Hey all, looked through a few other posts about starting issues but didn't want to piggy back on old posts if no-one's looking at them any longer.

Just got ahold of a '58 F100, 292 4 speed. She was starting up rough so I changed the plugs, wires, oil, etc and she ran fine for a few days (not driving yet so just starting to listen to her hum). Went to fire her up yesterday and got what sounded like a mix of grinding starter, though not as severe as I've heard before, and slow crank like the battery was dying. New battery so I know that's not the problem but I did notice some smoke coming off the positive battery cable where it connects to the starter solenoid.

Replaced the solenoid today b/c it was old and super rusty, thinking maybe bad contacts with metal? Went to turn it over and nothing, not even a try from the starter. The dash lights up, lights turn on, blinkers work, but it won't even turn. I'm on the verge of getting a new wiring harness but thought I'd check to see if anyone else has suggestions of where to look? The wires are a mix of OE and a hack job from the PO's so probably needs to be redone any how but limited on funds and don't want to just toss money around.

I'm also new to the older cars so a lot of these electrical systems are foreign to me

 

Spring for new cables (all of them) at a minimum, grind down to bright shiny metal at block, frame and firewall and tighten securely. Spend an afternoon making sure everything is absolutely clean bright and shiny tight, the corrosion in any 60 year old truck will roast generators and starters, switches, regulators etc.

For example 0.06 tenths of a single ohm resistance will reduce alternator output by 30%, this means the battery won't charge very well - and the starter won't turn over very well, etc.

A lot of people go through starters because the engine isn't tuned very well. They grind and grind and grind for 10 or 15 seconds a pop, and roast the windings. A starter has a limited duty cycle of maybe a split second or two, and then it needs a 5 minute rest. Nobody follows this.

Rebuild yours, it will be far better than a part store roulette job, and if you take care of it will probably last indefinitely:

http://squarebirds.org/users/simplyc...nertiaStarter/

 

A new wiring harness will not include the battery cables and starter circuit. You can get that stuff at any parts store. I agree with everything Tester said and I suspect that the starter is tired and needs some love.

 

Here is a site that shows a trouble shooting process for our era engines.The Complete Guide to Troubleshooting 1953-1960 Era American Classic Car Engines These old trucks are simple enough but one good investment for you would be to buy the shop manual for your truck. they can be found on ebuy paper or digital.
good luck!

 

Awesome, thank you all for the responses! At some point the PO's must have had a blowout b/c there is oil and grease all over the engine, starter, etc that I've tried to scrub, but I suspect you are all correct, probably some bad connections and fried wires here and there. Only had it a week so just starting to get my elbows dirty. Thanks for the starting points!

 

Just take it one section at a time. Hardly anyone has unlimited funds for their hobby but you have to understand a 60 year old truck is going to have some (okay, a lot) of issues and will need some cabbage applied to be safe and reliable.

The shop manual for your particular truck is pretty much essential. It lays out the specs and how it should work, and maintenance procedures from the horses mouth. Motor Manual from about 1950 or so is also really good. Maybe Chilton's from that era are OK.

Buy a good grease gun, this is something many car and truck owners neglected. The manual says every 500 miles unless highway use. Between the manuals and websites, forums like FTE, and YT videos and such there are few tasks or problems that aren't well covered ground. Learn to use the search function in your browser and it's amazing what can be found. My rolling pile of misery still looks pretty rough but mechanically it's good to go anywhere, cross country wherever, no problem. Turned out to be cheap, reliable and fun transportation and a good backup if something else was down.