Hi all,
Need help pls. Car wouldn’t crank. The previous battery died a couple of days back. Put a new 630 amp battery yesterday. Was working fine. Was noticing the ignition (starter / self) would sometimes feel like slipping and making a whirring sound. Would need to turn off ignition and turn again.

just now I parked and the car wouldn’t crank. The recovery guy came to check. The battery is ok (still showing 12v). The wire that goes from the top to the bottom (through the manifold pipes) at the terminal of the starter shows 7 volts. I don’t know. Is the wire bad ? Is the starter fried ?

I now have to toe it home :-( (what a bummer). Wait for the weekend. Not many knowledgeable mechanics / electricians here in the U.K. and I don’t know much too. The access to the starter is too tight (the manifold / exhaust pipes make it difficult to reach, and also access from the underneath is too tight too :-)). The recovery guy tried giving a good hit to the starter from too and bottom but it didn’t help either. He said it is a risky job trying to run a new wire to the starter (12v with all the metal running around and fuel lines etc - maybe he didn’t want to take the pain).

Any suggestions / series of checks that I could ask the electrician / mechanic to attempt ?

Any help will be greatly appreciated ! Thanks :-)

 

Place charger on battery overnight. Battery should show 12.6 volts across posts, min.
New battery may not be fully charged and also check recharge voltage on battery posts with engine running at 1500 RPM.
Meter should read minimum 13.8 volts.
Might wire brush inside of clamps and posts also.

 

Does your car have stock exhaust manifolds or headers?
Big blocks with headers are notorious for heat sink killing starters and starter solenoids is why I ask.
There are a number of fixes for that but if you don't have headers we'll move on.
The "whirring sound" makes me wonder if the starter drive clutch isn't gone,have you had any backfire issues when starting? That can kill the starter drive.
Chevy starters use shims to fit correctly to the teeth on the flywheel,have you noticed any grinding or binding sounds when starting?
​​​​​​​A bad fit can knock teeth off the flywheel and then you have a bigger problem,whenever I have a bad starter if it was a proper fit I get it rebuilt because replacements are a crap shoot for fitment.

 

@Y2Keglide

Thanks a lot. I guess it makes total sense.

Mine has performance headers and I suspect the heat has damaged the wiring to the starter (and possibly the starter too).

I don’t recall having back firing issues but may have had. The car definitely had been taking more than 2 to 3 attempts to start. Maybe it was cold too, hence I will need to pump the paddle a couple of times.

The starter would almost always feel to slip a few times, as if doing it’s job half heartedly (trying to crank a bit and then slipping. As if your foot slips off a bicycle’s paddle and it goes round a couple of times free). Hence I would need to turn the ignition / key all the way back and then turn it again. It would take three to four such attempts.

 

Well I suspect the starter needs rebuilt,there are options to buy high torque starters and mini high torque starters that are smaller,there are various heat shields available and wraps for the headers as well. I would probably have yours rebuilt if it is a good fit to the flywheel,be sure when you pull it to keep track of any shims and get them back as they were when reinstalling.Then I'd go with a heat shield to protect it from the headers and maybe a wrap on the header near the starter.
As for backfires,it only takes one to knock out a starter drive so be careful with pumping the pedal to start especially if you have a big Holley double pumper.
I always preferred a manual choke on my big block Camaro back in the day,a couple pumps and pull the choke she'd fire right up then ease the choke in just enough to keep it running for a warm up.I had a big solid lifter cam and double pumper that didn't like to idle below about 1200-1300 rpm especially cold.

https://www.summitracing.com/search/...-size/6-5l-396

 

Also may be lack of enough current between battery and starter. Both battery cables should be a minimum of 2 AWG size.
Cable do have resistance within itself and it does absorb DC current.
You look for 1/0 cables, as larger wire size, less power absorbed, more power for accessory.

 

Thanks. Well there is 12 volts showing at the beginning of the wire going to the solenoid switch. However there is only 7 volts showing at the terminal of the solenoid/starter. Could it be that the wire is faulty somewhere in between ? Or maybe the starter is faulty and hence killing the voltage ?

 

Well swapping out the wire is probably a good idea anyway if it's old and it's cheaper than rebuilding or replacing the starter.
I'd probably replace the battery cables and associated wires with a new starter anyway if they are very old.
Given we are talking a 50 year old car unless they've been gone through already I'd replace them.

 

Thanks a lot. Agreed.

Any ideas as to how can I find (good heat resistant) replacement wire for the starter ? Or battery cables. Provided I am in U.K. and my only bet may be to eBay these. If I end up getting wrong specs, it may mess up other things / compatibility ?

Thanks again.

 

RockAuto.com, Carparts.com, Napa.com,