Starter Not Starting...

Apparently my office is a starter graveyard. In the past two weeks two of my cars have given up the ghost once the arrived at work. I'd much rather see them keep me *away* from work than *stuck* at work.

Alright, so I just want to make sure I'm testing things correctly before I pull the starter out. For good measure, I replaced the solenoid this afternoon but the car still didn't want to start. By not start I mean this:

Turn key, dummy lights come one, turn key to start position "bzzzt" then everything goes dead for a little while. Repeat.

Once I replaced the solenoid to no avail, I touched the hot lead from the battery to the starter cable coming off the solenoid (bypassing the solenoid). From my understanding, if the starter were any good this would make it jump to life, yes?

Lady Bird is an automatic and has the neutral start switch on the column. I don't have any reason to believe that this is causing the behavior, especially since it goes "bzzzt" and everything goes dead for a minute.

I'd love to drive her out on Saturday to the Shanty, its been a season of no shows for me. If you've got a hot tip, let me know.

Coupe

61 Tudor Wagon
200 I6, Fordomatic

Hey Coupe,

If you jump the solenoid (I use a large screwdriver making sure I hold the plastic handle and don't touch the metal) you can touch it across the posts marked "I" and "S". The last time my starter pooped out it actually jammed into the flywheel and was really tough to get out. Luckily no damage to the flywheel but I actually had to use a floor jack and 2x4 to apply pressure from underneath to get it unlodged.

It's easy to pull the starter out so I would just take it down to "insert favorite parts store here" and have them test it. If it's bad, get one that has a lifetime warranty.

Hope that helps and I hope you can make it to the Shanty Tavern show!

Connect half of a jumper cable from the battery side of the solinoid to the battery positive terminal. It should crank over. Make sure the car is not in gear for those with manuals (I know you have an auto). It should crank right over but will not start.

If the starter is slow to turn or just clicks, check the ground strap. You should have a cable from the negative side of the battery to the head. There is also a ground strap at the rear of the engine to the firewall. That is a very wimpy ground and is used mainly to provide ground to the main harness. It's better to have a large braided ground strap from one of the starter bolts to the chassis. One of the idler arm bolts makes a good ground point.

If it still is not working, check the battery. Use another car to jump start the Falcon. If this works, check the charging system. Older generator systems do not produce enough energy to keep the car charged at an idle. This is why we use alternators instead.

Still nothing? Replace the starter.