Tim's 1941 SSE Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 Today I drove my 41' to a friend of mine's garage for storage in order to await transport to my new residence. It started fine today as it has every day that I have owned it since March. As I drove the speedometer began buzzing, making weird noises, and registering very inaccurate speeds. I stopped at a gas station and put gas in it and it started right up with no problems so off I went for another 10 miles. I reached my friends house with the speedometer still acting up and the brake pedal occasionally going to the floor at red lights, but didn't think much of it. I parked it the driveway to wait for my friend to open the garage When he opened it I attempted to start the car and.......nothing the starter didn't even engage. I made sure the switch was in the "on" position and tried it again and still nothink. Not even a whirr, or a click just dead silence. I looked around and checked the starter. I discovered some frayed wires and dirty contacts which I respliced and cleaned but still nothing and could not get it to start. Now I feel pretty darn embarassed and I know transporting the car will cost me much more if it is immobile. Please help, I love my Buick dearly and want to get it on a trailer and get it to my new home without causing my freind any more headaches than he already has with storing my baby. Thanks much!!!Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim's 1941 SSE Posted December 23, 2009 Author Share Posted December 23, 2009 Forgot to mention, I am still running a stock style 6V straight 8, its not a streetrod. Thanks!Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Earl Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 Sounds like you need to lubricate your speedometer & cable and my '41 Buick would do what yours will do once in awhile when I went to start it. It was a poor connection at the battery. Do your instruments come to life when you turn the ignition switch on? Are you using the accelerator switch to operate the starter, or has it been changed over to a starter button? It's probably something simple, but trouble-shooting it can take a little time. The brakes would worry me more than the thing not starting.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Bruce aka First Born Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 Sounds like the gods are keeping it from starting so you dont have to drag your feet to stop it. Agree with Earl. If you do not have power, [horn, lights] , check the battery connection. If you have power, and are still using the accelerator starting switch, try using a jumper wire at the carb switch. Speedometer noise and no start are two different problems. Good luck. Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Schramm Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 A word that I told my auto tech students,....If you can not get it started, you cannot get into trouble, but if you cannot stop it, ..YOU ARE IN TROUBLE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim's 1941 SSE Posted December 23, 2009 Author Share Posted December 23, 2009 Thanks for all the replies so far. The car still has the starting mechanism on the accelerator and all the gauges and dome light still work. Once the weather breaks here in Colorado I will have to take a look at the carb switch. One of the wires looked pretty frayed. I'll try the jumper wire at the carb switch and if that works I'll splice and replace the contacts on those wires. No worries about the brakes as I won't be driving it for a while and definitely not before I have a closer look at them. I just need to get it on a car transport and sent to my new home in the D.C. area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ktm858 Posted December 24, 2009 Share Posted December 24, 2009 Make sure that you look at the wires good. My 41 would not charge so I thought it was the generator then after I took it off and bench tested it it worked so I started to look at everything closely and one of the wires were split inside the harness and that caused the whole problem.Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trp3141592 Posted December 27, 2009 Share Posted December 27, 2009 Hi Tim,I believe your car shares the starter with my 40 LaSalle, and I had a similar problem. Turned out to be the coil in the relay on the starter failed and would not energize. You can check for this by removing the 2" by 1-1/4" (roughly) sheet metal box cover on the starter, and with the transmission IN NEUTRAL and ignition on, simply push the relay armature down to cause contact at the points. If the starter engages, you have a relay problem.I started my LaSalle like this for years until I finally got tired of popping the hood in order to start it, and replaced the starter.--Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelod Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 Tim, Actually the difference in transportation cost between a running and non-running car is typically only about $100. As long as the tires are up, the transporters can usually winch it right up on the truck. I got quotes last summer on a car I needed to ship that was not running and was surprised to discover the difference was so small. If you are getting a quote that has a large difference between the two, you may want to look online a bit more. I found a site that specializes in auto transport with good rates in about 2 minutes, so I know they are out there.Thanks, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Rawling Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 Use vasoline on the speedometer cable. Do not use regular grease or graphite grease. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now