The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Starter Foot Pedal Adjustment

For 49-3100. Is there a adjustment nut on the starter foot pedal or linkage so the linkage pushes the starter button further in? Any photos or diagrams would be great. Thanks

if its the same as a 55 stomp start pedal it just is screwed on and you adjust it by tightening it or loosening it


Indy

if you're meaning the button on top of the starter isn't making electrical contact, that's a problem inside the box under the button, not with the linkage to it, unless there's extreme wear on the [non-adjustable] linkage

Bill

I can push the button on top of the starter and the truck will start. When I use the foot pedal the linkage does not depress the button far enough. Since the linkage is non-adjustable looks like the only fix is to make a longer rod to depress the button more.

be better to figure out just what's happening, the factory pieces should work without modification - you likely have wear on the face of the pivoting piece that hits the button, as well as wear of the big copper chunk inside the switch - might fix it by a spot of weld on that lever piece or turning the copper piece over, possibly by just dressing that copper piece back to shape, they tend to get dirty and eroded from arcing

Bill

Bill is still correct. The copper-button on top of the starter or contact-button inside the starter switch is worn.

I have temporarily and safely gotten by the situation by taking a small length of water hose and slitting it open. Then, place the piece of hose over the button on the top of the starter switch (keep a spare piece of slitted hose, in case the piece on the starter switch falls off). This is called a jack-legged (jerry-rigged, jury-rigged, shade-tree, half-aXXed) repair.

Here is a link to the manual so you can see how it is all set-up. The part referred to is an off the shelf item at NAPA.
http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/shop/1948_51truck/51ctsm1218.htm

I have a nut on the starter button shaft (cab side) that I use to tighten the shaft after it's threaded into the linkage stub. My starter button shaft doesn't protrude thru the linkage stub on the engine side. If the end of your starter button shaft is hitting the bellhousing prior to the starter switch being fully pushed down use of a nut like I have may help.

I should have mentioned in my original post that my starter and starter switch are brand new.
I'll look at the starter button in the morning. Can I get to the jamb nut on the starter button from inside the truck thru the floor or is it all from under the truck?

Insider or outside if you depress it. The button threads on to the shaft and the jamb nut is part of that shaft.

the jam nut is to keep the pedal from coming loose, I doubt you can gain any increased pivoting by fiddling it .... if you've changed the switch box on the starter, maybe you need to build up the button, sort of like Tim suggested above, but more permanently

Bill

From experience with the exact same problem I removed the rubber cover of the foot feed then ground off the end of the hinge pin, removed the pedal and silver soldered a thick piece of flat metal to the underside of the pedal being careful to leave just a tiny bit of clearance between the pedal and the starter button then finished up by finding a bolt to the same size as the hinge pin and re-assembling the foot feed. Worked for me from Jr, thru Senior high school years.