The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Starts & runs. Try to re-start, nothing

I finally got my truck to run. Yay! But, restarting it is proving to be difficult.

Here's what it does. I turn it on, no problem. But sometimes when I turn it off and go to restart it, nothing. I turn the key and press the starter and there is no noise from anywhere. Not even a click.

My son will then go push the button on the starter itself, move his hand real quick and then I stomp on the starter pedal and it will start.

Whats the deal? Why does it go silent? The battery is fully charged. Is it something between the starter pedal and the switch thats lacking?

Ideas? THANKS!

Savage,

It sounds like it's a mechanical/linkage problem, or your starter switch is worn out.

You make no mention of what this rig is...your profile is a handy place to list your treasures. Earlier posts indicate a '53 pickup, so it might be this you are referring to.

When your son pushes the button, does the starter motor spin? It sounds like it does. The linkage has numerous joints and hinge points that wear out, and when you combine all the slop, sometimes there isn't enough travel left to actually push the starter switch to spin the starter. Take a look with a flashlight while someone wiggles the stomper around.

I have heard that sagging cab mounts raise havoc with the pedal as it passes through the floor, making it jam and stick...do some investigating.

Stuart

DOH! Sorry. I knew what I was talking about and assumed everyone else was psychic. lol!

Yep, its the 53 Chevy 3100. Yes, the starter spins - just spins when my son pushes the button. It doesn't actually engage until I step on the starter switch. So I will indeed investigate tomorrow to see whats going on.

Thanks for the advice! Gawd I love this place.

I was fiddling around with the starter button and switch. When I go to start it just by stepping on the starter, I get nothing at all.

When we put a wrench between the starter switch and the arm that comes down to push it, it starts.

So I figure its out of line a bit but I can't see where I can adjust things.

Now, this might be a dumb way to fix it but I'm going to experiment and see if this will do for now. I'm going to take a 1/4 inch thick piece of scrap metal and secure it to the top of the button on the starter.

Then I'm going to see what happens. If it starts - then I'll leave it like that until I need to change it.

Is that a bonehead idea for a temporary fix?

Thanks guys.

Savage,

Not if you're a bonehead!


Stuart

Bahahaaaa.. I've been called worse! I'll let y'all know if it works.

My motto is, never be without JB Weld, duct tape and PB blaster. I live in a Disneyland world. Everything is Micky Moused. This truck will probably be no different

rsavage,,,,Ive seen people slip a 1" long piece of heater hose over that arm that hits the starter button,,thusly taking up the slop.
Worth a try?
My son lives in Bako,,Silver Creek.
Teaches at C.S.U.B.
Marty

Thanks Marty! That might be a better fix than gluing something.

I know where Silver Creek is. Nice area!

My yard dog has a piece of 1/4" metal just laying there between the arm and the button. It was that way when I got it. It works so why change it?

A couple of thoughts.

First, when you mash the starter pedal part of the way down with your foot, that action drives the linkage against the yoke lever that comes out of the top of the starter motor.

As you mash the pedal on down, the linkage engages the yoke lever. The yoke lever moves the starter motor gear against the flywheel.

Simultaneously, the linkage causes the top of the yoke lever to press against the button on the electric switch (the one your son is pressing with his fingers, pretending to be the yoke lever) on top of the starter motor.

Mashin' (or stomin') on the starter in the cab is supposed to do all of this for you, but your's has a hitch in the git-a-long.

Any slop in the linkage from the foot stomper to the yoke lever will make it more difficult to overcome the return-spring tension in that spring you see just ahead of the yoke lever. Nevertheless, you should be able to overcome that, and it sounds like you can by stompin' down as hard as you do on the foot pedal. If the linkage bars from the foot pedal are not necked down, the holes not wallered out, and the linkage connections tight, you should not have any slop in the linkage.

If you don't have much slop in the linkage, the easy thing to look for (after you have disconnected the battery cable from the battery) is to take the electric switch off the top of the starter motor and check it for wear. The switch is just a moveable contact bar from the battery stud to the electricl stud coming up out of the starter motor.

These things get worn. If there is wear, try turning the moveable contact bar 180-degrees. If the stud contactor coming up out of the starter motor is badly worn, you may have to do a replacement, or replace the starter motor.

Putting some kind of a shim on the button may be a temporary fix, but, as has been said, if you want to fix it up right, find out where the wear is, get the linkage all tight and tidy and replace the electric switch on top of the starter motor.

That is a fairly easy job, and you should have a nice working foot-stomper system. It will keep your son happy by never havin' to git his fingers mashed jest to git dad's truck cranked up.

Thats great info. Thanks! I have a feeling I'll be spending the better part of this weekend under the truck and hood so I will check all that out.

My son will definitely like not having to hold the starter button for his mom