Carrier staring question/problem

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

My Mk.1 Canadian carrier has developed a starting quirk.
Fully charged battery...hit the starter and row-row........row.........er..er.. (maybe vroom)

through a little petrol down the carb and row-row-row vrooommm

What's going on?

[rob love]

Hard to tell by your "row row row", but is that a nice quick "row row row, or a laboured one?

I used to blame many things for the hard starting on a carrier.....bad ground, vapor lock, poor fuel pump/worn pump push rod, tired coil, the difference in fuel makeup since the 40s, even our expectations of how easy it should be to start a vehicle.

One solution I found to my starting problems was to hook the 12 volt battery I had stored in the radio battery box to the starter, and the 6 volt battery still powered the rest of the vehicle. I would put a 6V solenoid controlled by the starter switch to feed the 12 volts through. The vehicle would start quickly every time, whether hot or cold. I have to wonder if the load of the starter reduced the voltage to the coil enough that it made starting (without any assistance like priming) difficult.

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

First case, row-row...(dead battery....wait for it)....rrr..ow. Very lethargic. After a squirt: row-row-row (very quick, what you'd expect if all things were perfect) followed by a nice varoom.

Oh, how I'd love to keep this 6V and original.

Originally Posted by rob love

Hard to tell by your "row row row", but is that a nice quick "row row row, or a laboured one?

I used to blame many things for the hard starting on a carrier.....bad ground, vapor lock, poor fuel pump/worn pump push rod, tired coil, the difference in fuel makeup since the 40s, even our expectations of how easy it should be to start a vehicle.

One solution I found to my starting problems was to hook the 12 volt battery I had stored in the radio battery box to the starter, and the 6 volt battery still powered the rest of the vehicle. I would put a 6V solenoid controlled by the starter switch to feed the 12 volts through. The vehicle would start quickly every time, whether hot or cold. I have to wonder if the load of the starter reduced the voltage to the coil enough that it made starting (without any assistance like priming) difficult.

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

I've been playing with it. Very hot positive (ground) post on the battery.

[colin jones]

Bruce, if you have a hot terminal that generally says it's a bad connection.
Remedy!
Remove, clean thoroughly, bit of grease on the terminal, replace and tighten then check the others.
Colin.

[Lynn Eades]

A good (large cross section) earth strap is supposed to be vital in all 6volt vehicles. Jeeps are an example.
Nice clean surfaces at every contact point.
Maybe run a battery earth direct to a starter through bolt.

[motto]

With only 6 volts you can't afFord to lose any. A hot terminal = resistance = voltage drop.

To watch engine starting and operation through one of those heat sensitive cameras would be an interesting exercise.

David