1936 Ignition

[MargaritavilleBuick]

My 59 Buick had its starter button hidden behind the accelerator.  Was this a feature in 1936?  

[pont35cpe]

Yes, starter switch is located behind the carburetor, screwed into the intake manifold.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

1 hour ago, MargaritavilleBuick said:

My 59 Buick had its starter button hidden behind the accelerator.  Was this a feature in 1936?  

 

 The starter switch is actually mounted on the carburetor on your '59.

 

  Ben

[MargaritavilleBuick]

The ignition was a cool feature.  I miss that car.

[dibarlaw]

1936 set up should look similar to my Marvel BD1 equipped 1937 Special. My Delco choke works fine. I do have to adjust for faster opening.The manifold vacuum switch has always functioned without issue.

[Bloo]

5 hours ago, MargaritavilleBuick said:

My 59 Buick had its starter button hidden behind the accelerator.  Was this a feature in 1936?  

 

As others have mentioned, it is really on the manifold or carburetor. Buick had this feature way back (1920s?), and kept it through 1960. You'll hear it called "autostart" around here, although I am not sure if Buick ever used that term. It is automatic, and works on vacuum. If the engine isn't running it will try to restart.

 

This was also used on some other makes, Pontiac for sure. On Buick, I am most familiar with 1937, so here's how it works in 1937:

 

The starter has a solenoid to pull the little drive gear and one-way clutch in. It works just like the one on a more modern GM car of the 60s, 70s, or 80s. But, on the autostart Buick, a little relay hangs on the back of the solenoid. The trigger coil on the little relay has 2 terminals, hot and ground. You feed it 6 volts to crank the car.

 

There is a vacuum switch on the intake manifold. It also has a linkage attached to the throttle. If the throttle is open, and there is no vacuum, the switch is on and the starter should crank (as long as the second little terminal on the back of the relay is grounded. More on that in a minute).

 

When the car starts, the engine has vacuum that turns off the switch and stops cranking the starter. If the vacuum goes away, the starter will re-crank, as long as the throttle is open.

 

A possibility exists where the vacuum could go away with the throttle wide open going up a steep hill, fooling the vacuum switch, and trying to crank the engine when it is already running. For this reason, the second terminal of that little relay gets it's ground through the voltage regulator.

 

1937 Buick voltage regulators have 5 terminals, one of which is marked "GND" for ground. It is not really the regulator ground, it is a contact that is grounded only when the generator is not charging. Since the little relay gets it's ground from the "GND" contact, the starter cannot try to crank if the generator is charging.

 

You might not have the ground-side protection on a 1936 Buick. I am not sure, but I don't believe they had a voltage regulator, only a cutout. There are more 1936 owners in here. Someone will know.

 

 

[MargaritavilleBuick]

Does anyone have pictures showing the correct autostart button behind the accelerator and the linkage from the firewall to the relay and carb?

[50jetback]

Some excellent photos of all linkages on this thread.

Edited February 29, 2020 by 50jetback (see edit history)

[Buick35]

I'm unaware of a starter button behind the accelerator. My 35 looks like the picture of the 37s. The carburetor linkage moves the lever on the vacuum switch on the manifold. I removed mine because the vacuum switch would sometimes activate the starter while the engine was running and just installed a push button instead.Greg

[Bill Stewart]

The 36 shop manual shows the entire mechanism and its adjustment in great detail. Being quite new at all this, I would not have been able to do decent (mostly) work on my 36 without the shop manual. You will be happy if you get one. Reprints are available but illustration quality is MUCH better in the originals and sometimes necessary for a full understanding. Good luck. Kinda complicated. Many have been replaced with a button under the dash.

[Bloo]

Yeah, no button. The vacuum switch is what does it and it is screwed into the intake manifold, with a rod to the throttle linkage or carb.

[MargaritavilleBuick]

10 hours ago, Buick35 said:

I'm unaware of a starter button behind the accelerator. My 35 looks like the picture of the 37s. The carburetor linkage moves the lever on the vacuum switch on the manifold. I removed mine because the vacuum switch would sometimes activate the starter while the engine was running and just installed a push button instead.Greg

I believe that is what happened with mine at some point.  Someone put a starter button on the column.