The Ford Barn

alexiskai · 01-04-2019, 07:37 PM

Hi folks,

When I'm doing a cold start, I press the starter pedal and the starter starts to crank the engine. I pull the choke and hold it a second or two, and often what happens is that the engine putt-putts once or twice, then stops cranking and I hear a hum, like the starter has disengaged and is just spinning around, until I let off the starter pedal. If I repeat the sequence 1-2 times, it starts up. With a warm start this rarely occurs. The hum only happens once the engine has caught on its own. If the engine is not catching (say for example I've forgotten to turn the key) then the starter will continue to crank the engine.

Does anyone know (1) what this hum is indicating, (2) whether it's a problem, and (3) whether there's anything I can do to improve my cold starts. I'm sure this has been asked before but I'm not sure which search keywords I should be using to find the answer.

Thank you

01-04-2019, 07:37 PM	#1
alexiskai Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2018 Location: Mebane NC Posts: 2,355	Starter cranks, then spins Hi folks, When I'm doing a cold start, I press the starter pedal and the starter starts to crank the engine. I pull the choke and hold it a second or two, and often what happens is that the engine putt-putts once or twice, then stops cranking and I hear a hum, like the starter has disengaged and is just spinning around, until I let off the starter pedal. If I repeat the sequence 1-2 times, it starts up. With a warm start this rarely occurs. The hum only happens once the engine has caught on its own. If the engine is not catching (say for example I've forgotten to turn the key) then the starter will continue to crank the engine. Does anyone know (1) what this hum is indicating, (2) whether it's a problem, and (3) whether there's anything I can do to improve my cold starts. I'm sure this has been asked before but I'm not sure which search keywords I should be using to find the answer. Thank you