can somebody please tell me why my '50 Merc' flatty won't fire? We checked the wiring, put a new 6 volt battery in, made sure the engine was free, thinkin' it might be the wall mounted solenoid, but don't know, the top of the solenoid clicks when we put a screwdriver against it, any info would be appreciated

 

wont fire or wont turn over? big difference....

 

i seem to be getting fire from the battery and the starter solenoid,but it does not seem to be getting fire to the starter to crank the engine,i am not used to the 6 volt system,that seems to be my problem ..someone told me that the grounding system was reverse ground,is this also correct?....thanks... hillbilly2thru9

 

It's positive ground, not negative ground like modern vehicles. Make sure the battery and starter cables are in good shape and have clean, solid connections. Do the lights and horn work?

 

thanks jeffh, the headlights do but the taillights don't and the horn works, and the other day, when we first hooked up the battery, one of the headlights smoked out. i'll check the starter cable in the morning...thanks...hillbilly2thru9...

 

hows the cylinder compression?

 

My Flathead 6 had that problem it turned out to be the stud through the Distributor the primary wire goes to. There is a plastic washer that had failed and allowed it to ground out.

Rod 51F1

 

thanks, getsch58 and 51ford fan! and everybody else that's helped me and my brother try to get the ol' Ford runnin',we will check that out in the mornin' and get back to y'all, sorry for not gettin' back sooner, been drivin' trucks...

 

Just hope you can figure it out. Sucks when you can't drive the car/truck.

 

http://www.btc-bci.com/~billben/flathead.htm

 

Take a jumper cable and go from the negitive battery post to the stud that the wire from the starter to the solenoid connects to. Does the starter crank the engine? If not
go right down to the stud on the starter, crank now? If it doesn't I would figure a starter problem.

 

Take a jumper cable and go from the negitive battery post to the stud that the wire from the starter to the solenoid connects to. Does the starter crank the engine? If not
go right down to the stud on the starter, crank now? If it doesn't I would figure a starter problem.

 

Make sure the truck is out of gear before you try this.

 

if it was sitting along time there is a good chance the starter it self rusted up solid . and do as above the old 6 volts most have great solid grounds to work correctly

 

thanks, captchas! and everybody else who have helped us on our project. i took the starter off and took it apart and one of the wires had broke loose, so we sent it to a local starter shop. when we get it back, we will try it out...thanks, again...hillbilly2thru9...