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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / 1942 Tudor No start

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Posted By Discussion Topic: 1942 Tudor No start -- page: 1 2     wrosenkrans 11-24-2017 @ 12:52 PM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 134 Joined: Oct 2010 Our 1942 Tudor (V8 Times Cover Car this month actually) has developed a starting problem. Car is totally stock, 6v electrical except for a battery disconnect switch at the - pole. We had her at an event a couple weeks ago to and from which she ran beautifully, although part of the drive home was in the rain. The next day she started fine when I took her out to for a wash and put her back in. Then a couple days ago (she'd sat for about 2 weeks) the gauges were slow to come on when the switch was thrown and pushing the starter button elicited a click then nothing. The car went completely dead, no lights, horn, etc. I pulled the battery and checked it out. Battery was 3yrs old, showed about 3 volts, was very slow to charge and wouldn't hold a charge dropping from 100% charge to less than 50% overnight. So, picked up a new battery from NAPA today, installed it, double checked all the connections, and threw the ignition switch. Everything came on normally, gauges, lights, horn, but when I pushed the starter button again there was a click then nothing. I'm pretty good at troubleshooting a Model T or Model A, but the V8 still mystifies me a bit. I'm guessing the click is a starter solenoid? Bad starter? Dead short somewhere when the starter is activated? What should I do next? Wayne & Barb '42 Super De Luxe Tudor supereal 11-24-2017 @ 1:23 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 Sounds like a poor connection somewhere between the battery and the solenoid, perhaps your battery disconnect switch. You can troubleshoot by placing the leads of a voltmeter across the ends of each circuit, such as the battery pole and the solenoid. Observe the meter set on the appropriate scale when the button is pushed. Any reading you get is the loss in that leg of the circuit. Voltmeters are available in places like Walmart for very low prices. I carry an analog meter in my "road kit", where it comes in vary handy. 42guy 11-24-2017 @ 3:10 PM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 108 Joined: Oct 2009 I didn't have good luck with batteries from NAPA. I now use Interstate and they last along time. Keep it on trickle charge when not run. cliftford 11-24-2017 @ 3:47 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 845 Joined: Jan 2014 Bad starter is a possibility. Also check the ground connections between the positive post and chassis and between the chassis and engine. These need to be squeaky clean to carry the high amperage that the starter draws. Another possibility is a bad solenoid, though less likely. This message was edited by cliftford on 11-24-17 @ 3:51 PM FrankM-RG5 11-26-2017 @ 6:00 AM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 135 Joined: Oct 2009 Make sure you can turn the motor, easiest done by rocking var in gear. You may have jammed up the starter drive with the first low voltage start. wrosenkrans 11-27-2017 @ 10:27 AM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 134 Joined: Oct 2010 Update – still no joy… So, did some checks today with the voltmeter: Positive lead to positive (ground) pole, negative lead to: Battery negative pole – 6.3 v Battery disconnect switch open – 0 v Battery disconnect switch closed – 6.3 v Right side of solenoid – 6.3 v Left side of solenoid – 0 v Left side of solenoid with bottom button pushed – 0 v, and no cranking Then rocked the car in 2nd gear and reverse Threw ignition switch – all gauges reacted, lights on, horn blew Pushed starter button – one loud, one soft click, then lights dimmed out. Gauges slowly came back up. Rechecked circuit with voltmeter – same results as above. Don’t have jumper wire to jump the solenoid, but shouldn’t the button on the bottom do the same thing? Would the fact that it wouldn’t crank off the solenoid button imply the solenoid is bad? Should I use some old battery cable to make a jumper? I’ve not been able to find a labeled diagram of the engine compartment, I’m assuming the starter is at the back of the engine and underneath where I can see the cable from the left side of the solenoid disappearing? One other thing – I’m working in a very narrow garage which limits what I can get to without substantial gymnastics. Wayne & Barb '42 Super De Luxe Tudor MG 11-27-2017 @ 11:25 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1302 Joined: Nov 2009 Lift the cable (open it) from the solenoid to the starter motor and repeat the test you made above looking to see if the lights horn and gauges react the same way.... wrosenkrans 11-28-2017 @ 10:31 AM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 134 Joined: Oct 2010 Update 2 - still no joy Made a battery jumper from an old battery cable and a standard jumper from some old connectors Did the same checks I did yesterday, same results. Jumped the center pole on the solenoid to a good ground - sparks and heard the solenoid click. Jumped the two side poles on the solenoid with the battery jumper – no sparks, no cranking. Watched the voltage drop from 6.3 v to 3.2 v when pressing the solenoid button. Couldn’t get a wrench on the left side pole to remove the wire to check voltage drop with starter disconnected. Checked wires going from the starter button, no obvious problem. Looking like a bad starter? Wayne & Barb '42 Super De Luxe Tudor FrankM-RG5 11-28-2017 @ 10:32 AM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 135 Joined: Oct 2009 Until the starter spins it is a dead short. That is probably why you still see 0 volts when you hit the switch. See what the voltage does on the battery side of the solenoid when you hit the button. TomO 11-28-2017 @ 10:39 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7386 Joined: Oct 2009 FrankM asked you to check to see if you could turn over the motor. You need to do this to determine if the starter is locked up. Put the car in 3rd gear and try to push it backward, you may only be able to rock it. Rock it until the motor turns. If you backed the car into the garage, put the transmission in reverse and try to rock the car while watching the fan, keep rocking it until the fan shows that the motor is turning. Tom

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