Member
Posts: 26
Joined: Jul 2025
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Hello All,
I wanted to take a moment to write on this in case someone else comes across it.. Last year we purchased a 1941 Mercury 8 convertible. When purchasing the car from the seller, I was told that she didn't like to start once she was up to temp... she needed to cool down for about 15 minutes or so, then she'd fire up. Admittedly the seller hadn't had the car very long, and was selling it for someone else and had no other information to offer. We purchased the car in July, and so we really did nothing to the car last year... we put about 600 trouble-free miles on it, but always a round-trip home fearing that if we stopped somewhere, we might have to wait longer than we wanted to... and it took me a bit to figure out how this particular engine started. Great first season, but... the hot start issue was something I wanted to address...
Some info about the car... as mentioned, it's a 1941, and as I'm going through the documentation I can see that the engine is likely the original, but rebuilt twice... now with over 200,000 miles on it since 1941. The electrical system is 6v, and I believe that it is in "as delivered" configuration. The hot start issue... when driving the car, once it's up to temp and you shut it off... it would turn over, but not restart for that 15 minutes or so... then it would. Other symptoms... when starting, it would crank slow, then slowly build up speed over a few tries (when cold). Once it was running, she ran great... no issues.
We live in the Chicago area so the car has been tucked away in our garage for the winter. This weekend it was time to take advantage of 60 degree February weather and change the oil. I also wanted to check the battery cables as I had seen that incorrect gauge wire could be a source of the issue. I started the car after it had been sitting for about 4 months (I put the battery charger on it, but it wasn't down very far... just to 88%), as usual, a bit labored, but she stared up. While running I went over to check the battery cable and touched it... hot to the touch, and when I touched it, I noticed a bit of movement on the negative cable going to the starter solenoid. Bingo! Not sure why I didn't notice this before, but okay... I took all of the wires off of the starter solenoid, wire brushed them, and replaced everything. As I'm sure the guys that have been around awhile will surmise, the difference was incredible. I've never heard the car turnover like that.... fast, steady, and of course, the car fired right up. As it's February, and the Chicagoland area loves it's salt, going out on the road wasn't an option, but I did kick the throttle up and let the car get up to operating temp. I turned the car off, and a minute later I fired it back up... no issues.... other than I did need to tap the gas pedal a few times.
I pretty much wore a smile the entire rest of the day. Of course, my wife has told me that we'll need to go for a longer ride, get home and shut it off and restart to see if it still starts without issue, but at first glance, I'd say I've licked the issue. A note of thanks to some members here who've posted about hot start issues in the past... I did quite a bit of searching, and I was hopeful that the battery cable size was something in my head to check... never thought that the car being in it's condition would have had a lose cable, and honestly... it was sort of by accident that I found it... but glad I did.. Just wanted to share my experience so that someone else might benefit! Now I just need to wait a few more weeks for a good rain or two, and some warm temps to get our '41 back out on the road to see if it really is the easy fix. I'll post back with confirmation.
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Kpyto71
02-16-2026 @ 5:42 AM
