Hello,

I have a 1948 F3 flatbed that I bought on eBay last year (this is my third restoration project). The truck was stored in a barn for the past 20 years. It's taken me one year to get the truck in running order (breaks, fuel system, wheels, tires and EVERYTHING else replaced or reworked). I need some advice with the final system - electrical.

The truck has the original flathead six and 6-volt system. I did minimal work to the electrical system, as it looked to be in good shape. I only replaced the voltage regulator, coil, distributor cap, plugs and wires. I bought a new 6-volt battery and installed it (positive ground). I actually have the original key to the truck - I turned the ingnition switch, I pushed the starter button and nothing happened. I used the shortfinder to find out that everything is hot that is supposed to be hot.

I used jumper cables to jump the starter directly.from the 6-volt battery. The starter turned the engine over but too slow to start the engine. I installed ground cables from the starter to the frame, from the engine to the frame, and from the body the the frame. I though that it might be a "bad ground" situation. I took off the starter and cleaned the brushes. reinstalled the starter and jumped it from the battery agin. It still dragged too slow to start the engine. I bought a new starter and installed it today. I also bought another starter relay and starter button and installed them today. Same results - the starter button does not work and I had to jump the starter. The new starter did the exact same thing as the old one. I then took the starter cable off of the starter relay (I didn't want to fry the 6-volt system) and jumped the starter directly from a 12-volt battery - same results - the started turned over very slowly.

The engine is not stuck. I can easily turn it over by turning the fan.

Any suggestions? I need to find out why the starter is turning over so slowly with 6-volt and 12-volt batteries.

Thanks,

Surf Daddy

 

probably wrong but have you checked your timing? I know when trying to start a motor where the timing is out real bad it will drag the starter

 

If you jump across the starter solenoid, does it crank OK? (these old starters don't throw it over like a modern car under the best of conditions)

Check whether the solenoid is the correct type; 3 terminals (two big ones and one small) and that the starter button only has one terminal. It should ground that wire to energize the solenoid.

Later F-series had different solenoids, and different starter buttons, and they were frequently mixed up.

 

Thanks for the suggestions,

I ordered and installed a new starter relay (from Mac's) without first trying the original starter relay. The new starter relay was exactly the same as the original (three post). I started to eleminate possibilities and one thing I tried was to jump across the starter relay to the starter wire. The starter turned over slowly. The battery is new and I charged it up prior to installing it. The lights, horn, signals, everything electrical - the heater - dashlights - dome light - all work - but the starter button still does not work when pressed. I ordered another starter relay, thinking that the first one might be bad. I installed it (along with another starter button) and the new starter button did not work.

The guy that I bought the truck from said that he started the truck by pulling it and popping the clutch. He said that once the truck was running for a while he later installed a new 6-volt battery and he pushed the started button and it started (that was one year ago - the truck had been in a barn for 20 years prior to that). So I know that it runs, but just getting the motor to turn over faster seems to be a problem.

Surf Daddy

 

Sounds like your start button may not be getting a good ground on the dash if it is the type with only one wire going to it. The early F1s took a ground or pos 6v to the start relay to energize them but 52s send the relay a neg 6v. Make sure the cab is getting a good ground to it. The start relay may look the same but may not function the same especially if it has been replaced.

 

Hello Gearhead 1952,

Thanks for the sdvice. I too thought that the push button was not making good contact with the body, so I had a look and found that it could use a bit of help. It probably was ok but I made sure that it was making a strong connection - still no luck. I replace the starter button and the same thing - nothing hjappens when I push it. I took the wire off of the starter button and scraped it against the body (dash) to make sure that it was making contact - but nothing happened. I then replaced the starter button wire and scraped it against the frame (withoiut the started button attached) and nothing happened. I then jumped the starter directly and it turned over slowly. So I know that the starter works. This is the second starter relay (new) that I have tried.

The BIGGER issue is that the starter turns over too slowly to start the engine. The engins sounds just like one that has a battery that is almost dead. But in this case, the battery has a full charge. I thought that I might have purchased a battery without enough cranking power to do the job, but that's not the case because I jumped the starter with a 12 volt battery and the same thing happened - it turned over very slowly.

I'll take another look at the starter button ground, and I'll make sure to connect a new ground cable from the cab to the frame and see what happens.

Thanks,

Surf Daddy

 

I fought a slow cranking problem on my 52. I ran 12v to it and it turned the engine over fine and with a 12v coil the truck ran fine but I wasn't ready to convert it to 12v so wanted it to run on 6v. I thought it was a battery problem then narrowed it down to the starter. Turns out two of the brushes had popped out of their sockets and were in the slots sideways. With the way the end plate comes off the starter it is easy for the brushes to pop out and you don't realize it. I put the brushes back in correctly and life was good.

 

What kind of wires did you use? The battery cables for a 6 volt are supposed to be 0 gauge. You need big, fat wires for a 6 volt system. I'll bet you used the typical 12 volt battery cables. 12 volt cables are smaller.

 

From everything that he says he has done it sounds to me like a mechanical problem, maybe something binding up. Recheck the starter. Make sure the starter is mounted correctly. Make sure you have the small bracket that goes from the starter to the oil pan. If the starter isn't securely mounted it will bind making something in the starter come to close.

The starter has small tolerances between the fields and armature. One big problem with Ford starters is worn cap bushings, when the armature gets warm it expands and if the bushings are worn they will allow the armature to come into contact with the fields, after the starter cools the armature will contract and clear the fields and the start will work. This will go on a while until the bushings wear more.

If the starter is OK I would look into the flywheel. Maybe there's a problem there. I would try to pull start it. If it starts and runs fine after pull starting it then you know the ignition system, wiring, timing, is fine. Then you can go back and investigate something with the starter and the parts connected to it.

 

Surf Daddy, did you find the problem yet?