ok.. 1st time out here... we have a 1949 f1 flat head 6 with starting issues... It has killed 2 6 volt, 1 8 volt, and drains a 12 volt battery. It has a 6 volt positive ground. we have changed out the generator, starter ( 2 different ones ), voltage regulator, added more ground cables... Tried starting in neutral with clutch in and out, in gear with clutch in, tried popping clutch and turning engine by hand. There are times when it will fire right up and run with no issues and then after a bit ( time veries ) you shut it down and it will not start. Voltage reg. clicks but nothing, sometimes after an hour or so it will turn right over and start. It feels like the engine locks right up so hard that we tried turning over by hand with a breaker bar and could not budge it, it was about 2 hrs later after that it started right up... When it does start with a 12 volt it will run and idle but drains the battery down. HELP any ideas would be great... Thanks Tom and son Josh...

 

Hey, welcome to the board. There's some things about your question that are confusing to me. But nobody else has answered just yet, so I'll throw in 2 cents and at least bump you back to the top. I'm assuming that for those short periods when you do get it started, it's running halfway decent. If that's the case, the first thing I'd tell you is go look at the coil. If it's a 6 volt positive ground, the positive terminal should be pointed toward the distributor. If it's backwards, your truck could very well start cold and run for a short period. But when you shut it down, you're stuck until it cools back off. When you get a chance, go into your user panel and tell us where you live. Who knows. You might have a member living close by who can help you out.

 

We have had the truck for about 2 yrs.. It starts when it feels like it.. lol... ok we live in Northeast Pa. not far from Scranton, PA. It has started a lot of times and when it does start, it runs and sounds great. It has started in the dead of winter and in the blazing heat of summer... We will look at the coil and move/change if we have to... Thanks alot any ideas are welcome.... Josh, my 15 yr old son at the time, was not afraid to tackle this restore when he picked it out but now it is wearing on both of us... Will post pics soon.... Thanks again...

 

Well you've come to the right place to get your answers. The folks here are very knowledgeable. I'm glad to hear you're doing the project with your son. Sounds like you have a definite electrical problem and obviously not charging (many battery victims). If you are certain that it was never converted to 12 volt, definitely stick to a six volt battery for now until you get this figured out.
Shane

 

I'd say you have a couple of problems that are working to cause problems. You may have already done some of these, but I'll toss them out anyway.

First, clean and tighten all your electrical connections.

Failure to start when hot. Most common cause and most overlooked is a bad condenser in the distributor. Next item would be a bad coil. Both of these will fail when they get hot, but start when cold - just about the time frame you mention.

Second problem is draining the battery. You probably have a dead short in the charging system. Since you know it's positive ground I doubt you hooked up the 12V backward, but I could do it. Do you have wiring that needs to be replaced? If wiring is good, the most likely culprit is the voltage regulator or the generator. Have them checked but realize they might test ok but still fail under load. The only way to sort this out is start with a multi-meter or test light and start checking systems with the key off and see what's drawing power.

The engine locking up doesn't make sense to me, I'll keep scratching my head over that one. If you need more flathead help I'd suggest checking with the guys at the link below. They're the best on the internet.


Ford Flathead V8 .. 1932 thru 1953 • Index page

 

Thanks mtflat... We have checked and tightened connections and hopefully have not over look any...

Never thought about the condenser and it will move to the list of checks... We do plan on checking the coil and not even messin with just change it out...

1 dead 6 volt was due to incorrect hook up ( learning curve )... but yes positive ternimal to engine block and neg. to voltage reg. It is simple to mess this up and we have... All the wiring appears to be new. Have swapped out the volt reg. and the generator with ones from a 49 f1 panel flat 6, but I am not positive they are good. We will start testing with a meter and see where that leads us.

