The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Starter push button adjustment?

Is there an adjustment for the starter foot push button? I don't see any mention of it in the factory manual. I may not be looking in the right place. First off, my floor board needs replaced. When I push the foot button if I play with the pressure & try to wiggle it, it will make contact on the starter. I haven't taken the time to look closely at it to see if there are any adjustments. Also if there is an adjustment, what concerns are there with the adjustments.

I am not near my manual. But I think it would adjust with the firewall side nut. See my old picture. Hopefully someone will come by and confirm this.
Todd

Update found the page:

Could be that the switch is wearing out internally. I got caught 200 miles from home with a switch that wouldn't quite push far enough to start. My side of the road fix was to wrap a heater hose clamp around the arm that pushes the switch button adding a bit of a shim to press the button further down. Got me home.

dsbike, the adjustment is where Todd said. That is the only one there is. As Bill stated, the internal contact points get pitted and worn. Great roadside fix Bill.

dsbike,

You may also want to check the link and pivots on the starter end of the pedal actuator assembly. The pivot holes often get worn out causing the switch push arm not to properly depress the starter button fully.

Dan

I initially could not get any contact to the starter, even pushing the starter switch by hand. I removed it , cleaned it, cleaned the contacts & put it back together. The contacts were not pitted or burnt, just very dirty with crud. The rod going into the starter arm is a very tight fit, not so tight that it won't pivot, but tight enough its not causing any slop there. I do believe it most likely needs adjusted at the foot button rod as Shaffer's 1950 pointed out. My floor board definately needs replaced and is problably causing most of my issue. the button is not as secure as it should be in the floor. I just want to be able to start the truck & move it out of the bay with the lift if I need the lift for something else before I pull the body off the frame. The truck is too heavy for me to push & I am mostly just a 1 man operation.
Thanks for the quick responses

The floorboard shouldn't have an effect on the starter pedal operation, unless the pedal is hitting the floorboard. Most times the floorboard is closer to the engine from the cab supports sagging.

It's possible that the linkage has bent a bit and doesn't push the lever on the starter quite far enough. The attached pic shows what the linkage looks like under the floorboard. There's no real adjustment.

It might be possible to disconnect the link to the starter and just push the lever to get the starter to engage and spin.

Take the cap off a drink bottle and put it over the button. Now push on the mechanism from the seat and see if it starts as it should. Temporary fix that has gotten many a Stovebolter home.

A metal bottle cap, that is.

My bottle cap has lasted 4 years, and still going.

I made a minor adjustment on the push button pedal & all is good now. Now that she cranks & I replaced the oil filter lines with copper lines. I just need to figure out what it needs to make it run. I'll get there, but my volunteer job & other projects keep me very busy. I knew this was going to be a long project when I bought the 53.

This post helped me get my starter switch to engage the starter motor. I had replaced the switch thinking that it was worn out. Like another person noted there's not much adjustment on the foot push button. My linkage all looks good. I was just barely able to get engagement by extending the foot push almost all the way out.