I think I fixed the Rat's starter

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The yellow crimped female push on was a lousy crimp. Now the lousily crimped female push on is soldered in place. When it was done, I went in to eat lasagna. Come morning, I'll Replace the starter tomorrow morning.
 
Spent the day messing with the starter and its wiring. I took apart the starter, cleaned the carbon off the commutator. I made sure the rod on the solenoid engaged the yoke. I wonder if that was the trouble all along. More later.
 
Fixed the starter to death. Bought another. It behaves exactly like the previous starter. Groans like the battery is dead. Clicking the key between start and run will eventually get the starter to crank normally and start the engine.. Ignition tumblers are worn, but jumping the relay on the fender gives same symptoms. The cable from the battery to the starter could be intermittent , I guess but usually a bad cable arcing to make a good connection creates heat => smoke. Using the cable to bench test the starter doesn't have any problems. Bottom bolt has a 4 awg extra ground to frame, so it is not a ground trouble. I plan to try another cable.
 
I metered battery V whilst starter cranked by jumping at relay. 10.5 V, and fan belt barely moves. Then as if something needs heat to make good connection the starter droans faster and faster. It reminds me of the way a really advanced distributor will make for a hard start.
Because I like you guys, I 'm gonna confess to you that the starter is hanging from 2 ex BMW 10x50 mm / 8mm socket head 1/2 shaft bolts. Also the suspect positive cable is a re-purposed BMW 1cm cable for the same use. The battery, likewise is a backward posted international battery from a 528e. It is 2 yrs old and I keep it up with occasional charges from a 1/2 A HF 4.99 special. The cable fits like it was made for the job and sure acts OK, but it is the only constant in 2 starters behaving the same way. Maybe it is the battery, a Duralast??
 
meter the back side of the solenoid? or just take jumper cab from battery + to back side of solenoid. (maybe solenoid is toast). I'm assuming this is a ford-style fender solenoid, not one piggybacking the starter.

starter grounding? engine block ground? battery ground?
 
Dude, I've been jumping the fender mounted solenoids since my '53 Ford.
grin2.gif
The other day I got the bright idea to remove the starter wire from it and run it directly to the positive battery post. No joy. But, an extra ground hung loosely on a wiper mount bolt sparked big time when made the connection. AHA! I dug up a 6 mm nut, more old BMW parts and double nutted the ground to the mount. No joy. But the next try is gonna be a hard look at the ground straps that jumps the motor mount and the main ground cable.
 
Dude, I've been jumping the fender mounted solenoids since my '53 Ford.
grin2.gif
The other day I got the bright idea to remove the starter wire from it and run it directly to the positive battery post. No joy. But, an extra ground hung loosely on a wiper mount bolt sparked big time when made the connection. AHA! I dug up a 6 mm nut, more old BMW parts and double nutted the ground to the mount. No joy. But the next try is gonna be a hard look at the ground straps that jumps the motor mount and the main ground cable.
 
Back in '12 when I was in the middle of replacing the clutch, etc. That mission crept to a frame fix and other stuff. The original cable was frayed and butt spliced it with a 4 AWG lug. I know why I mended it instead replacing it. I bet Ford wants quite a few bux for one. It is 4 AWG with 4 10 AWG taps spliced to it. Anyway, my hack fix bit me big time. The cable was rotted and worked more and more intermittently until it parted deep down as it ran from the frame ground to the starter bolt. More BMW parts and a -48 VDC telephone hardware were substituted. I'm retired, so I spent the whole afternoon in a "soft" rain fitting and trying stuff. The only departure from original is minor. The BMW 10mm cable wasn't long enough to reach the starter bolt. Plenty long to hit the frame ground though. I added foot or so of 6 AWG to go from the frame to the starter. I won't say I fixed it right. It is much better though. Starter is OK
grin2.gif
 
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