Slow crank/none start after car has warmed up

[Blandnuts]

I'm leaning towards the starter being bad, but here's the story.

When I went to first start the car while cold, volts read 11.88. I'm checking the grounds and postives at different places throughout the starter system (battery, solenoid, starter, body....) The only increase I had was when I used the ground in the back of the block going to the firewall 11.89 volts.

Now when I started it (while cold) I read a steady drop to 10.23 volts. I would let it run for a few seconds and then try another spot on the starter system, which were all basically the same.

All this time the car started right up no problems. I then let it run for a while to get to operating temps. Charging system reading 13.30 volts roughly.

I then turned it off and turned the lights on to get rid of the surface charge. Battery read 11.92volts.

Went to start it and it had a slight hesitation, but started. Volts dropped to about 9.4 volts.

Tried this a second time and it cranked as if the battery was dead and volts dropped to about 6 volts. It continued to do this for the next few times I tried with the volts getting slighty lower from the draw. While doing this the car would turn over slowly, not do anything, basically acted as if the battery was dead. I never did get the car started during this. When I finally stopped the battery read about 11.50 volts.

Now for some answers to possible questions
-shorty headers
-race crank pulley
-year old solenoid
-battery about a year old (has been checked and came out fine)
-starter is about 2 or 3 years old (90 style starter from discount)
-year old posi cable
-the rest of the wiring is stock (to starter and neg ground)


Let me know what y'all think.



Fred

 

[srothfuss]

In your list you state that you have a 1 year old postive battery cable. Is this the one that runs from the solenoid to the starter?

Heat seems to be your problem. Considering, when you report a voltage drop to around 6 volts on a healty battery. As heat (in electronics) increases, so does the resistance. Thus, the more resistance then the greater the voltage drop. Which would lead to not enough power getting thru the starter motor

But if you say that this cable is new, than maybe it is bad wiring in the starter?

 

[Blandnuts]

The new positive wire I'm refering to is from the positive battery post to the solenoid. The wire to the starter is the original wire. When I tested the wires I had the same volt draw at the solenoid as I did at the starter. It seems to me that I'm getting the power to the starter....


When I did a search on this, it seemed like a few people were having the same issues but they usally had LT. Some even said the problems continued even after a new starter (aftermarket). I never had this problem before and I used to deliver pizzas with the car a few years ago.

I also found my reciept for the starter and it's about 3 years old (lifetime warranty). I would have them test it but my luck they'll say it's fine since it will be cold when tested.

I'll have a chat with one of the techs and see what he says.


thanks
fred

 

[srothfuss]

My guess is on that cable and or the starter. You can also check JRichkers cranks ok but no start list... although, I think your problem lies in one of those two pieces.

~good luck

 

[HISSIN50]

I probably missed the boat but it sounds like your volts are low across the board. I hate using volts to determine anything with respect to load, but I would consider getting the battery bench tested. You might have a cell on the outs.

You can check cables real easy by running a jumper in parallel with a given cable. If things improve, you have found a cable that needs some help.
Good luck.

 

[troyGT03]

get the battery load tested.

 

[Blandnuts]

I have a battery tester at my work and the battery checked out fine. A normal car should have around 12 volts while sitting. When you start it, the volts shouldn't drop below 9.6 volts (this figure varies depending on outside temp).

I'm probably going to get a new wire to go from the solenoid to the starter just for the sake of it, but it does seem that the starter is "failing" while hot.

I'll get the car to fail tomorrow after work and try and jump the starter at the starter and see if that does anything.

Anyways, thanks for the help again.

 

[Blandnuts]

I'm using a ford dealerships battery tester and it checks out fine.

 

[RsStanG1987]

Im saying that you have probabbly a bad negative cable... My car had the same prob till i fixed it..

 

[Blandnuts]

Well, I went ahead and got the starter replaced and it's all good now. Thanks for the help.




Fred

 

[Oldskool]

It's possible that the problem was a poor ground at the starter and not a bad starter. By changing the starter, the poor ground problem may have been solved simply through renewing the ground to the block when the new starter was installed. I struggled with poor hot starts until I ran a separate ground to one of the starter bolts.

 

[Blandnuts]

That's possible, but the voltage draw is what leans towards a starter problem. I had an amp meter on it while I cranked it, and it pegged the meter (easily over 700amps).

I've had a few friends who had problems with the ground on the back of the block to the firewall. They would have starting issues both cold and hot. After fixing the ground in the back, the problem was fixed.

If I have spare time I'll lessen my ground on the block and check some draws on voltage/amps and see the results....Yeehaw, what a fun science project.



Fred