engine won't crank

[bartmcneill]

bought a new battery and installed it. key on, pushed the starter button and nothing happens. Before I go feeling around in the dark (inexperience) what are the things I should look for as causing the problem.

[J Franklin]

Put your car in third gear and push or use the crank and see if the engine turns over. If so try the starter once more. If still nothing check the connection to the starter and frame ground. If those are good it is either a dead battery or bad starter.

[Dick Steinkamp]

Was the car starting before you got the new battery?

[Synchro909]

Check the terminals are clean and tight.
When I was a kid I had no money (like most of us) so it was commoon to have a flat battery. To test the condition of it, we would turn on the lights, then either hit the horn and watch what the lights did and listen to the horn or we would turn on the lights and hit the starter, again watching the lights. Running either or both of these tests should tell you about the battery and the connections.
If all that checks out OK, I'd look at the starter motor. Is the pinion stuck in the ring gear/ Is it servicable? Is the engine free to turn?

[Brian T]

Hi Bart,
New batterys usually come with plastic protective caps on the terminals, be sure they have been removed, don't feel bad if there still there, seen it happen many times, we wont tell.

[holdover]

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Just a note to help all with this sort of problem checking the battery. I live on a farm and between farm vehicles, 5 Model As tagged and insured and six other on road vehicles, checking batteries is a common thing around here. There are many battery checkers available but I use an inexpensive one from Harbor Freight that costs about 20.00 with a coupon. It gives voltage and allows you to put a load test on the battery, both 6 & 12 volt, a voltage test really doesn't tell you much if it is just a surface charge. Easy to see if the battery is fully charged or weak and needs a good charging and after the charging if it will pass the load test. My tester is about 10 yrs old and it has been used many times on my vehicles and on friends and neighbors. Your mileage may vary

[bartmcneill]

Well, like I said inexperience. Took the starter rod assembly apart and realized I just was not pushing hard enough. Seat is out while cleaning the rat poo out so was pushing by hand. Foot made it crank.

[jm29henry]

Great news thanks for the update congratulations working on solving problems will help you and you will see one day you will be helping one of us ��