The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot '60-'66 Trucks Starter / Solenoid Test

Got a way to test a starter / solenoid while on the car?

Hy Tim-o, please remember to tell us the year and size of truck you are inquiring about, also what exactly is the symptom you are trying to cure? This question probably should be in the electrical forum.

Sorry - it was a hasty post... 1966 C10- 250 Powerglide…. Shorted between the posts with a screwdriver... starter engaged. Then tried key... bada boom... starter worked. I'm thinking it's new starter and solenoid time... it failed a couple of weeks ago and the old hammer on the case trick worked...

You might be able to take the sol. apart and clean up the contacts, sometimes they get enough damage from arcing that the connection gets intermittent.

You could just rebuild the solenoid. I picked up a rebuild kit from O'Reilly's for less than $20 for my '60 Impala.

-Kevin

The problem is probably not in the solenoid. Since the initial solenoid "pull-in" winding that engages the starter drive gear before the armature starts turning uses the starter armature to provide its ground, the most likely cause of an intermittent "no crank" situation is either worn starter brushes or a dead spot on one of the commutator bars on the armature. Either way, you'll need to disassemble and rebuild the starter, (NOT the solenoid) or just replace the entire assembly, solenoid and starter together. I can find only one person in my neighborhood who knows how to rebuild a starter properly- - - - -and I do that by looking in a mirror! Others, including my son and grandson who have both worked as professional "mechanics", are parts changers, not journeyman mechanics!
Jerry

I'm with HRL -- probably a dragging armature. New bushings at less that $3.50, and a starter disassembly will likely cure it. But given you have to pull both ends off the starter, it'd be prudent to replace the brushes as well. But a warning here; the brushes are a real pain. They're spring loaded, which makes getting them collapsed enough to re-insert the armature and reassemble the a starter quite challenging. Unless you have real fuzzy feelings for that starter; given the cost, I think it'd be money well spent to simply buy a new one.

Chris

It takes me less than 30 seconds to position the brushes so I can slip the armature into place, and they hold themselves back until I'm ready to release them. It's a trick I learned in the late 1950's and it's worked ever since. All it takes is a short ring of exhaust tubing just a bit larger than the diameter of the armature. A piece of PVC pipe would also work well, most likely.
Jerry

That sounds sounds like a great solution. I usually use a "wire twist" often found on new cables, and wire to keep them wound. I collapse the brushes, and feed the "twisty" through one of the vents, around the brush, and out through another vent, and twist it up. The brushes are so collapsed, as to not interfere with the stator when inserting the armature.

Chris