Starter trouble

[J!m]

The series trucks are fairly easy to crank start- this is of course assuming it is in good tune, and the carburettor is full of fuel...

I hand-cranked mine 1/2 way across North Africa, and that was a freshly re-built engine. A couple turns and it spins fairly easily, if it is in good tune less than three revs will have it running.

My procedure for a cold truck is to pop the hood and pump fuel up to the carb. Make sure the key is on and set the choke. Start spinning! It helps to have another person on the throttle and choke to get the revs up and keep it running, and a hand throttle helps if a helper is not around.

B
Naturally, bad timing, bad fuel, no fuel, low battery, weak spark etc. all make the job harder...

I went through three starters and four solenoids before I had it sorted. I finally ended up with a mean green starter and a Kenworth starter solenoid. NOW, it starts with the key!

[Leslie]

thanks guys. how tough are old rovers to hand crank? I am not weak but I have trouble turning mine with enough speed or force to get anywhere. I am also leary of it firing back on me and breaking an arm. I had an old harley that would do that and I damn near broke both of my ankles. Great information on the starter rebuild. I have both the old starter and the 'new one' that I think is causing me a lot of trouble at the moment.

As J!m said, they're not hard, just make sure it's on and choked (and in neutral with the parking brake on! ).

Don't close your hand on the crank, ie, don't wrap your thumb around, you want to leave your thumb alongside your index finger.... if it kicks, you want it to be able to kick out of your hand without taking your thumb off.... the starter dog on a Series is designed to kick the crank handle forward and out when it starts, and should keep the kickback injuries to a minimum, but, you really want to take any safety precautions you can....

[yorker]

"Don't close your hand on the crank, ie, don't wrap your thumb around, you want to leave your thumb alongside your index finger"



X2!! other than that if it is in good tune it is easy to do, the first crank to get up momentum is the hardest. You won't break yout arm but you can dislocate your thumb if you wrap it around in the normal fashion.

[Leslie]

Wow, I've been quoted loudly!

[yorker]

Ha! I remember trying to throw my starting handle through my radiator* in an insane fit of anger and pain after making the above error. Was not a fun day and took a long time before I could use my thumb again.

*thank god for the metal IIa grille

[gfaherty3]

hey guys, starter update and hand cranking is FUN, not really.

so the problem with the starter was indeed the positive lead to starter, it was on the stud tight, but the nut that is supposed to hold the stud in was not tight against the starter motor case. I finally had the time today to get under the truck and remove the exhaust pipe so I could get in there and tighten things down. BINGO!. I also managed to start her up with the crank handle with no problem. The first couple of times I tried it the lead from the coil to the distributor had come off during all of my digging around under the hood to replace the solenoid so when I originally tried to hand cranke it I was not getting anywhere. thanks again for all the replies and help. This is my daily driver and I am very happy to have it back up an running again.

Also, another thanks to Yorker, I saw the link you posted to the bayourovers web site for timing by ear which I used today to time it so I was not getting preignition on the many hills around town.

Great stuff.
Greg.

[yorker]

I'm glad you got it sorted out!


Timing by ear seems to work best for these old crates, whenever I had mine done by the book it just wasn't optimal- maybe fuel has changed? Some other variable? Anyway tune it till it knocks and then retard it until it doesn't. Simple!