Kevin Vogel Posted August 1, 2021 Share Posted August 1, 2021 Hello. Need help on replacing the starter on my T-24 Weasel. Never thought the job would be so big and a pain in the $#2&%. Questions: 1. what is the box in front of the starter and what does it do? It has 2 gears in it and I can;t get it off the engine after removing the 4 screws. ORD 9 SNL G-179 PG18 & 19 - Its's "JJ". I need to remove this to get the started out. We can get the cap off, but the "body" won't budge (and dumps oil). 2. Any advice to getting the bottom bolt out of the started? The nut is off and on the rear end side, but the bolt head is under the started and hard to reach. It's making it hard to get teh started out w/ the hull fold in the way. So far we had to remove the manifold, oil filter, distributor and all the lines on that side of the engine just to get at it. This engine is a pain to work on..... Thanks Kevin Vogel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Tipton Posted August 1, 2021 Share Posted August 1, 2021 Kevin - that square thing is the oil pump. It is a pain in the arse to remove (there is a snap ring on the shaft) and you won't be able to remove it with the engine in the vehicle. I have never taken a starter off in the hull - so hopefully someone will chime in. Regards, Patrick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Vogel Posted August 1, 2021 Author Share Posted August 1, 2021 Here is the starter, stuck between the box and hung up on one bolt. Scratching my head... I am not a mechanic, so this little job is now 16 hours and getting nowhere. We also don;t know if we can fix the started or need to find a replacement yet... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Vogel Posted August 1, 2021 Author Share Posted August 1, 2021 Patrick - thanks. I don;t have the means to pull the engine. None of the local mechanics around here will touch this beast. The local tractor place messed things up worse changing the brake bands so I don't trust them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Tipton Posted August 1, 2021 Share Posted August 1, 2021 Maybe I should bring my engine hoist when I visit you. We could pull it. Worst case, I'll bring a working starter and we can replace it real time. The starter will 100% be repairable....one way or the other. Before we go any further, what is going on with the starter that makes you want to pull it? Patrick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Vogel Posted August 1, 2021 Author Share Posted August 1, 2021 Patrick - the weasel was not getting any power off and on for a while this season from the ignition. If you left it a few hours it would start up fine (seemed to be a random glitch). It finally stopped after the last show a few weeks back. No juice to anything but the fuel pump and some lights. (I had a few blown fuses I replaced after the "dead" incident) Tried jumping - nothing. Tried new battery - nothing. Put volt meter on starter and nothing. You turn the on switch and you hear the fuel pump running. Push the ignition and nothing. Not even a grunt. My Step father has been doing most of the work on the Weasel. He seems to know a little more about cars than me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Tipton Posted August 2, 2021 Share Posted August 2, 2021 OK. I would not remove the starter. That being said...the manual suggests that an assistant raise the rear of the engine for clearance - you don't need to remove the engine to remove the starter. I would bolt the starter back up and then focus on solving the electrical problems. I am will to bet big that the starter is not the problem. Let's chat tomorrow - or I can chat with you and your step father. You need to do a little diagnostics.....happy to walk you through it. Patrick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OZM29C Posted August 3, 2021 Share Posted August 3, 2021 @Patrick Tipton Patrick, can I add my two cents worth here? I would suggest that a continuity check be made on the starter solenoid wiring. The wires are; From the starter switch to the starter solenoid (Yellow) and from the solenoid to the Armature terminal on the voltage regulator (white R/T). This rules out one potential area where electrical problems could occur. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Tipton Posted August 3, 2021 Share Posted August 3, 2021 Appreciate it John. They are going back to do some checking - we will chat later in the week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Vogel Posted August 12, 2021 Author Share Posted August 12, 2021 Hello - Thanks for the Help. Thanks again Patrick. We had to lift the rear engine up to get the starter back in (per Patrick's instructions) What a pain....(no way physically to putt the bolt back in) We got the starter to work by bypassing some wires so it seems we have some dead wires. We have started the long process of rewiring the engine and panel. Everything looks original and like a fire trap. We had a brief fire earlier this year near the fuel gage when the fuel line sprang a leak and the Ammeter wire sparked starting her up. Scary. This is gonna be a long job since we only have a few hours on Sat and Sun to throw at this. The engine is still apart as well for now. Thanks.... Kevin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Vogel Posted September 14, 2021 Author Share Posted September 14, 2021 Well...one step forward and 3 steps back....and more questions. We rewired the Weasel. Put the started back in. Ran the engine for a while. Then went for a test run. 2 laps and ok. Started to back up and BANG. The starter blew and the gears shreaded into the transmission. After taking it apart again and cleaning the transmission (no damage we can see). I found a spare starter and we installed that. The gear for the started and the fly wheel don't seam to match up - the gear is far from each other and barely touching (not sure if it will shread the teeth off). Hard to get a picture. Is there a spec. out there for this? Not sure if this is how it was before. Also not sure if we wired it wrong which made it blow up... Last picture is the destoyed started gear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Tipton Posted September 14, 2021 Share Posted September 14, 2021 Kevin - I am betting that the solenoid kept the gear/starter engaged... and then the gear eventually failed. Double check your wiring. Not sure about the fitment issue...are you sure you have a correct starter/solenoid combo? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OZM29C Posted September 15, 2021 Share Posted September 15, 2021 12 hours ago, Patrick Tipton said: Kevin - I am betting that the solenoid kept the gear/starter engaged... and then the gear eventually failed. Double check your wiring. Not sure about the fitment issue...are you sure you have a correct starter/solenoid combo? @Patrick Tipton @Kevin Vogel Patrick I would hazard a guess that Studebaker engineers routed the wire from the Starter solenoid (earth) to the Armature terminal on the Voltage regulator to prevent the starter being accidentally engaged when the engine is running. I too would be checking the starter solenoid wiring. Also I would check that the starter solenoid wires are correctly orientated in relation to their respective terminals. I have attached the VWOM instruction booklet that details which wire goes where. Be aware though that there is a mistake in the VWOM wiring schematic in that the solenoid to regulator wire (white r/t) should terminate on the voltage regulator Armature terminal, not the Battery terminal as indicated. Refer page 101 TM9-772 (4 August 1945) VWM Wiring Instruction Booklet.pdf 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
42rocker Posted September 15, 2021 Share Posted September 15, 2021 Good Luck on the starter redo. Seen a lot of pics of this Weasel in books. Hope it's up and running soon. OZM29C Thanks for the sharing of that booklet. I know I've got wiring issues coming with my Weasel rebuild. Later 42rocker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OZM29C Posted September 15, 2021 Share Posted September 15, 2021 6 hours ago, 42rocker said: Good Luck on the starter redo. Seen a lot of pics of this Weasel in books. Hope it's up and running soon. OZM29C Thanks for the sharing of that booklet. I know I've got wiring issues coming with my Weasel rebuild. Later 42rocker @42rocker Don't get me wrong, the VWOM wiring harness is an excellent product and apart from that one small typo, it was a straight forward task to install the wiring. There is no way that I would install a NOS harness. I initially went down that path and when I started to unravel the harness I could see and hear the old harness insulation cracking. A couple of happy snaps of my VWOM harness are attached 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse Browning Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 My policy for a vehicle going to be restored is to completely dismantle everything and rebuild it as new. This eliminates all those nasty surprises. I never try to “get it running” beforehand. Most of the time that just does more damage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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