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| | | | Joined: Jun 2006 Posts: 85 Wrench Fetcher | | Wrench Fetcher Joined: Jun 2006 Posts: 85 | i just picked up a 51 chevy pickup and i put a battery in it to see if the motor would turn over but when i pressed the starter button on the floor nothing happened, my question is does the ignition have to be on befor the starter will turn,i don't have the key yet,,, ron | | | | | Joined: Oct 2002 Posts: 4,066 Bolter | | Bolter Joined: Oct 2002 Posts: 4,066 | nope,,do the normal checking of cables,, make sure they are tight, clean, etc.......
also search for starter posts.......
Fred
Redryder pixMy HotrodA veteran - whether active duty, retired, national guard, or reserve - is someone who, at one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check made payable to The 'United States of America', for an amount of "up to and including my life."I am fighting cancer and I am winning the fight | Pain is part of life; misery is an option. | | | | | Joined: Jun 2006 Posts: 85 Wrench Fetcher | | Wrench Fetcher Joined: Jun 2006 Posts: 85 | | | | | | Joined: Oct 2002 Posts: 4,066 Bolter | | Bolter Joined: Oct 2002 Posts: 4,066 | your welcome, I am sure others will chime in and give you some exact help.........
Redryder pixMy HotrodA veteran - whether active duty, retired, national guard, or reserve - is someone who, at one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check made payable to The 'United States of America', for an amount of "up to and including my life."I am fighting cancer and I am winning the fight | Pain is part of life; misery is an option. | | | | | Joined: Jun 2005 Posts: 887 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Jun 2005 Posts: 887 | The starter should turn without the key, but the truck won't start without the key because the coil won't get juice, (unless you run wire directly from the hot terminal on the starter to the coil).
You can take your starter to Autozone or another FLAPS and they can test the starter.
With the starter out you can try to turn the engine using a long prybar, the teeth on the flywheel and the opening for the starter as a fulcrum. If the engine doesnt turn freely, you may have something rusted in there= ie piston to cylinder...
As Joker says, make sure and check all your grounds:
Battery to frame.
block to frame.
body to frame.
'51 Chevy 1/2 ton w/'62 261, HEI, offy, fentons, dual carter/webbers, t-5 & 12 bolt posi
| | | | | Joined: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,897 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,897 | I like to pull the ignition lead, and see If I can turn the engine by hand by turning the fan. A new battery should get at least a sound out of a good starter. Maybe your starter contact switch is fried. Usually when the starter doesn't turn and the pedal feels dead it is a loose battery connection or ground. Check the battery lead going to the starter. | | |
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