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Lincoln "L" Technical Questions

1929 L Starter problem ITS BROKE
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Michael, 
Re: Water pump packing: Mcmaster catalog number 9518K82  3/16 square braided low friction packing 5 foot spool ~$18.
link to description: https://www.mcmaster.com/9518k82-9518K821

Cut rings by wrapping material around a 3/4" dia. wood dowel or other cylindrical piece exactly .75 in. dia. and cut ends square with a sharp knife. Do not cut on the pump shaft, as it will be scratched by the knife, leading to packing wear. Push rings into the packing space one at a time, The ends will butt tightly. Stagger butts 180 degrees in alternate rings. When you can not push another ring in, push the rings down with the follower piece, using the threaded nut, do not tighten the nut. Back off the nut, pull the follower back, put in another ring, etc., until you can just barely engage the nut with the threads, tighten by hand, then use a big screwdriver or small pry bar to tighten the nut, but not forcibly. then back off the nut and screw it down finger tight. 
Note that the rear packing nut has a left hand thread.  Both nuts tighten in the direction of shaft rotation.

Enough?

Happy Holidays
Al Rustad
There was a change in the packing and procedure in service bulletin, which I cannot find at this moment. The packing material is changed to a square braided type, cut in rings. This has been general industrial practice for decades, and results in superior sealing, and packing rings can be added if necessary, without removing the pump.  The packing is 3/16 inch square, graphited fibre. I got mine from Mcmaster-Carr, Handi-Pak 1030AF  is5 foot spool. It is a low friction style, and seals with very low gland pressure.. I must leave now, more soon
 
So I had the starter rebuilt at Precision Auto Electric in Michigan. All new sealed bearings and completely gone through. They did a great job. I am putting the 29 back together, and wanted to get some advice on how to repack the water pump. I have the 1926 article in the service manual. But I would like to get some additional tricks that anyone has with the experience behind them. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Michael Riley
Ahhhh. . . thank you, makes sense.

The wiring connections are straight forward and readily accessible. The combination switch looks like it can be disassembled and I might get courageous enough to try. It is just so scary you dont want to break anything.
you do not want to connect the armature and field wires together. If this is done, with the engine running, the generator will continue to put out current with the ignition switch off, and the engine will continue to run.  The armature terminal of the switch is also connected to the coils and the rest of the electrical system. It is necessary to break all 3 circuits, which is what the ignition switch does.
 If you did not want to open the switch case, you could add a small relay to close the field circuit when the armature is energized. The field only draws 2 -3 Amps, so not a heavy load.
The later cars, -28 on, have separate ignition and lighting switches, which are easier to deal with. I have no experience with the big Combination Switch on the earlier cars.  
Someone in the LOC can certainly help you with this - probably just worn or dirty contacts.
Thank you for sharing these articles. I used them to sort through my 1926.

It would not crank regularly and after removal & disassembly (looked pretty good inside) I learned that the armature wire is not getting power from the combination switch so it was not (is not?) motoring and therefore not cranking consistently.

The field and armature wires are separate terminals at the combination switch. If they are both getting battery power when the ignition is on can they just be connected (jumped?) together?
Thanks
In the article by Chris W, he speaks about getting an auto electric shop to test the main armature by I think it was called a "growler". Honestly, if this was mine, I would send out the best of the starter/generator units I had for rewinding, grinding and new bearings. You only want to do this job once.
Thank you so much for all the info and help. I will definitely take care of the water pump maintenance also. I have several of the starter units and would like to check them out to see if there are in good working order. Does anyone know how to bench test these units? Thanks again, Michael Riley
Francis, Thanks for posting that. I just spent a week looking for it
The article that Chris wrote up was great. I hope I am not violating copyright, but posted it here as pdf. Agree on the rebuilding your pump, use new seals and retrofit with grease fittings. The rebuilding of the pump and starter are doable and you will have this all behind you.
While the water pump is out, a good idea would be to replace the two ball bearings with new, sealed ones. Make sure the shaft is clean and smooth before putting in new packing. Modern braided teflon packing would probably work well. Packing should be cut into butt-ended rings, with the ends of adjacent rings 180 degrees apart. Again, the service bulletin for July, 1926, has detailed instruction on disassembling the pump and re-packing the shaft seals. 
Another LOC member probably has recent experience with water pump packing.
Chris Wantuck has published a detailed article on the Delco Starter-Generator. I think you can find on his web site: : friartuck@monmouth.com

I am attaching a PDF of the Lincoln service bulletin on the unit
You have no choice but to pull the water pump out. to get at the starter/generator. Here is some advice, some learned the hard way:
1. Olsons gaskets now has a set of water pump/block gaskets, he and I patterned these so they are now available.
2. At the very least, repack the water pump while you have it out, and get a set of stainless water pump drive disks (in the last Fork and Blade). Depending on condition, rebuilding the waterpump while this is all apart may be wise.
3. Now, in a past issue of Fork and Blade, there was a nice write up on the starter/generator. I will try to find this. What appears to happen is if the starter gear is not lubricated, and/or windings begin to fail, then you have the condition you describe. I believe this is rebuild-able and would be interested in how/where to do this. I would love to have a spare on the shelf.
4. Now will also be the time to upgrade the battery-starter cable if it looks frayed or weak.

I will look for the starter/generator article and post as pdf if I find it.

Frank
I have started to take things apart. I have not figured out what has happened yet. After reading the manual( that was not really clear on how to do anything) I have determined that it may be in the starter with the switch that energizes the starter to turn, and I think I have something that has come loose from the starter gear clutch. I have to drain all the coolant (7.5 Gal) so I can remove the water pump , so I can remove the Starter Generator. No one has helped me with any advice.
Did you work out what was wrong?
So the other day I went to start my 29 and it back fired resulting in something breaking in the starter mechanism. following the back fire I let off the starter button and noticed the sound of something spinning. upon using back down on the button the noise went away but the starter would not turn over or make any sound. I have started the disassembly and noticed the gears in the bell housing are spinning when the ignition is on. then if I push the starter button it stops. then the gear just stays there. I started the car with the hand crank and the gears in the bell housing kept turning but were not in gauged with anything. I am guessing that it is an internal issue with the starter or the switch inside that changes it to the starting mode. I tried to find information about the starter but its very limited. I could use some experienced help. Hoping that I can get some before I take it all apart. Thanks for any help, Michael 713-992-1086
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