I have a 54 ford with the 239 v8 yblock in still. Yesterday i drove it in 105 degree weather the car was about 180 degrees i drove about 45 min went to a shop turned the car off and it didnt want to fire back up. It sounds like the battery is drained but its not, finally got it to fire up drove home parked it and today i tried to fire it up again and it sounds againg like the battery is low. WTF can it be???
Could be the battery, but I had a car once that did the same thing. In my case the starter was getting too hot from the exhaust system. Once the car sat for about 30 minutes it would start right up. Kind of embarrassing when I would pull in for gas and the damn thing wouldn't re-start. And this was a new car too. Ended up having to insulate the start from the exhaust. May not be your problem.
What up Cuervo.. One time I drove my Lincoln to San Jose (hot weather) turned the car off for about 30 minutes.. then it wouldn't turn on again.. it vapor locked.. I don't know if that could be your same problem.. -Juan (I'll call you later.. I'm at work right now)
No vapor lock with that symptom. You either have a low battery, connection problem, starter issue or your timing is off. Check your battery and see if its charging at the correct voltage first. Then go to your timing and, then check all your battery and starter wire connections. Lastly, it could be your starter.
i agree with petejoe on that one. check your connections. i had somethin like that happen to me but my truck would die on me while i was drivin and wouldn't turn over. turns out one of the connections was loose and she turned right over. then again, it could be the battery or starter. hopefully it'll be one of the connections. good luck with it.
Is it still 6 volt? If so they are very sensitive to poor connections, weak battery and hot starter. When a starter gets heat soaked the resistance internialy goes up and you have cranking problems that don't happen in cooler temps. If 6 Volt and you buy a new battery buy a Optima or equivlent. Also cables need to be at least 2 gauge and heavier like 2-O is MUCH better.
Sounds to me like the started is getting too hot and then won't kick the motor over. Just a couple of questions though: 1) Is there a shield in place between the starter and the exhaust? 2) When the starter is 'cold', will it spin freely without any issue or problem? 3) Can it be push started with no problem when the starter 'drags'? Heat is the starter's enemy. Keep it cool, or as cool as possible, and see if that solves the problem. If you are having a starter overheating problem, merely changing the starter won't solve the problem, only delay it until the new starter succumbs to the heat issue again.
Sounds like a starter heat issue, but it never hurts to get the battery properly load tested. If the starter is drawing real high amps when hot, it can internally damage the battery (ie: warped plates) Flatman
Converted to 12 volt already and i have a optimus battery. The wierd thing is that it does it even when its cold
This happened to me a few times with my 63 Nova Wagon. It was the wiring on the alternator. I had to unhook the +- cables when I would go anywhere so it didnt drain my battery.
Really? Im so baffled right now. I pulled the starter and its fine looks good, spins good feels good even smells good!!!!!!!! I feel that im going to have rewire it..... the whole thing need to anyways before i sell it.
one my car's starter used to get all fuckered up in hot weather too. I always thought it was my battery until I found out the truth. the starter looks, smells, tastes fine when I pulled it out but always got the same results in hot weather. i got one of these and also one of that and the problem went away. not the same exact parts but you get the picture
sounds like a hot starter. being in phx az i have seen this quite often. turn a water hose on the starter next time to cool it off and see what happens.
If it is doing it when the car is cold heat is not the problem I would say you have a dead cell in the battery. Take the battery down and get it checked for a bad cell.
I just went through the same drill on my Studebaker engine. 6V starter running on 12Vs for several years without a problem. It acted like the battery was dead. I replaced the battery, the smallish cables with larger ones, even though they had worked for years, etc. etc. I did everything that has been suggested here. This was not my first rodeo but this IS the first time I had a bad starter disguise itself as a dead battery. I've had dozens of the "click, click, click" syndrome's but never had one turn over and run down. Off the car the old starter tested out and spun like a champ but on the car with a freshly charged new battery it would turn over but within seconds it acted like it had completely drained the brand new battery. I had the new battery checked to see if it was defective. I had the second electrical shop that checked the starter rebuild it with 12V field windings anyway. It's been starting fine ever since. I'm not saying that you need 12V fields. I am saying that you should try a different starter. If a 56 up 12V starter will bolt up, I'd try to find one. I was forced to use a Studebaker 6V starter. 6V starters work for years on 12Vs. Mine decided to take a shit on me in a way that I've never experienced before. Like yours, mine had been working just fine for years. I've had a repair shop for over 20 years and been hotrodding for over 40 and this one almost kicked my ass. Good luck with your problem.
It could still be the battery, when some go bad they still read fully charged on a multimeter but when you crank it you only get a couple of volts. Have someone stand with a multimeter while you crank it to check. But It sounds more likely to be the wiring/stater. Doc.
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