MTFCA Forum

Howdy from Maryland1

Beautiful tour today, just outstanding. Sixty-some miles through the countryside. At one of the stops I lost my electric start. We got the car going again with the help of another club member crank-starting.

No sound at all when I step on the starter switch. No spinning starter shaft, no clunk. Nothing. I thought, ok, I'll just jump the two terminals with a robust jumper when I got home. Just produced a healthy spark. Nothing from the starter. Kinda surprised. I thought even with a bad switch, this would produce something along the lines of a car that wanted to start.

Any suggestions? To end on a positive note, this marks the first day I hand-cranked my car to start. Several times, in fact. Very proud of that fact. The first one was courtesy of a club member, then I was all on my lonesome after that.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts on this situation.

Gerrit

The terminal post on the starter may be loose at the internal connection inside the starter. That condition can make a poor connection or no connection between the starter and battery, even if the switch, battery, ground(s) and all cable connections are clean and tight and the battery is good and fully charged.

I'd check ALL connections in the starter circuit and be sure that the battery itself is in good condition and fully charged.

Another possibility is stuck or worn brushes inside the starter.

Oil inside the starter motor can cause problems.

TXGOAT2 wrote: ↑

Sun May 28, 2023 9:47 pm

The terminal post on the starter may be loose at the internal connection inside the starter. That condition can make a poor connection or no connection between the starter and battery, even if the switch, battery, ground(s) and all cable connections are clean and tight and the battery is good and fully charged.

I'd check ALL connections in the starter circuit and be sure that the battery itself is in good condition and fully charged.

Another possibility is stuck or worn brushes inside the starter.

Oil inside the starter motor can cause problems.

Thank you. I'm confident the battery is good, will check things over tomorrow when I have a bit more time. I'll report back with any findings.
Gerrit

Sounds like you have a starting circuit issue. When you connected the jumper cables at the starter switch and had a good spark but was the circuit completed? To complete the circuit you would need to actually press the starter switch. If it’s an original switch the copper contacts inside it may be burnt enough to not have any contact after it’s pressed. And as stated above the issue could be the starter itself.
Check for a good ground , loose wires and etc. Good luck.

Adding to what other said.
If you only jumped across the posts on the switch & nothing. Did you try check the wiring from the switch to the starter or even tried to jump directly to the starter?
Doubt if its the switch based on jumping across the posts and getting a spark
Repo starter switches are similar to the original switches . Repro switches need to be positioned correctly or else they will eventually fail
One style --
--
Another style repro switch that can fail when the plunger is to high above the floor board

A common problem is caused by tightening the starter terminal nut too tight and breaking the connection to the field coils.

An easy check is to measure the resistance with an ohm meter between that terminal and the starter case.

That should be a single digit number if the connection is good.

This will show what Pat & James are referring to about the starter post contact.

I had a similar experience that baffled me. My starter button was getting hung up the the hole in the floorboard and not plunging down far enough to make contact. I had an extension on the button to elevate it above the floor..simple fix.

Another good point made about the foot starter button. It can happen that the button gets cockeyed and not go straight down and not make contact. The repos will sometimes do that and cause headaches.
Hopefully the switch is the problem but if not it’s the starting point to figure out the issue.

Given what you've already tried, the starter button is not likely to be the issue UNLESS, the starter buttton terminal that the starter cable is attached to, is shorted to ground due to failed insulating washers. Otherwise, your trouble appears to be in the starter cable, or the starter itself. May also want to check out how good a ground you have, beginning at the battery terminal and going forward. You may have enough ground to run ignition and make the spark you saw when you jumped the starter button terminals, but not enough to run the starter.

Sometimes the No start with jumpers direct to the starter stud is a bit of a red herring…

12v jumper cables for the amount of amps you need can cause a fair amount of voltage drop.

Some T starters that ‘see’ 5.8v or so, while the batt is still showing 6v+ will just sit there and ignore you….

Thank you for the replies. I'm checking things over now, but also have some non model-T related activities today so I'm not sure I'll get to the bottom of it by the end of the day.

Some additional information: car has been converted to 12V and this is the first long drive after rebuilding the starter bendix back in the cooler months.

Car always fired right up with one push on the starter button. I believe as some have stated that the problem is not in the starter switch but rather related to the starter itself or the wiring.

I'll check back when I know a little more.

Gerrit

When you converted to 12 volt, did you rewind the starter for 12 volt? Twelve volt is hard on a 6 volt starter and could be the cause of the problem. If it makes a clunk but does not turn the engine, you could have a problem in the bendix. Or something in the starter could have overheated.
Norm

Looks like progress Gerrit. Hopefully, it's just that simple.