Just flip the switch the other direction

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Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2016: Just flip the switch the other direction
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bill in Adelaida Calif on Sunday, June 12, 2016 - 01:05 am:

Not one of my brighter days. My 14 T has been sitting for several months due to life getting n the way. I decided this morning to to take it for a drive, so I started in on all the prep work. Oiled the oil fittings. refilled and re-installed the grease cups. Where did I set that grease cup I just filled? Oh I don't remember setting it on the rear tire.
Finally I am ready to start the engine. Flip the ignition to battery, lift the crank. Yup there is the happy buzz of the coil. A few pulls later and the engine is spluttering away. Hummm engine does not sound right. I check the spark with a screwdriver and it just does not seem strong.
I pulled the timer off and cleaned and re-installed it. Damn I'm good, now the engine is running on 3 cyl not 4. Off with the timer again and this time I give it a GOOD cleaning. WOW I was able to start a 2 cy T engine!
Pull the timer again and start grounding out the contacts. Only 1 coil would buzz, the rest would only "click". Finally the light bulb in my head switched on. IF I had started the T on magneto it would have run FINE, the darned battery was dead! I greased the timer and put it back together. Started FIRST pull!!, something it does not normally do. I was getting one pull starts the rest of the day!
I have learned that just because a coil buzzes, it does not mean the battery is hot.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Val Soupios on Sunday, June 12, 2016 - 09:19 am:

I had that issue once and all 4 coils were buzzing but the car would not start. After checking everything I could think of I decided to give up for a couple of hours so I hooked up the battery charger and noticed that it showed the battery to be very low. One hour on the charger and no more issues. I am not sure why a battery that is low but still makes the coils buzz will not start a T but there is no doubt in my mind that it can happen.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jared Buckert on Sunday, June 12, 2016 - 10:11 am:

Maybe one of the electrical geniuses we have running around here can answer better than I can, so I'm not going to even attempt. I took two semesters of Electrical courses in college and went from knowing just enough to be dangerous to not knowing it all but wishing I did.

I had a similar problem with my battery when I first got her out of storage. The coils would buzz but the starter wouldn't spin. I put my homemade (OK, technically college-made) battery tender on for about a week, then gave it a shot. There were sparks under my feet when I hit the button the first time, but the starter spun her right over. Haven't had sparks since and she still starts with the button. I guess the battery didn't have enough charge to overcome the oxidation in the switch, but after a week on the charger she was ready to go. Never tried starting her on the mag, though. Might try it one of these days.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John Semprez-Templeton, CA on Sunday, June 12, 2016 - 10:14 am:

And I waited all day for Bill to stop by in his T. I finally gave up and converted the rest of my florescent lamps to T8 LED's. I charged the batteries on Ranger-1 and Ranger-3, replaced a flat on R-1 with one of many spares, and was surprised when both started. I moved them up the hill and out of sight leaving a driveway wide enough for Bill to turn around. Still no Bill so I did some gardening around the front door, hauled a load of trash to the dumpster, Still no Bill.

What all this means is that I get a lot done when Bill has a bad day!


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