1936 Dodge..Is problem with STARTER or BATTERY?

[Guest Rob1960]

I have a 1936 Dodge Touring Sedan - 2 door. I've noticed for several weeks the car requires a longer cranking time to get it started, when cold. And the starter has been cranking more slowly. Yesterday, after driving about 20 minutes and then parking for about 15 minutes, I was ready to resume driving it again. When I pressed the starter pedal it respond eratically, making the following sound: The sound was: "wa".... then several seconds pause, then another "wa".....then several more seconds pause, then it suddenly got vigor and goes "wa,wa,wa,wa,wa," and then it started right up. [how's that for description?]. What throws me is it's making the dead battery sound, but then suddenly the starter gets going normally again. Does that sound like a battery problem, or starter problem, or something else? My six volt battery is one year old. When the motor is running, the amp meter usually hovers in the mid or neutral zone. Oddly, when the headlights are on, it goes way over to the positive charge side. Shouldn't it go negative? Any thoughts on this are graciously appreciated. Robt

[Jan Arnett]

Robert: First thing is to make sure your cables are tight and clean and that the ground is clean. Try jumping directly from the battery to the starter motor and see if it does the same thing. Do your battery cables get hot which indicates a heavy load being pulled on the battery. A bad starter will make a battery look bad but it is easier to change a battery. Take the battery to your local NAPA and ask them to test it.

Hope this helps

Jan

[RickBrinker]

Are your battery cables hooked up right your + should go to ground and -

is your hot wire if you have the polarity reversed it would make your

amp gauge read backwards.

[Reg Evans]

Sounds to me like your battery connections need to be cleaned and possibly the starter switch on top of the starter is going bad. New 0 or 00 gauge battery cables make a big difference in how fast the starter will turn the engine over.

[Guest bobostski]

I had the same problem with my 38 DB. I did everything that was suggested (starter, cables, ect) but it didn't seem to help. I would buy a new battery and that would help but the problems would come back in a couple of months.Found out the problem was with the batterys. I was buying batteries at Auto Zone. I asked the sales person how often they sell 6-volt batteries. He said maybe once every year. The batteries sat on the shelf for a long time and were new to me but could be 2 to 3 years old by the time I bought them. I found a battery store that had fresh ones and now the car starts without problems. Charges properly and even starts when hot which was also a problem. Hope this helps. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />