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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / slow starting 1935

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Posted By Discussion Topic: slow starting 1935     TomO 10-09-2010 @ 7:51 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7253 Joined: Oct 2009 From your answer to the posts, I would check the spark plugs for signs of wetness after running that car and letting it sit for about 30 min. You may have a problem with the carb leaking. I don't have a lot of Stromberg experience and have forgotten what I did know, so I can't give you more help on the possible source of a leak. Tom trjford8 10-09-2010 @ 7:48 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 4215 Joined: Oct 2009 How old are your cables? If you are using the braided ground cable they tend to oxidize and create resistance. Like the others indicate, check all connections and make sure your cables are the correct size. With 6 volt grounding is critical. supereal 10-08-2010 @ 1:39 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 Unless you have developed a poor connection somewhere between the battery and the starter motor, your electrical system sounds OK. If your starter is in poor condition, it could be starving the coil. Try putting a jumper between the coil input and the battery to see if it helps. A starter, when hot, either from cranking or under hood heat, will draw excessive current. My '47 used to start hard and take a lot of cranking. I was concerned about flooding until I found that a squirt of starting fluid would kick it right off. That indicated a fuel shortage. Now, I give the gas pedal several pushes, and it starts immediately. I checked the carb for leak down, and it was OK. It just needs an extra shot of gas to get going. pfrancis 10-08-2010 @ 10:05 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 27 Joined: Oct 2009 Thanks for the fast replies to my problem. My distributer was machine set 2,000 miles ago and I have two of Skips rebuilt coils plus an optima battery. The starter seems to be robust so I had sort of ruled out electrical problems. However, most of your replies seem to point towards electrical rather than carb problems. I will put my backup coil on and check out the electrical side. Does anyone think I may have a carb problem? supereal 10-08-2010 @ 9:02 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 I agree that a hot coil will cause the problem, as will inadequate battery cables, etc. An old battery will also account for it. If you are using a lead-acid battery that is more than two years old, it is time to replace it with an Optima. Batteries begin to die from their very first use, and the decline continues until it won't provide adequate power. Lightly used old cars tend to accelerate this, as they are often not driven enough to fully charge the battery. Just yesterday, I had to replace the battery in my four year old truck as it began to show signs of failure. It happened gradually, but the new battery made a big difference in cranking and operation. As to flooding, if you don't smell gas, look down the carb and work the throttle. Between "hot soak", and an internal leak, you could be cranking to refill the bowl. keith oh 10-08-2010 @ 8:27 AM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 116 Joined: May 2010 I agree with Tom, defective coils perform worse, if at all, when hot. Send it to be rebuilt along with the condenser to a reliable rebuilder such as Skip Haney in Florida. TomO 10-08-2010 @ 8:12 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7253 Joined: Oct 2009 If the starter is turning the engine fast enough to start it, I would check the spark when the engine is at operating temperature. If it is blue in color and at least 1/2" long when a plug wire is held near a head stud, try new spark plugs. If the spark is weak, have your coil rebuilt. Tom drkbp 10-08-2010 @ 5:46 AM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 180 Joined: Aug 2010 pfrancis, I had what sounds to be a very similar problem with my '35. Be sure you have the correct size cable from battery to starter switch and switch to starter. The switch on mine was shorting at the "starter" side and would labor when car was hot. This also drops the voltage to the ignition circuit I would think. If you have to grind on it, there is something wrong. Two weeks ago I put a new switch (under floorboard), two new cables and it spins the starter like it is a 12-volt. Set plug gap as tudoorbilll says and you should be able to stand a nickle on the hood. I have the points on a 40B at .013 . Hope this helps, Ken tudorbilll 10-08-2010 @ 1:13 AM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 108 Joined: Oct 2009 Clean all connections between Battery and starter.take them all apart wire brush them.You can buy small brushes now. 1/2 wide they work great.This will make the engine spin faster.Every little bit helps.Let us know if this helps.Also if you can have your Dist. setup on a machine its the only why to do it.Plug gap .025 pfrancis 10-07-2010 @ 8:24 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 27 Joined: Oct 2009 My 35 starts fine when cold, but when hot I have to grind on the starter for about 10 seconds each time. I have a rebuilt Stromberg 48 carb with 2000 miles on it. The car used to start quickly until recently. It always starts, but is annoying to have to grind the starter and always wonder if it is going to start (it always does). Floorboarding the accelerater pedal sometimes helps, but I am always afraid it will flood and not start at all. Has anyone had this problem? Some people tell me that this is normal for old Fords and to just live with it, but it does not seem right to me. Thanks for any suggestions/inputs from my forum friends.

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