Starter switch restoration

[29ModelA]

My car has sat since roughly August due to a snapped axle shaft. When I parked it the switch worked fine.

I have tried to start it occasionally this winter despite it being so cold, and now the switch seems to have failed. The battery is fine and the connections are fine. I plan to remove the starter switch to see what is wrong with it. Are there any restoration guides, or what to look for? I have a repro one here, but would rather not use it if I can get the original working again.

Not that any of it matters I guess as I have yet to fix the axle.

I searched, but nothing was coming up here or on Google.

[28ACoupe]

If you are running 6v, make sure the contacts are clean. 6v has a hard time connecting past crud.

[H. L. Chauvin]

Hi 29,

1. If you remove your starter switch, you will see how very simple it is.

2. The battery cable is bolted at the rear of the switch to an insulated non-ferrous metal spring band located inside the switch.

3. This spring band is isolated from the switch housing with fiber insulation & the forward end can be pushed down to contact the upper forward starter button located on the starter.

4. The starter switch has a plunger that is pushed down to make the spring band contact the forward top button on your starter.

5. At the bottom end of this cylindrical plunger is a small fiber tee -- if this fiber tee is original, i.e., 80+ years old, it could be damaged where it will not allow the plunger to push the spring band far enough to contact the upper forward starter button.
(This can happen if a gorilla previously owned your car where he often placed 10 tons of pressure on the starter rod located on the floor board .... even 2 tons is damaging to the fiber tee.)

6. The new starter switches have a type of plastic "Delrin type" tee which appears to be more durable, but the new starter switches are not all that great.

7. Why wait? ........... Just remove it & let us know what you see & if it makes contact. Someone is always willing to assist.

8. Also, if your battery is not charged, the starter switch will not conduct current to the starter.

Hope this helps.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Connect a volt meter to ground and the starter switch stud to be sure it shows the right voltage when the switch is pushed.
The battery posts may have lost their good connection while setting. If they start out clean and have a good coating of vaseline or such, they usually give no trouble, but the volt meter will confirm this.

[Purdy Swoft]

The chances are good that there is nothing wrong with the starter switch. Try the hand crank and see if the engine will EVEN TURN. The starter drive can lock up and not allow the engine to turn. The fix is to rock the car backwards and foward in gear until you hear a click and the starter will unstick. I know this won't be possible with a snapped axle but the hand crank test will let you know if the problem is in the switch or a locked starter drive, I've had it happen. Usually when the switch goes bad, it shorts out and burns a hole right through the switch.

[29ModelA]

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Originally Posted by Tom Wesenberg

Connect a volt meter to ground and the starter switch stud to be sure it shows the right voltage when the switch is pushed.
The battery posts may have lost their good connection while setting. If they start out clean and have a good coating of vaseline or such, they usually give no trouble, but the volt meter will confirm this.

I will try this first, I already checked the battery and it was fully charged, it wasn't even low.

I had it cranking very well but it took some playing with the starter switch (read jamming it over and over with my foot for a few minutes), but after a few tries the switch just did nothing.

Originally Posted by Purdy Swoft

The chances are good that there is nothing wrong with the starter switch. Try the hand crank and see if the engine will EVEN TURN. The starter drive can lock up and not allow the engine to turn. The fix is to rock the car backwards and foward in gear until you hear a click and the starter will unstick. I know this won't be possible with a snapped axle but the hand crank test will let you know if the problem is in the switch or a locked starter drive, I've had it happen. Usually when the switch goes bad, it shorts out and burns a hole right through the switch.

I already used the crank to start it... it was 15 below when I did it too It wasn't happy about it, but it finally went. I didn't want it to sit when the switch was acting up.

I need to get it dug out, hard to work around it where I have it parked right now.