The lock up has us puzzled too.... When this happened, I thought for sure we lost something internally but it has run more then 50 hrs on the engine and started numerous times since then. I put a 3/4 in.breaker bar on crank and my 300lb. body and could not turn over the engine. It was not in gear and also tried with the clutch pushed in. And it would not turn over. Like 2 hrs later my son Josh was messing with it by pushing in the start button and it turned over and fired up and ran good after a few minutes of rough idle. No noise or banging from engine, put it in gear and pulled out of garage drove around the yard for a bit and left it run for about an hour. The engine was rebuilt before we got it and we thought that the mains were over torqued. Before the lock up it had atleast 30 hours of run time on the engine that we put on it. It did have a charging problem when we bought it and it started hard like it was a real tight engine. It went thru the 1st 6 volt battery that came with the truck ( battery was new ), and after the 2nd 6 volt battery it still had a hard turn over. Inbetween connecting and disconnecting the battery (2nd) a mix up happened and treminals were hooked up wrong. We moved to an 8 volt battery and turn over got better but it drained battery. If we disconnect the battery while it is running the truck will not stay running, it stalls out...

Again any help is an education regardless on what it is.... My son has come along way with this and it is, let just say a special project...

Thanks All........... Tom and Josh

 

Well if it stalls out when the battery is disconnected and it drains the battery when running, it is NOT Charging. That could be generator or Voltage regulator.

 

I agree with harley. You're not charging. Save yourself a lot of aggravation and guess work--take your generator to a starter/alternator repair shop and have them check it out, and order a new voltage regulator from somewhere like NAPA (they'll have it the next day usually). BTW, Tractor Supply stores carry 6 volt batteries in stock. If your amp meter is working, you'll know right away whether or not you're charging after you fix those 2 things.

As far as your engine "locking up" intermittently, I'm clueless there. For whatever reason, your story reminds me of how a lawnmower or something else with a small engine will be "locked up" for a while after it gets accidentally flipped over on its side or upside down. It could be some sort of valve problem, especially considering you said that it idled rough after it started.

 

When I first got my truck, before I decided to convert it to 12V, I bought a new 6v battery. I did a lot of checking around and found the best deal at NAPA. The battery was the correct size for the truck and cost $95 which was within $10-15 of the other places, except that it was the only one with a 3 year replacement guarantee. Don't need it for the truck anymore so it's now in the '46 Merc.

 

When you swapped out all those items did you polarize the charging system?

Without starting the truck - remove the Field wire from the regulator and touch it briefly to the Battery/wire connection of the regulator. You should see a blue spark. Re-connect where it belongs.

 

Welcome to the board!!

Your tale reminds me of one of my brothers favorite sayings; "owning and old ford is like steppig on your own *****"

I agree with whats been said about the charging system, it doesn't sound like its charging and could very well be the cause of the draw on the battery. To test for a draw on a battery disconnect one terminal from the battery and hook a test light or volt meter between the battery terminal the cable (the light should not be on) if its one then start disconnecting things until it goes out. (I'd start with the generator or regulator)

I too am puzzled by the seemingly intermittent engine locking up. The next time that happens maybe try pulling all the spark plugs and then seeing if it will turn over. Its possible (but kind of unlikely) that maybe one of the accesories is locking up....either the generator or water pump is locking up and stopping the engine from turning over. Yea, I know this is highly unlikely but might be easy to rule out by loosening the belt or taking it off when the problem happens.
I've seen it happen on engines with serpentine belts but never an older engine with a v belt.

Good luck
Bobby

 

Was the engine rebuilt or worked on recently? The "run for while, then locking up" sounds like a bad head gasket that is leaking into a cylinder. I wouldn't force it until you figure out what is going on!! If it locks up again, immediately pull the plugs and spin it over -- if you get a geyser, you've got your answer.

Flatheads that have had their head gaskets replaced need to be re-torqued several times, until they maintain specified torque (not sure what that is for flat 6). Worth a quick run around the head bolts to make sure (following the correct sequence).

I wouldn't rule out a clogged fuel line for the short run time, very common on old trucks.