More starter problems...

[Anonymous]

Hi all I'm close to losing my mind! I have another Mustang that won't start it's a 200 with a 3spd'r. Before (in the happier days) it used to run fine but after a while it would only crank but not turn over. While the starter was on order I've changed plugs and did the Pertronix coil and ignition module conversion. So with this done my engine would crank but not turn over. And now after a few days the whole engine wouldn't even crank. I have just replaced my starter after instaling a rebuilt starter solenoid thinking that it would start or crank again but...nothing. Please help

 

[Anonymous]

Man, I COMPLETELY understand, unfortunately I have no idea. You see, mine is doing the exact same thing (65 200 cid 3speed). EXACTLY the same situation. I replaced the solenoid (twice), the grounds, the battery, the ignition switch, and the starter - NO difference. I turn the key and the starter just whirrs (technical term there for all you laymen) but never touches the engine. I tried a different starter, same thing.

The problem with our problem is that it doesn't even exist! The whole starting mechanism of that car consists of the following: Good battery charge, good battery ground, solenoid, and the starter's bendix drive drives out the gear which then hits the fly wheel and starts the engine... that's it - mine has/does ALL of that perfects and still doesn't start (which is, as I said, not even technically possible, yet here we are)


Now that I am done ranting and raving, in case your problem is fixable, here are the things you need to look at:
* That your battery has enough charge (it takes a lot) - trying jumping off the solenoid to check (make sure the car is NOT in gear when you do this!)
* That your starter is good - in the right amp range and that the bendix gear is running out all the way (you can jump your starter off - OUTside of your car - with a pair of jumper cables to check that)
* Check the ground wire on your battery
* look at your flywheel to make sure it has no broken teeth (major problem here - that is most likely the problem for most people)
You can turn your flywheel to try to get a good spot that will catch (put your car in gear - turned off - and try to push it backwards - rocking it backwards- this will turn your flywheel).

Also, where did you get your starter and what is the part number on it (a 3131?) I would really like to know that.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me know if you find ANYthing out!

 

[Anonymous]

thanks for the advise. My ground wire on the battery looks great and my flywheel has all it's teeth and is in good condition (save for the thick oil-ish gunk around it)Unfortunately the engine didn't whirr OR start instead I got nothing but a giant spark from jumping off the solenoid and jumping directly from the batt (off the car of course). Now I do suspect having the wrong starter my starter number is 3135 not 3131 as you mentioned earlier. Pretty frustrating stuff here!

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah, I know. The problem is that the 3131 might not work for you either. I have tried the 3135 and the 3131 and looked at a bunch of others with no luck.

Does your starter bolt on with 3 bolts or with 2 bolts?

 

[Anonymous]

It is a two bolt pattern. Do we know where the root of the problem is? The car feels like it's not getting enough juice to the starter. Which is ridiculous since I'm running new wires from the starter to the solenoid.

 

[Anonymous]

Tried jumping off the solenoid again this time I got a tiny "whirr" out of my starter followed by a GIANT spark! tried it again a minute later, nothing tried to start up (key in ignition) still nothing

 

[Anonymous]

Are you not getting noise from the starter? Or just not getting noise from the engine?

 

[Anonymous]

A small victory! after jumping off the solenoid (using screwdrivers mind you) the engine started to crank but it would not turn over (just like when you need to pump the gas to get it started). Tried it again with a new battery still the same thing. I also found that it is useless to start the engine using the key-in-ignition way since I get nothing well, maybe a click/pop noise from the distributor area. To make things more interesting for me the previous mechanic that worked on it removed my vacume advance line to my carb and I also found that I'm leaking gas from the carb/float area on to my intake manifold.

 

[61Futura]

I'm afraid a language barrier keeps me from knowing what you are talking about. First, a starter spins and should engage with the flywheel or torque converter which then canks the engine over which is the same as saying turns the engine over. At that point the engine should fire which hopefully leads to it starting up.

Since your having gasoline pour out of the carb, it will be flooded and not want to fire until you hold the gas pedal to the floor for several turns of the engine. But you really don't want to get it running with gasoline on the engine.

Either your float has a leak and has sunk, or maybe some rust from an old rusty fuel line has gotten in the way of the needle valve so the float can't shut off the fuel supply. You'll have to open the carb up either way. If rust flakes are the problem, use a rubber line between your fuel filter and the carb after cleaning all the rust out of the carb.

Jumping across the solenoid (also called relay) will not give you power to the ignition unless you have the key turned on and the ignition switch works. A better way is to jump from the battery side to the small post near the battery side of the solenoid. this should turn the starter over and supply a full 12 volts to the coil because the solenoid also supplies 12v to the 2nd small post on the solenoid. The engine will kill again when you remove the short unless you also jump the 12v to the 2nd post with a wire or have the key turn on with a good ignition switch. when I turn my engine over this way, I have used a key to short to the 1st post on the solenoid. that post only draws 1 or 2 amps of currnt and the solenoid then supplies the 100 amps or so to the starter. A small jumper wire to the 2nd post will work to keep the engine running but is hard on the points and coil if you leave it running that way for very long. The coil gets 4 times the power that way. Twice the voltage times twice the current.

Steve