car. If you want to use a jumper battery, make sure that the jumper cables are heavy enough for the job. Did you do the tests that I recommended in my previous post? If you are still having problems, please post the results so we can give you further assistance. Tom
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| TomO | -- 12-07-2013 @ 9:26 AM |
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Do you have the voltage readings that I described in my previous post? Without doing some testing it is difficult to fix the slow starter problems. You either have a connection problem or a problem with the starter. You say the starter is OK, so you must have a connection problem, either on the hot side or the grounded side. Using a volt meter to isolate the bad connection will help to isolate the reason for the failure. Tom
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| murphy1936 | -- 12-07-2013 @ 1:32 PM |
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TOM WHAT TESTS DID YOU SUGGEST I MAKE.? SORRY I DIDNT SEE THAT ONE. TESTING IS MY WEAKNESS. TELL ME HOW TO ISLOATE THE HOT AND GROUND SIDE PLEASE. AND WHA WOULD ONLY ONE SET OF POINTS FIRE AND NOT THE OTHER I C,heckled points and reset and still same problem, if plugs testes on passenger side does that mean both points were firing. JOHN
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| TomO | -- 12-09-2013 @ 10:35 AM |
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John To see the tests that I suggested for your starter problem, just read the complete post. Here is a link to the Mallory instruction manual for your car. http://info.mallory-ignition.com/support/instructions.html Type in 2572101 in the Part number box and the instruction manual will open in a new window. Be patient as the web site is slow. Tom
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| murphy1936 | -- 12-14-2013 @ 2:19 PM |
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Tom I will do your tests as soon as I get my distributor back and will let you know ok. I'm not available to work on car all the time need to take care of wife John. Should have distributor back next week Super Deluxe 41
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