starting probs?

before i sent car off to be painted i was having trouble with sumtimes starting, sumtimes strugling........ now problems was, could get in it anytime of day, 10 minutes after drive or first start in the morning, put the key in turn it over and it would strugle 2 or 3 times to turn over (like a dead battery) then just fire up.... sumtimes wouldnt at all.... but then at other times wouldnt have a problem and fire up instantly.
battery is fairly new, but has been in and out of use when motor was being done and now while being painted (possibly just that)
when i got car back after motor was done, the extra compression in it killed the original starter motor within 3 days.... been replaced with another (dunno how good)
could it be that the starter motor isnt strong enuf?? or sumthing all together different? if so in what ways can i upgrade the starter motor??

cheers again
-matt-

I had a similar thing with an XC Falcon with a baby 250 crossflow motor. I replaced the stock leads form the battery to earth & starter with larger (thicker) ones and fixed the problem. Yeah if the motor has such high compression just slap on a starter form a 351 Cleveland with a remote solinoid. It has 9 teeth and should fit that little XF 250 motor. I know for a fact that the XA-XC's all swapped so I'd say they would be the same. Still I think the stock starter should be OK, they used those starters on the 302's.

335C

yeah an also . . . .

come to think to of it you can get high torque and gear reduction starters but on a crossflow I think that could be a bit of overkill, still, somehting 2 think about

335c

cheers, ill try the leads, and see how i go, it crossed my mind bout those, just never did anything bout it!.. hope u all had a good newyears.... im so hungover!

You definately have the symptoms suggesting a bad earth. The cable from the engine block to the neagative battery terminal of to the chassis of the car should be checked. After doing a paint job or new engine is when it is particularly noticable because there is paint bewteen the terminals and the engine or chassis of the car.

I would suggest going to super cheap and buying a cheap $12 cable. they have fittings on them already and come in various lengths. Attach this cable directly onto the starter, using one of the bolt that hold the starter onto the bellhousing. run the other end to a solid bit of the chassis. scratch the paint of before you bolt it on.

The next thing is to wonder whether you ignition barrel is sucking up heaps of power. I would suggest fitting a 40A relay so the ignition switch just triggers the relay and the solenoid get power directly from the battery through the relay rather than through the ignition.

Also have you ever fitted aftermarket thermo fans? They can cause problems by being on when the engine is hot while you trying to start the car.

cheers mate, nah, just standard fans..... ive got a fair bit of stereo equip in the car which will draining alot of the juice, but i 'try' not to run it while the car is off or during starting. im eagerly awaiting my cars arrival, then ill give these things ago and see what the result is
thanks, another easy question answered

-matt-

A quick way to check if you've got an earthing problem under the hood (visible one anyway) is to run it at night, with the hood up, and to see if you've got any arcing happening. Its pretty visible when it happens.

BTW, an orright set of leads and plugs should set you back $60. Specify EFI plugs, theyve got a slightly longer reach.

Edit: how is your timing, is it heaps advanced?

Hey Matt, did ya get your X-sertimantor X sorted?

X-sertimantor ??????

hey, well nah im still waiting for my car!!!!! i guess ya gotta put up with the wait when ya have a mate doing it after hours.... hopefull within the week tho!.... the ill get everything X-sorted 8)

-matt

have u gotten used to the metrics yet? hahahahahaha