1967 Ford Fairlane starting problem
 

Hi all, new here, glad to be a new member! Would appreciate help if anyone can. My other half has a 1967 Ford Fairlane Convertible planned on going to the 30th year Good Guys car show tomorrow BUT....car won't start! Again! A week ago 1/2 ago, he drove it to my place, was running fine, then he shut it off, went to start it again, nothing but clicking from the solenoid. Battery has plenty of juice. Tried crossing the connections on the solenoid with screwdriver, still nothing but clicking from it, starter bendix wouldn't try to engage, no noise from the starter. Took the starter out, had the local parts store test it, starter was no good, got another starter, put it in, same problem, no starter action, only clicking from the solenoid. Took the new starter back, had them test it just in case, and new starter tested good. Noticed that the wire connections to the battery & to the solenoid were loose & not in good condition, so got new cables, tightened all connections. Battery ground to the block is clean & tight. Yay! Fired right up! Three times, fired up every time. Had to move it over yesterday, started up, ran well, shut it off. Today......day before the car show, back to the same thing. Battery is good, no starting, clicking only from the solenoid, solenoid is new, crossing the solenoid doesn't do anything. I noticed that when he turned the key, I could see the cable from the starter to the solenoid jump, and both cables got hot.What the heck !! Help! :eek:

I believe the starters for a manual trans and an automatic had different housings , make sure the correct starter was installed. Were the end housings of the original starter and the replacement compared to make sure they were identical?

Hi Hanky, Yes, I ALWAYS take parts in as per sample so as to not waste time. Parts match.

The fact that the cables got hot indicate there is a heavy current drain when the relay is energized.What you can try is to eliminate the starter from the circuit by removing the cable from it , protecting it from contacting any ground and see what happens when you turn the key to the start position. If, NOTHING, problem is in the starter, or the cable was making contact with a ground somewhere. Just because the starter was just replaced doesn't mean it can't be bad.

I get the creeps anytime an aftermarket starter is installed, if possible have your old starter repaired/rebuilt by a local starter/ alternator rebuild shop if possible.Never had any problems from them or Ford Remanufactured starters.

Hanky, I'm confused by your suggestion, forgive me as I know a little but also don't know a whole lot too. If the starter is removed from the circuit, then what is supposed to happen if the starter is good? Doesn't the starter crank over the motor?

I will try to make this as clear and informative as I can.
There should be a starter relay on the inner fender. This relay should have one cable coming from the positive post of the battery connected to one of the large posts on the relay. The other large post on the relay should have the cable that goes to the starter.
When you turn the key to the start position power comes to the small terminal on the relay and causes the relay to make the connection from the battery through the relay on to the starter. If the starter is good it will then crank over the engine to start.
Since the cable to the starter moved and both cables became hot , something is wrong. The cables will get warm if you were to keep cranking the engine and it not start for whatever reason.
When you remove the cable from the starter and don't allow it to contact anything , the key can be turned to the start position and the relay will click and pass the current on to the cable that would normally be connected to the starter. Since there is no path to the starter with the cable disconnected, nothing should happen except for the relay to click. That would indicate that the starter is shorted internally. That starter may have tested good a few minutes ago at the store, but it is no good now !
If they check it again at the store and it tests OK, then the cable was touching a ground someplace where it is connected to the starter.
Just to touch all the bases, the cable that connects to the starter should get connected to the one and only post on the starter.

Update
 

Ok, today's adventure was that I replaced the ground cable to the block having found a couple of bare spots on the old one. I had gotten a new ground wire (engine block to firewall) seeing that it also was showing a bare spot. In doing so, had to hold the vaccum tube running to the transmission back to get to the ground bolt & unknowingly loosened the vacuum tube from the tranny. Dear other half crossed the solenoid relay to test whether the starter would work & it sure did! BIG spark came from the starter connection & immediately the shiny new ground wire to the firewall got so hot that it burned a spot through a small non essential wire it was touching. Found that the vacuum tube had dropped enough to touch the starter. Put the vacuum tube back in, electric tape on the small wire & tried again. Again big spark from the starter connection. This time I saw that the spark was going from the starter connection to the close by tranny fluid lines. As a test, put electrical tape over and around the starter connection bolt. Tried starting again & the car fired up, no spark from the starter. Wahoo! Looks like we'll have to find a rubber boot to go over the starter connection. Now maybe we can get it to somebody who is a wizard with electrics diagnostics to research why it drains the battery.

You're in a good place for some possible electrical help.
With a vehicle that goes back to those years you might try removing some fuses from the fuse panel and see if that gets rid of the problem.
If you care to invest in a cheap multimeter , you can pin down the problem with the fuse removal procedure pretty quick. Do you have a multimeter or would you consider obtaining one ?
Does your vehicle have an alternator or DC generator on it?

That tube that got shorted to the hot post on the starter, check it over carefully for a burned through spot. If there is a hole , the engine will have a vacuum leak and the trans won't work right.

I bought a mutimeter but have no clue how to use it, no instructions came with it so looking for a manual online. It is a Innova 3310 digital. Figured it would come in handy when I learned what to do with it. Good idea about the vacuum line, didn't think about that & will check it.

Just about any new meter comes with an instruction booklet. May I ask where you purchased it? If it didn't come with instructions I would return it and get one that has an instruction booklet with it.