Re: Cold starting difficulties

Posted by HH56 On 2010/4/14 9:29:53

The usual cause is batteries are very inefficient when cold so increased or heavier load on starter due to cold stiff engine and lubricant causes starter to pull more current and more voltage drop so just not enough is left on a 6v system to fire the coil reliably or adequately to overcome anything else not to spec. Other than checking the connections and grounds and making sure all are in excellent shape and size including the battery, must say I can sympathize.

The 51 I drove thru high school had exactly the same problem. Did everything you have done except carburetor even to the point of leaving the charger on overnight. The problem was finally overcome by using an external crankcase oil heater that was readily available at the time. This one stuck down the dipstick hole but other types were also available. Plug it in to an extension cord so kept oil warm and it fired like a charm. This was a 10 year old car at the time but I can only surmise that this must have been a common problem because heaters were available at just about every gas station and parts store.