The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay No warm restart

I have a 1946 Chevy 2-ton that runs well. It always cranks very slowly, even with a fully charged battery, but it will start. If I shut it off and try to restart it, the engine won't crank over at all. If I go back to it later, after it has cooled off, it will start like usual. The batter is full of water, fully charged and the cables are very recent. What gauge should the cables be? I know on a 6-volt tractor, they need to be at least 1 or 0 gauge. Thanks.

hot cable and ground cable:
2 is OK
1 is good
0 is better
00 is best
What gauge cables do you have?

Make sure connections are clean and tight. I use a highly conductive anti-oxidant grease (available from NAPA, etc).

Is the ground run to a starter bolt, or to the frame?
If to the frame, what is the gauge of the ground?
Is there a ground from the frame to a starter bolt or to the clutch housing? What is the gauge of this ground?

Hot engines are sometimes a little bit tighter.
Hot starters are a little bit less efficient (supposedly).

Every piece of the starting system can affect starting.

Sounds like a bad battery.

Bad starter.

If the battery and cables are good, try putting a heat shield between the starter and engine.

Yes, the battery is the first (and easiest) thing to check. Many auto parts stores will test them

Cables and grounds should be checked no matter what the problem is.

The starter is not the easiest thing to test and it is sometimes as expensive as a battery. This is the last resort (and is easy to replace). And, no money/time is wasted checking everything else first.

(This discussion is about as common as the discussion about water-pump placement and overheating.)

At least no one has recommended swapping in an 8v battery.

A load test on the battery might be helpful. And a check of the specific gravity too, to make sure it really is charged and happy.

If the battery checks fine, and the cables are good, then you might want to check the starter. I had one once that drove me crazy, when hot. One of the brush springs would loose it's ability to hold the brush down for contact, so it would start the truck only on half the starter windings.

You might also check your timing too.

Thanks for the food for thought. I have a tractor with a 6 volt system, so I think I'll swap batteries and try that. It seems like a no-cost way to get started on checking things out.

Just to update all who made suggestions, When I was doing some other work on the truck, I disconnected the battery and cleaned the terminals. It made a load of difference.

some times a coil will break down when hot,
you might consider checking

I know this is an old thread, but I'll add my experience. My 216 would barely turn over and would not start when warm. Totally fine when cold. 6V battery is new. The existing cables were 2 gauge and old. I replaced them with 00 gauge including cleaning all connections. Problem solved. Turns over beautifully now and fires right up.

The starter itself makes a pretty good battery load tester. Disable the ignition system (or just don't turn the ignition on with a stomp starter) and crank the engine for 10-15 seconds with a voltmeter on the battery terminals. After 15 seconds, and still cranking, a good 6 volt battery will still be showing 4.5 volts or more at the battery posts. Subtract 0.2 volts for each cable connection between the battery and the starter with good cables and tight connections. After that much cranking time, let the starter cool down for at least 20 minutes before cranking again.
Jerry