Hopped in the truck Friday evening to take a spin around the block. Hit the ignition, starter turned the engine over. Hit it again, expecting it to come to life and all it did was click, not a series of weak clicks, but one solid click. So I think, maybe it's the battery, maybe it's the starter, or maybe it's the starter solenoid. Let's put the charger on it and see what happens. Go to get the charger, it's no where to be found! First 4 letter word uttered. So I think, OK, maybe it's the starter, so I go old school and rock the truck a little back and forth to see if maybe the starter had stopped on a dead spot. No such luck. OK, further old school thinking, I get a hammer and start tapping on the starter, and solenoid, nothing. Second 4 letter word uttered. Dark thirty by then, so I head for the rack. Saturday rolls around and I'm thinking, OK, let's get her running. I'm reminded by SWMBO that we are supposed to meet friends for lunch. Third 4 letter word uttered under my breath! Still haven't located any of the 3 battery chargers I KNOW I own. Sunday brings more 4 letter words as she says "Let's go see the grandbaby!" and "then go to Sam's" so she can buy mass quantities of crap that will never be used and occupy space in my garage. A few more carefully worded 4 letter words convinced her that I would do one or the other, but not both. She went to Sam's by herself and bought me a battery charger. New battery charger charged the battery tonight and still heard one solid click when I tried to turn the engine over. Now, I'm thinking solenoid. What do you guys think? It's a '62 235, 12 volt system, keyed ignition switch. Any words of wisdom (Zig, that leaves you out, sorry!) are greatly appreciated! Ken
Starter Testing Truck in neutral , park brake set & wheels chocked , take a quarter and bridge the two big starter terminals , it should begin to whir merrily but not turn the engine . if so , take the solenoid off and apart , marvel at all those tiny parts and polish all the blacvk parts of the copper connectors , the inner ends of the bolts etc. ~ you'll have to take it really far apart to do this but no worries , if you can't fix it or it breaks , it was bad anyways , buy a new one . The starter didn't whir ? make sure the battery's good (observe the headlights whilst testing , they shouldn't dim) and if it is , take the entire starter apart & clean it up , replace the brushes , try it again .
I'd say... Starter's shot. BTW, you say 12 volt system. I know some people do this with a 6 volt starter. You changed to 12 volt starter as well, right? My REAL guess would be that you left your truck in the "garage" soooo long that fungi has grown inside the coils and caused the innards to weld themselves together when you passed the current through it. That, or that's the trucks way of saying it didn't like being forgotten. I'm a bit skeptical when you say you "rocked" it back and forth, however. With the flat spots your tires should surely have by now, I just don't see how one person could "rock" the truck. I _AM_ sure that I have caused you many 4 letter words, however! Just trying to help, big brother...
Remember Ken, it is always the simplest thing. Maybe the terminals have oxidized or corroded a little. Maybe the ground wire to the battery needs taken loose from the frame and shined up a little. Then again, with all the recent comments about your ghost truck, maybe you are throwing us a red herring. Of course we just assume that you have a truck when you post that something is amiss with it. Hmmmm. Gator
BTW, I fail to see the usefulness of 'rocking the truck', (as taken in This Context anyway). In order for that to do anything pertaining to the starting system, the starter drive would have to also be engaged whilst 'rocking'. Am I missing something? I'm sure You all will let me know if I am. I do, however, have a clear understanding of what 'rock the truck' means when used in reference to a Van, in the '60s and '70s.
Yes ~ when the ring gear is Kaputi or the starter dies leaving the pinion meshed , the easiest way to un jamb it is the turn the engine backwards , easiest done by selecting a high gear (never first or reverse) and shoving the truck backwards .
Thanks Nate! Mr. Hanlon and I, mostly Mr. Hanlon, spent a sweat soaked evening together and have now determined that the starter motor is kaputski! We pulled the starter tonight and tore it apart and the armature had been way overheated in a previous life rendering the motor, in my opinion, unrebuildable! With it sitting on the bench, it took considerable pressure to get it to rotate. Search will be on tomorrow for a replacement. Many, many thanks to Bill for taking the time to come over and doing the leg work. Thanks to years of use and abuse, my shoulder is 90% useless as evidenced once again tonight as I labored to just hand tools to Bill. Bill, you are the man. More to follow!
Sorry I was correct... I'm glad Bill was able to help you out, big brother. Get that taken care of so you can start posting pictures and stories about the trips you will be taking in it!
Yes, Ken really does have a '50 truck It IS a garage queen, which is nice when you have to work on it. Hardly even get your hands dirty. Now a question. I believe Ken's engine is a mid 50's 235 and has a solenoid-equipped starter. The top fastener holding the starter to the bellhousing is a stud screwed into the bellhousing as a nut to hold the starter in place. What tool are you supposed to use to remove the top nut that holds the starter to the bellhousing? There isn't enough "depth" room to get a socket on it. We ended up using a 3/4" open end that allowed just a little over 1/12 of a rotation on the nut, then swap to a 3/4" box end that allowed just a little under 1/12 of a rotation, for a total of 1/6 of a rotation, ie. 1 "flat" on the nut. Must have taken 15 minutes just to remove this one nut. It would have been a lot longer if the stud was all gunked up with years of grease and dirt, but that'll never happen on Ken's truck. I have a set of box end ratchet wrenches at home that I didn't bring along, but I'm pretty sure there wouldn't be enough room to get them on the nut. There has got to be an easier answer.
You're a good man, Bill! There is. Just say,"Come here, son. I have a job for you." No son? that grandbaby looks like he's up to the task! (He can just walk under the truck and get it from underneath.) Other than that, all I could suggest would be adult beverages and good tunes cause you're gonna be there a while without better suggestions than mine. Good luck!
It's not a question of being able to get my hands into the area to turn the wrench. The problem is the wrench can't turn far enough to engage the next "flat" on the nut. There isn't enough room off of the end of the nut to use a socket. And I don't think (but haven't tried yet) there is enough room around the outside of the nut to fit a ratcheting box end wrench onto the nut.
I just checked a picture of my truck in the member's gallery and it seems like there is room from above. I guess with mine being a foot stomp, I must be missing the part that is in the way? I would doubt that the ratcheting box end will work. That would be to simple. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you though.
I guess not~ I just went out to check, and although my truck is without its fenders (and much, MUCH more) I don't see how getting to that top nut would be a problem... Let me throw it back to the adult beverage(s) and good tunes approach.
They make (made) a special wrench to remove that nut. It is curved like a "C" with a box end at the end of each leg. I'd bet Snap On has a very pricey one or you can heat the hell out of a Taiwan cheapy and bend till the radius is right to wrap around the starter snout.
Ken, you should be ashamed of yourself. The worlds leading computer Neanderthal typed "chevy starter wrench" on ebay and come up with item #270737110118 which is pricey ($30 w/sh) so googled "curved box end wrench" and came up with a three wrench set from realhog.com for just $11.36. The latter is the kind we used many years ago but the SnapOn wrench would give a much longer stroke. I know Bill did the wrenching but your shoulder shouldn't be so bad as to keep you from punching the keyboard. Okay, kept you standing in the corner long enough and also afraid you can retaliate big time at my next dumb computer question.
