Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[okky]

I have a 1937 7W Ten with the 1172 sidevalve. Its 6 volt with a battery thats under a year old.

When I start it theres a lag of a couple of seconds between pulling the starter and the starter motor turning over. It also seems to turn over slowly / weakly.

Is this right for a 6v starter motor ?

Last weekend when I went out to do its weekly fireup it wouldnt start and the starter was even more sluggish than normal.

I am in the process of charging the battery to rule that out, but I'm wondering should I be getting the starter motor checked out or is the behaviour I've described normal for a 6v system ? I've also yet to check all the wiring.

Thanks in advance for any help

[Rick]

Engines don't turn over very quickly on 6v, but usually work well enough so long as everything is 100%. Things to check include:

- starter motor brushes & commutator
- all heavy earth leads between engine and frame, and check the battery connections. They must be A1 and preferably have soldered connectors
- starter switch contacts (on top of the starter)

RJ
_________________
Rick (Admin. oldclassiccar.co.uk)
Various 1930s-1960s relics - Austin, Morris, Bedford, Dodge etc.

[roverdriver]

Also check the bearings. Often these are simple bronze bushes, but if the bearings get sloppy, then the alignment of the armature is affected as well as the alignment of the 'business' end of the shaft. Worn bearings can lead to sluggish operation.
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Dane- roverdriver but not a Viking.

[ukdave2002]

Check that you have the right sized cables and terminals, 6v starter/battery and earth cable must be 40mm square. and the battery terminals must take all the cable. The cable and terminals that Halfords sell are designed for 12v so will only be about half the size required for 6v.

A 6v starter should spring to life the moment you touch the button.

Dave

[ukdave2002]

Also if it the sort of starter motor that has the switch built in (attached to the pull cable) , check that the switch contacts are adjusted correctly.

[Greg]

Also check all leads ie: battery, starter have clean, tight connections.
Depending on your battery, also check the cells to see if they need topping-up

I too have a 6volt system on my Popular, it does start off turning the engine slowly ....(especially when cold and everything is tight), but it does speed up slightly the more it turns over.
When the engine has run for a bit and warmed up, starting is obviously a lot better (faster)
Hope this makes sense, with all the above advice hopefuly you'll get things sorted,
All the best,
Greg