The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Unable to get kick-start to have any continuity

I cannot get my starter to "run" when bolted on the engine and hooked up.
New battery, new rebuilt starter with new kick-switch which I have just replaced, and the new starter kick-switch did not make any difference.
Cleaned and applied "electro-paste" to connections doubled checked grounds as well as current through the positive cable, which was 12.9-volts when checked. Still when I kick the switch to run the starter nothing happens, no fire/electricity.
I tested the starter on the bench and it did run. But like I say when I mount it on my truck there is nothing at all. Looking for suggestions.
I have a 235 engine and I've converted to a 12-volt system on my truck which is a 1950 3100.
In addition, I checked and cleaned grounds.

Thanks

Have you tried depressing the starter switch button manually? It's possible your starter foot pedal linkage is worn to the point it's not fully depressing the button to make contact.

Try putting the screw cap from a Coke bottle over the button on the starter switch. Sometimes wear in the kick linkage prevents it from depressing the switch deep enough to make contact.
Jerry

Can you move the starter linkage by hand under the hood and see if the starter turns over? You mightr be able to see if it's engaging all the way. Have someone in the cab step on the button while you observe the goings-on.

Make sure the truck is out of gear.

Step-by-step..

Good clean ground terminals to battery and frame with strong 12 volts to starter switch.
Bypass the bendix by engaging the push button on the switch by hand. The starter should spin. If not, that switch is defective.
If it does spin, but will not engage with the foot pedal, then the problem is lost motion in the linkage. Usually excessive wear.
My rebuilt 6v starter came complete with a defective imported offshore switch. I dug up a used one out of a bin in the farm shop and got back to work.

Went back to work on grounds and cleaned frame connections to bare metal. I did try shimming the kick switch to no avail, nothing happened. I tried a different positive cable from the battery to the starter, nothing. Then I decided to just ground the positive cable that connects to the starter on the frame where a ground is, no fire. Tried this on two different cables. Maybe it's the battery. Checked the battery again and checked 12.88 volts. But why I cannot get fire when grounding the positive bat cable is beyond me.
Thanks for the advice it is appreciated.

Try giving both battery posts a good scrubbing with a stiff wire brush. I've seen batteries with enough crud built up on the surface of the posts that even a brand new cable wouldn't conduct. Have you tried substituting a different battery? I've seen batteries with an internal open circuit that would show voltage, but couldn't flow any current. it's uncommon, but not impossible.
Jerry

New battery, no corrosion etc, and I did use a battery post scrapper / cleaner on the posts and cable clamps. Does dielectric paste actually help with connections/continuity? I will try another battery. Be back in a little while. Thanks

Run- - - -do not walk away from dielectric paste. It does nothing at all to help connectivity. It's supposed to help heat transfer between solid state components like high power transistors and diodes and the heat sink they're mounted onto. Nothing beats a clean, tight metal to metal connection between a battery cable and the battery post it's connected to. If you put any sort of stuff on a battery connection, do it AFTER the connection is tightened. I use plain old Vaseline or wheel bearing grease applied to the cable clamps to retard corrosion.
Jerry

Ok, I didn't put any dielectric on the grounds or battery posts, and I cleaned some more. Hooked up a second battery and the starter run for a moment then it stopped, and I couldn't get it to work again.
Going back out soon as I cool off, later.
Thanks

Try moving the ground cable to one of the bolts that holds the starter to the engine. I have seen "rebuilt" starter parts that were painted so well that the circuit couldn't complete itself between the brush holders and the housing. The mating parts of the starter need to be unpainted during assembly. THEN make them pretty with several coats of paint.
Jerry

Finally, I went in and cleaned around the starter housing where it mounts to the bell housing. Also cleaned the bell housing surface too. I now have continuity when I depress the kick start switch. The bottom line here is if current doesn't flow then you need a good ground to make it work. Seems checking omhs just isn't good enough because I always had a ground with the tester but evidently insufficient to carry a current on through the system. Don't know what else to say but thank you for the help from everyone.
CLS

Problem solved, Thanks!

Was cleaning the mount for better contact all you needed to do? Or was there something else that you also had to do?

Let's do a little bit of Ohm's Law calculation just to prove how important clean, tight connections can be. One of the volt/ohm/amp formulas involves dividing volts by amps to get the resistance required- - - - - -a 6 volt battery producing 200 amps to run a starter can have only 3/100 of an ohm resistance- - - - -and that's the TOTAL resistance of the entire circuit, not just the ground side! I don't know of an ohmmeter anywhere that can measure resistance values that low! A starter is running very close to "dead short" conditions- - - -so keep the engine well-tuned so you don't have to run the starter for very long. NEVER- - - - -EVER- - - -keep grinding on a starter if it slows down due to a low battery- - - - -as the starter speed decreases, current flow will double- - - -or more!
Jerry