Newb Troubleshooting Sluggish Cranking When at Running Temp

Hi,

I'm new to this forum so there will be some dumb questions. Also new to V12 flatheads and Lincolns. However, I'm planning a cross country trip from Fayettville area of NC to Ft Collins, CO this spring.

The car is my Dad's which he restored from two basket cases over the past 15 or so years. My mission is to get the car roadworthy by spring.

First step was to get it to start reliably. After replacing the old starter relay/solenoid, it now cranks fine when battery is at 7 volts and cold, but after getting it started and driving around the neighborhood a bit (10-15 miles) and shutting her off, she hesitates on first pushing starter button, then fires up. The hesitation is what worries me. Like it doesn't want to crank, then catches and turns over. Tired starter?

Thanks for any opinions.

Scott

Maybe a grounding problem? wire leading to the starter button or the starter button itself? Check the ground cable connection to the engine...6 volts like good grounds.

Maybe a grounding problem? wire leading to the starter button or the starter button itself? Check the ground cable connection to the engine...6 volts like good grounds.

yeah, except it cranks great when cold, first thing in the morning. Just hesitates when heated up t running temperature. Still a ground problem?

yeah, except it cranks great when cold, first thing in the morning. Just hesitates when heated up t running temperature. Still a ground problem?

I too have a freshly restored 1948 V-12 Lincoln. If the engine was just rebuilt - these babies get really tight when they are hot for the first 200-300 miles. Mine did the same thing until I had a few miles on her - 300 or so and now starts fine when hot.

My car has 7600 miles on it since a ground-up restoration, and I've had the same thing since Day 1. If I try to start it when it's hot, it will hesitate for a second or two, then turn over. If it bothers you enough, you might be able to get a higher-torque non-original starter or one with upgraded internals, but your problem is not uncommon.

My car has 7600 miles on it since a ground-up restoration, and I've had the same thing since Day 1. If I try to start it when it's hot, it will hesitate for a second or two, then turn over. If it bothers you enough, you might be able to get a higher-torque non-original starter or one with upgraded internals, but your problem is not uncommon.

I use an [eight] 8 volt battery. fits right in , dont need to change anything else,

just increase charge rate over 8 volts, [third brush or regulator setting], keep battery on trickle charger when garaged, prime carb. [electric pump] for cold start after storage.

8 volt battery allways keep turning over and starts right up, hot or cold. I"ve used them on both my Zephyrs for over 20 yrs. No other problems have shown up, Batts. last 6-7 yrs.

Make sure the bracket holding the end of the starter is not pulling or pushing in any way- just providing support. If it does pull or push, it can cause the starter drive to bind on the flywheel only when it is hot. The barrel shaped part can have scars from the binding.

Had a great elec engineer (Jack Pixley) in club yrs back- late 80's, died much too early. One GOF he put on a super tech seminar, with every component & contact in our starting system, bolted to a board. His point was, if you clean every one of the 34 contact points in our starting system, & coat it with di-electric grease, you should never have trouble cranking your car again. "It's a Fact Jack". I had very slow cranking back then and went thru every contact like he said, and have never had a problem starting since in 27 years, with 6 volts! Would not expect that many contacts, but: both battery terminals, ground to battery box base, both sides of starter relay, ground to engine, starter to mount, ....... He showed with meters how much voltage drop was in a full sys, showed ohms resistance & voltage drop improve every individual contact he cleaned; amazing how the voltage drop was so accumulative & the total increased voltage. I think it might be summarized in an old copy of TWOTZ. Clean contacts and wire connections by scraping, filing or polishing, but not with sandpaper nor emery cloth- don't want silica particles embedding in soft metals- increasing resistance. Could be your voltage is marginal thru system when cold and it masks the problems because you still get by and crank OK when cold coil stronger/popping better to help crank. But as coils heat, coil voltage drops, it's not giving enough pop to help crank, due to too much voltage drop/resistance in marginal cranking system contacts. Other threads also talk about big enough cable diameters needed for 6 volts, bad connections to the wire inside the battery cable ends, weak starter motor,..... Hope you find it!!

I agree Paul. The club lost a great asset with Jack passing. He really put on a fine seminar. Clean them contacts. Get them bright and shiny.

As mentioned above, make sure your battery cables and the cable running to the starter is the right gauge. I believe it should be either 1 or 0 gauge. If they look like modern cables, then they're definitely too small.

I use an [eight] 8 volt battery. fits right in , dont need to change anything else,

just increase charge rate over 8 volts, [third brush or regulator setting], keep battery on trickle charger when garaged, prime carb. [electric pump] for cold start after storage.

8 volt battery allways keep turning over and starts right up, hot or cold. I"ve used them on both my Zephyrs for over 20 yrs. No other problems have shown up, Batts. last 6-7 yrs.

PRoblem solved...at least for now. Starter was binding just enough with the flywheel that on hot starting, it dragged the battery down. After shimming and coaxing the starter to be perpendicular to the flywheel, the issue is resolved.

What brand/item number/source is the 8 volt battery? What do you mean by 'increase the charge rate'?

rockitdoc, 8 Volt Battery, 4 Cell. 1-8V. Part # 801D. Made in the USA. by Deka Built East Penn. Manufacturing Co. Inc. Lyon Station. PA. 1953s

Increase charge rate at generator to over 9V to keep battery fully charged by moving third brush anti / cw. or get old 'auto elect'. to adjust regulator.

6 volts works just fine