Technical Need help with a Starting Issue ('66 500F)

[joshrotenberg]

Hi All,

New owner, new forum member and I need some help diagnosing a starting issue. I recently purchased a 1966 500F (with a 652cc swap).

Had what seemed like warm start issues for a few weeks, then both cold and warm were having trouble, and no basically no start. Starter motor seems to crank but I can't tell if it's getting enough power. Starter motor is new. I also replaced the battery, and then the positive battery cable, thinking maybe it was a voltage problem from the front to the back, to no avail. Grounds all seem good, voltage drop when cranking doesn't dip below 10.5v or so, but still no go. I'm assuming the next thing to move on to is fuel delivery ... as a point of note, a few times I've push started the car and it fires right up, and runs fine, which makes me think it is still starter related but I just can't figure out why.

Attached are attempts from both directly actuating the lever on the starter motor and from inside (seems like I might also have a cable issue since the inside start is pretty weak).


Thanks for any advice!

 

[Mike1alike]

Hi and welcome to the forum!
Yes, sounds like you should check the fuel delivery and also the spark delivery.

 

[the hobbler]

Hi and welcome to the forum!
Yes, sounds like you should check the fuel delivery and also the spark delivery.

The fact that the car starts easily, and runs well, when "push-started" would indicate to me (although I might be wring) that the problem lies in the electrical side of the starter system. If the fault was in the fuel-system, it wouldn't matter a jot whether the engine was electrically 'cranked' OR push-started---it just wouldn't fire. Many (and I mean many) years ago my friend had an old Ford Prefect---the "sit-up-and-beg E93A". These cars had a 6-volt electrical system; the engine would fire first 'turn-over' when we push-started it, but was a complete b####r to start when we cranked it on the electrical starter---it turned over, but just would not fire. This was because the starter was taking too much out of the battery, so the spark (at the plugs) was very weak. It might be worthwhile checking the coil etc. to make sure that when the engine is cranked by the starter, there is still a strong spark at the plugs