Hi All,
I am the new owner of a '53 f-250 flathead with 3 on the tree. A prior owner did a pretty fair restoration but I am finding little things that were not done quite right. One of the problems is that it does not fire right off all the time until the key is released off of the start position. Voltmeter check shows only about 5 volts to coil (12 volt system with 12 volt coil) My recolection from working with farm equipment is that there is sometimes a momentary hot wire to coil from solenoid (second small post on solenoid) There is not a wire connected to this terminal so I am leaning towards installing one and check voltages . Prior owner installed new wiring harness and I have not been able to get a good look at things behind the dash (broken wrist makes it hard to twist around too much) Lots of things to address but want it to be a reliable starter and stopper. Am I on the right track here? This seems like a pretty good forum and group of people!
Thanks
Andy

 

We have some guys here who know auto electrics forwards and backwards. I'm OK but I'll let them go first. I do know you must not let the smoke out of the wires! It does sound like the PO put in a more modern key ignition.

Anyhow, welcome to FTE the best Ford truck forum on the World Wide Web!

 

Welcome to FTE! We refuse to answer until we get pictures.
I see you are in Pennsylvania. You have less than a year to get your truck ready for PA Truckstock 2020.

I'm a little puzzled at 5 volts to the coil. Your first turn of the key should just open the voltage to the coil.
I'm a bit tired and not thinking clearly, so I will hold off and let one of the smart guys offer suggestions before I lead you down a wrong path.

Did I mention that we love pictures?
You made me look a little. Here is a drawing I put together for my 55. A wire goes directly to the coil from the ignition switch. My 55 only has on or off on the switch and the starter button runs the starter.
Your 12V conversion could have changed it all up though.

 

Well Abe, you aren't a very good FTE stalker. You missed checking his profile saying he is in your state......dang, must have been too many soccer ***** to the head.

 

I'm pretty sure that if you have a 12 volt change, then there might be a voltage resistor someplace in the wiring (usually mounted on the firewall) that sits in the circuit between the ignition wire and the coil. It's supposed to reduce the voltage to somewhere around 6 volts to avoid burning the coil. If you have an internally resisted coil, this might not be necessary, but you can make yourself nuts going through all the threads on this and many other sites in the discussions about 6 volt versus 12 volt coils and whether or not they're interchangeable. But if your question is about the power going to the starter, I wouldn't measure it at the coil as you might have a resistor working there.

So we're all on the same page, do you have a modern turn to start starter switch, or do you turn it to "on" then push the starter button to the left of the steering wheel? When things have been swapped out, they could be wired incorrectly, have a shorted wire, or possibly you even have a problem with the switch. You can use a bump starter button (remote starter switch) that you can get at any parts store for about 15 bucks, and test that out. Simply turn the ignition switch to "on" and use the push button to start it, essentially bypassing the "start" function on your ignition switch. If it starts up fine every time, and you try to start it with the key again and it doesn't work, then either the switch is wired wrong or there's something wrong with it.

Keeping in mind there is no "stock" way to wire a 53 with 12 volts, there are probably a few ways to make it work, but you also have to have the correct parts. All of this assumes that the correct parts are in there for your current setup...maybe someone set it up with a 6v or 12v non-resisted coil and an external resistor, but later a 12 v internally resisted coil was put in there, for instance. Not sure if the solenoid is the correct type either. Generally with a 12 volt system, there is a resistor to reduce the voltage to the coil as most work on 6 volts when running, whether they are a 12 volt or 6 volt coil. Again, you might have an internally resisted coil, in which case a resistor isn't necessarily there. Since most motors could use a little extra spark during cranking because the starter is drawing so much power, there is usually an additional wire that bypasses the resistor when the ignition key is set to "start" and cranking the starter over. As I recall that comes off the solenoid.

When I got my truck, it was a mish-mash of 6 and 12 volt parts, and I spent a lot of time figuring it out, with more than a little help from the folks on this forum. Keep asking questions, someone will get you exactly what you need!

 

Good one, Joe! I thought I was a good cyber stalker. I've tracked down fraternity brothers that no one had heard from for 30-40 years but here I never think of clicking on the public profile to see where guys are from.

I think my head is OK. Ironically, being a soccer player and coach, it's my upper extremities that we giving out... left shoulder, right hand....