[Matt M]

The worst kind of problem. At Tour de Vin Hat Trick refused to complete a starting circuit one time (thanks again guys), and then began working. It worked till Saturday night when it did the same thing at my friends house. Now its fine (for now).

Almost new Summit ministarter with its own solenoid, the ford solenoid bypassed, checked all connections and they are tight. Pulled the ignition switch and its all tight. It has a big Optima and demonstrates no voltage problems. As soon as its pushed it shows 14 volts.

The two times it didn't start, when engaging the start circuit it would pull down the voltage and click a bit.

Any help would be appreciated. Matt

[ July 07, 2002, 08:37 PM: Message edited by: Matt M Hat Trick ]

 

[Jeffrey Nicholson]

How about a bad ground connection from the starter to the frame. Does everything else seem to work? I had the bad ground on one of my trucks, most of the time it would start right up but intermittantly it would fail. Whatever it is I hope its an easy fix. Good luck

 

[GregR]

My '93 donor came with the Ford mini starter. Had the same problem. I'd tap on the end of the starter and it would work. Replaced the solenoid (the one mounted on the starter), same intermittant problem. Pulled it off, replaced it with the old fashioned starter off my '88 spare 5.0. No problems since. I know this doesn't solve your problem, but it worked for me.

Greg

[ July 02, 2002, 09:25 PM: Message edited by: GregR ]

 

[Matt M]

Jeff, got a ground wire from the starter mounting bolt directly to the frame.

Greg, methinking also its the starter. damn. I paid 150 clams for the thing.

others?

 

[DAVE VAN]

Check your master cut off switch (if you have one) They have been known to not work intermittantly(sp). Just bypass to see if that works.

 

[CobraEarl]

Originally posted by Matt M Hat Trick:
The two times it didn't start, when engaging the start circuit it would pull down the voltage and click a bit.

Any help would be appreciated. Matt

THAT normally implys a selenoid problem. Or a dead battery. BUt, you know you did not have a dead battery.

 

[Matt M]

Righhhhht Earl, so its got to be the solenoid or a bad connection and I know the connections are good. Besides a bad connection would tend to be more like all the time or something, right? Matt

 

[Matt M]

Whoooohoooo. Well, after carefully admiring my handiwork I realized HT has no bad connections, etc.. etc.. I decided it must be my handy dandy five month old Summit Racing Mini Torque Starter. This one...

Look at the solenoid contact plates in this picture. The dipship that put it together did NOT square the plates to the plunger when tightening the connections, leaving only the upper edge to contact the plunger...resulting in these burn marks.

Look what this situation did to the plunger...

Fixed it all up and prepared it for reinstallation by addending the Summit Sticker a little bit like so......

So.. If you buy one of these, might as well pull the cover and index these plates up front. It'll save your friends from having to push you uphill backwards through soft gravel.

Matt

 

[David Borden]

gude job Buddy!!

David

 

[Bill]

That's a funny decal. Summit will love it!

[ July 08, 2002, 01:10 AM: Message edited by: Bill ]

 

[Matt M]

Oh Bill, I'm sure they will, eh? HEE HEE

 

[Mike Braddock]

Nice work Matt! Glad to hear you've found the crux of the problem. This would also explain why Greg's solution worked as well--that is bypassing the improperly assembled solenoid altogether. Again, nice detective work, Ace

!

Mike

 

[Matt M]

I presume this means the NorCal "pushers" will let me come out and play again?

 

[BBC71Nova]

Well, that just sucks! I have that same starter on mine but haven't used it much so maybe it is just a problem waiting to happen. Just my luck I guess. Glad you found it. So what would I need to do to fix mine?

John

 

[Matt M]

Hey John, just pull the back off the solenoid (three screws) and pull out the plunger. Be careful not to lose the long spring. Then loosen the two cable bolts holding the seats on and index them to make sure they are flat to the plunger. Then gently tighten the two side bolts (these hold the cables). Email if you need more info. Matt

 

[Ophitoxaemia]

it aint no crime to get pushed- had my best racing result ever on a push start and a dead starter.

-james

 

[Tim Cronin]

Thanks for the fix
TEC