I have a 1950 Ford Custom with a Mercury 8CM flathead V8 with an over drive transmission. It is a 6V positive ground electrical system. The Merc 8CM is not the original engine but it is very period correct. It has the standard cylinder heads, manifolds, Holley 94 carburetor just like an 8BA.
My problem is this; the starter has locked up twice. Let me explain what happens. I will go to start the car and I hear the starter solenoid click and I hear the starter click (probably bendix spring engaging) and then nothing! The starter is locked up and won't release from the fly wheel. Very frustrating.
The first time this happened I was able to remove the starter from the engine. I visually checked the starter and bendix spring and all looked fine. (I'm really not sure how the bendix spring works). Anyway, I thought it was a one-time anomaly so I reinstalled the starter and all worked fine. This was about 1 to 1-1/2 years ago.
Now, as I was going to take a Sunday ride last Sunday, it happened again. This time it is really stuck. I attempted to rock the car in gear, nope. I removed the front lower pan to gain access to the fan belt pulley hoping I could turn the engine with a socket just a little bit, nope. So I attempted to remove the starter again like I did before. But this time, the starter is locked in there solid. It is not budging. I cannot remove the starter from the engine block. So I am stuck. Help!
John
This message was edited by jyakel on 8-6-20 @ 5:19 AM
Thanks. Your help is greatly appreciated.
John
Okay, you are my hero! With my wife's help yesterday I attempted to unlock the starter as per your suggestion in your post above. IT WORKED! Thank you. It took three tries but on the third try I heard the welcomed 'bang' as the starter drive unit released from the flywheel. What a relief.
So, I took the starter unit to our local starter/alternator shop. I am hoping he can tell me if there is anything wrong with the starter or the drive unit that would cause the starter to lock up as it did. I'm thinking maybe a slightly bent shaft, or a weak or broken Bendix spring, etc. etc. I don't know. All looked good to me as I gave it a visual inspection. And, one last thing, the flywheel looked good too. No broken teeth. Everything looked as it should.
Any suggestions from fellow EFV8ers will be helpful. Thank you again Carcrazy!
John
I never owned one that didn't do it at least once.
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Tom
Thanks guys. Every little bit helps. Greatly appreciated. And Tom O, no I don't have that starter to oil pan bracket on my car. But I am ordering one today. I hope that will be the golden ticket that will eliminate the starter locking up problem.
Thanks everyone,
John
Thanks for your input and sharing your experience. It is helpful to me to know that starters locking up on old Fords has happen to other Ford owners.
As stated above, I ordered the starter to oil pan bracket from Mid-West Ford in Ohio that Tom O suggested. I hope installing that bracket will be the end of my starter lock up problems.
John
I sure hope that installing the bracket that Tom O recommends will reduce (eliminate) any starter torque during starting. I just got my starter back from the local starter shop down here. Jeff, the starter shop guy, said, 'I couldn't find anything wrong with your starter. It runs strong...' He did put in a new set of brushes because the current ones were about 1/2 gone. So, $25.00 later and I am ready to re-install my starter, as soon as the bracket comes from Mid-West Ford parts.
John
PS: I know what you mean about 'not counting time when problem solving when retired' I don't know of any retired guy (me included) that pays himself very much money.
Ford would not have allowed the part to be installed on production cars if it was not necessary, every penny saved on production costs was a penny profit.
Tom
If you don't have the bracket, hopefully that may solve your problem. However there is another problem that hasn't been mentioned and that is worn or damaged teeth on the ring gear on the flywheel.
Some years ago I worked for a little railroad that provided the section gang with a worn out 40 something Ford pickup truck that I ended up being the driver of. Every once in awhile the starter would lockup. The solution was to put it in gear and rock it back and forth until you felt it free up. Out of curiosity we took the starter off and sure enough you could see the worn teeth on the ring gear. We never did anything about it and I'm sure that several years later it ended up in a scr*p yard.
At one point I acquired a Model A with the same problem. Armed with the knowledge from my days on the railroad I took a look at the flywheel. Yupp the same problem. Changed the flywheel and the Model A has been happy ever since.
Hopefully this isn't your problem since removing the flywheel isn't easy and replacing the ring gear is a job for a machine shop.
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Thanks for sharing your experiences here. I suspect wear and age has something (maybe a lot) to do with my starter locking up problem. I did get my starter back from the starter shop down here. I did get the bracket from Mid-West Ford Parts that Tom O recommended. Last Sunday I re-installed the starter with the new bracket. I can report now that the starter works fine. The engine started right up. However, that does not mean my problem is 'solved'. It could lock up again. But if it does, I know what to do.
Replacing the ring gear on the flywheel is a major operation. I did check the flywheel when I had the starter out and it looked fine. Now, by 'fine' I mean I didn't see any broken teeth, but I really didn't look or feel the back side of the ring gear for wear. I think for now I will drive it as is and see how it goes.
51504bat, your fix for replacing the ring gear would be too aggressive for me. That would be like me taking my DeWalt 18V drill and saws-all and attempting an open heart operation. I don't think my car would survive.
John