[paul2748]

You say it's not the starter, but do you know for sure. In my limited experience, it sounds like the starter. Rocking the car back and forth frees up the starter so it will start again. had this happen to me a number of times in a flathead car.


If you can, next time it happens, pull the starter w/o rocking and see if the engine will turn over by putting a socket on the crankshaft nut.