Low amps won’t crank

[tristanmv]

Hello I recently got a 1950 devon that ran when it was parked 20 years ago. I bought a new battery and yesterday the engine would turn over and fire off of ether but now it won’t crank and it reads 1 amp and the red light is dim. Any suggestions ? Thank you

[Clive]

Hi, If you haven’t already done so, I would suggest cleaning the battery terminals, both on the battery and on the car leads. Also check that the battery positive lead is properly earthed to the car body. The Devon is a positively earthed car, so check your leads are connected to the battery the right way round. Good luck!

• This reply was modified 2 weeks, 4 days ago by Clive.

[number5]

 

Hopefully, you will have disconencted the battery until the problem can be investigated thoroughly-if not, do this as a priority.  Having been laid up for so long, there is a possibility that the cut out coil on the voltage control, (generally the right side coil looking at the unit), may have its points stuck, or even welded together.  With these closed,  it will fully drain the battery, as the power will flow through the windings to earth.  If this has occurred, there is a high probability that the soldered connections on the armature may have overheated and melted out the solder from the coils ends to the armature. The adjustment of the cut out points should be in the manual.  Also, slide back the brush cover on the generator and see if you can detect any solder that may have existed from the coils connections on the armature. Hope this helps. Regards.

 

[tristanmv]

Hello Thank you for your replies. I made up a new ground cable and I checked the points on the coils and everything seems ok. The engine still won’t turn over but the gas gauge lights up and the red light on the dash is dim. What should I do next? Have a good day

[Clive]

Is it just possible the engine has seized? Was there oil pressure when the engine ran, and is there oil showing on the dipstick?

If you have a starting handle, try turning the engine with it, to see if it is free. Do this with the ignition turned off. I would be interested to know the result.

Cheers,

Clive.

P.S., Whereabouts in the world are you?

• This reply was modified 2 weeks ago by Clive.

[tristanmv]

Thank you sir for your quick response. I don’t have the cranking handle but I put a wrench in the slot of the crank handle receiver and I could not get it to move at all. What would make the engine seize up like that. I am from new england usa The car was my uncles grandfathers that he bought new in 1950. My uncle brought it in to get the engine rebuilt and he said it has close to no miles since the rebuild that was in the late 90s i believe.

[tristanmv]

I forgot to add that it made good oil pressure when it was turning over

[Clive]

Hi, It’s a little difficult to tell without the car in front of me. If the engine hadn’t been run after the rebuild, it’s possible the pistons were tight in the bore, and they would have been very dry after standing for so long, and so the piston rings would have seized in the bore.

If an engine has been standing as long as yours has, I would have removed the spark plugs, put a little oil down the bores and turned the engine over a few times with all the spark plugs out.

Of couse this is pure supposition on my part. but it seems feasible to me.

[tristanmv]

Ok I will look into that, would this be the cause of the low amps and dim light? Thanks

[Clive]

Yes, the starter motor would be using a lot of amps if it was trying to turn a seized engine. I don’t know of a way back from this without stripping the engine down.

May I wish you good luck.

[tristanmv]

Dear Clive I went back with a pipe wrench and leaned on it pretty good and got the engine to unstick. The engine turns good now but it won’t turn over with the starter and still reads low amps on the dash. Thank you for all of your help.

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