Starting Issues - Prob Electrical

[salty_monk]

My car sometimes turns over really slowly, as if the battery is flat & won't start.... Sometimes it does the first couple of rotations really slowly & then runs as normal & starts, sometimes it just runs as I would expect a starter to run & starts.

The battery is good.
The earth strap to engine mount bolt is good & I get a good 12v through it with no voltage drop.
There is a 2nd smaller Ga cable going from the gearbox cover plate bolt next to the starter back to body, that one also displays no voltage drop.

The other week it wouldn't start at all so I removed the strap from battery to solenoid & the one from solenoid to starter & cleaned them & up & the connectors both ends (starter, solenoid etc). There was some corrosion & the straps do look old. It then proceeded to start. I will probably replace these asap (maybe today).

What else should I look at as the next culprit & how do I test them? Presumably it could only be 4 other things:

1. Starter on it's way out... (or perhaps wrong rating for engine?)
2. Solenoid on it's way out...
3. Too much advance at start up (currently running 10 BTDC with a later model electronic DSII dizzy fired by a GM HEI module & MSD "E core" coil).
4. I don't believe this is the case but maybe not enough Cold cranking amps available from battery (anyone know the battery rating I should have?)

Car runs great when it's started!

67 200ci block with a 69 head going to 3 spd column "3 on the tree" original to the 1962 Ford Falcon.

Cheers,

Dan

 

[fordconvert]

The last few times I had that type of a problem it turned out to be #3. Mechanical advance was stuck. If it fired right away it was fine but if it cranked at all I suspect the vacuum advance started to pull in and that was just too much. Easy to test. Just do something to disable the ignition if it does the slow crank again. Do something like pull one of the primary wires off the coil. If it instantly cranks fine then you know its a timing issue.

What part of the world you in? Even in a cold climate a 500 CCA is battery should start one of our 6's under normal conditions. That being said I have a 1000cca optima in mine, I want to be able to drive a few miles on the starter with the headlights on if I need to.

 

[ludwig]

2. Solenoid on it's way out...

Better say 'relay' or the word snarks are going to get you.

You can have the battery checked at your fav auto parts store to see if it is up to snuff, i.e. getting enough juice from the alternator. If it runs fine, it is. Otherwise it would poop out real fast.

Doesn't sound like a bad cell. That would flat kill the battery and there would be no cranking at all. Redondo doesn't get cold enough for you to worry about cold cranking amps, oil heater, electric dipstick, remote temp sensor/starter et al.

You might want to invest in a dwell tach so you can check the advance by gauge and not by guess.

 

[grocery getter]

to check the relay, put a volt meter before ,then after while cranking the engine.

Did you have the battery load tested? have you ohmed the cables? the likely culprit is the starter is bad and drawing too many amps. however a bad cable end or (too small of gauge) will show the same symptoms.

 

[The Plankster Prankster]

i've been having the same problems in my truck. doubted it was the battery (optimas don't do that), suspected either the starter relay or my aftermarket battery cut-off relay.
this afternoon i shut her down for a minute and went to fire back up, got the slow cranking, started bumping hte battery cut-off to see if turning it on-off-on would solve it, after about 15 seconds thereof i noticed smoke coming out from under the hood. turned it all off and opened the hood, found the wire from the cutoff to the starter relay smoking, with the hot spot being at the starter solenoid *problem*
i would advice swapping out the relay first, either new or borrow from your other car.
in my experience it's usually either a switching problem or a bad connection. once had similar symptoms from a wire broken off inside its insulation, no sign of it till i gave it a good pull.

 

[salty_monk]

Thanks for the info... I replaced the battery cable & the cable down to the starter today, turned over great after but I'd run the car earlier in the day so not a definitive test.....

The cable down to the starter is a slightly bigger gauge but other than that it's the same. I tested the resistance of the old cables & came back with zero so we'll see.

I guess next is the starter or the relay or maybe a bigger battery. It's a 500CCA battery that I have on there, holds a charge great & alternator works well.

Dan

 

[Asa]

had the same problem with my truck somewhat recently, it was a bad battery that did it, i swapped the cable, i regrounded it, etc etc
nothing changed until i swapped the battery

 

[Anonymous]

Sometimes it all comes down to the ground and where the cables attach. We all neglect to clean them or put a little grease on them. It doesn't take but a second to put some bearing grease on them to keep away corrosion. Make sure they are tight, not overtight but tight. Usually if something is turning slow it is normally the ground unless the battery or starter went bad. If it has been running good at 10 Deg. you might try and tune it back to 6 deg. That is what most of the 6s are supposed to be set at. I set mine at 10 but turned it back to 6. It doesn't get hot on me at 6. 500 cca should be adequate if all the system is good. If next time you get a battery you could go higher if you want to. Good luck in your quest.

 

[salty_monk]

Thanks again.... maybe I'll add another ground cable too, can't hurt. I'll also try tweaking the advance back a bit with the timing light, see how it runs.

It runs pretty good once it's going with current settings.

Dan