1954 Super C Starter Check

My starter stopped working on my 1954 Farmall Super C. It was while I was having trouble starting it due to a defective magneto. When it got hot it wouldn't start. Turned over ok, but wouldn't fire. And it cranking it too much I may have burned the starter motor. I have checked and cleaned all the cables and connections and that isn't the problem. I took the starter off and took off the starter switch, exposing the copper switch contact on top of the starter. I took the battery cable and touched it to the switch contact and nothing happened. So I removed the starter and tried it again with a pair of jumper cables, and nothing happened. I took an ohm meter and there is about 0.4 ohms across the case and starter contact, indicating something is still there and that the coils are not burned off. So, what can you recommend I do to repair it before I go and order a new one? Are there brushes that might need replacement? Or anything else or tests I can do to find the problem?
 
If your meter is very good, .4 ohms is way too high a resistance. It is usually .05 to .1 ohms. There are brushes made from carbon impregnated copper. It is a series wound motor, and is often filled with copper/carbon dust that conducts some. Getting it rebuilt is way better than a new one from the land of almost right. It will need a new (modern style drive gear, and bushings, brushes and the commutator trued. Jim
 
So, where do I find someone to rebuild it? Or are there kits of parts to do it myself? Will an IH dealer rebuild it for me with new parts?
 
Check to see if heat from excessive cranking has melted the copper leads from the field coils loose from the inside end of the copper stud that the starter switch contacts.

If "nothing happened" when you connected power to the starter frame and the copper "pad", no attempt at rotation OR a big spark, your Ohmmeter readings are false/meaningless.

Check out the manual linked below.

http://farmallcub.com/rudi_cub/www.cleancomputes.com/Cub/Blue%20Ribbon%20Service%20Manuals/GSS-1310%20Electrical/index.html
GSS 1310
 
A dealer will only try to sell you a replacement, which you can get much cheaper off ebay or from any of dozens of online tractor parts sellers, including this site.

Only an automotive electrical shop that specializes in working on starters, generators, and alternators will even look at your starter. When they find the burned winding, they will tell you it's junk and not worth repairing.

For future reference, if the tractor doesn't fire in 10 seconds or less, you need to stop and figure out what's wrong, or what you're doing wrong. It could be all it needs is a quick flip of choke, or there's a timing problem, or there's a weak spark problem. Cranking incessantly isn't going to help. It may start eventually but you are ruining the starter in the process, and they're not cheap.
 
pull it apart and take a look at it. They are not that complex. Clean it up good and see if it works. Worse case you get a new one. Keep the old one far parts. My rear cap was cracked. I bought a new one and the brushes were bad in less than a year. I did have some starting issues and used it more than ''usual '' but they were ground down to nubs. I put the old, probably original brushes from the old one in.
 
Parts are available from NAPA and others. Not knowing where you live I can't suggest a repair shop. I know www.redsautoelectricstcloudmn.com is a rebuilder with a historic record of helpfulness. Jim
 
If I take it apart and find some problems inside, are parts from other starters the same? Reason I ask is that I have a non-running Farmall M with a similar looking starter except that the starter switch is not located on the starter motor casing like it is on this Super C, but the holes are in the casing for one of these switches. The switch contact is not on the casing in this location though and the power terminal is on the other end of the casing. Could the starter motor from the M fit the Super C and I would have to fabricate a starter switch? Or might non-functioning parts of the burned Super C starter be swapped out for good parts from the M starter? Or are they different amperage motors with different parts?
 
I think they are different internally. Listings for the C and SC also include the other 113 and 123 CID engine, but not H or M tractors. Jim
 
Ok, I pulled the starter apart and blew it out with the air hose. All of the brushes look ok in it. And the connections all look good including the contact pole to the starter switch. So I assume that one of the windings is burned out. I looked at ebay for Farmall starters and there is a ton of them on there. Including old worn out looking ones that need to be rebuilt, and new ones that all look the same but vary in price from about $99 up to $250. So I looked at the ones on this site, from "Yesterday's Tractors" for about $107. Has anybody tried these and are they any good? I am a little reluctant to purchase any of these old ones from ebay for about the price of a new one as they may all be in the same condition as the one I have.
 
A brush that is stuck in its holder will come unstuck when taken apart. A burned out field will be blackened and crisp. The case should be isolated from the input stud when taken apart, so one brush holder and brush connection should be a direct link to the contact stud, the other should be grounded to the end frame. If you look at the outside of the armature and it shows shiny metal and the inside of a field iron pole shows shiny, the bushings are bad. If it checks out electrically, (as above) get new brushes and bushings. put them in and make it go. The old bushings can be removed by using a hack saw to slice them (short strokes and 30 minutes) or take it to a motor shop to replace them. Jim
 

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