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Old 07-03-2005, 10:52 PM
riquiscott riquiscott is offline
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Location: Norfolk/VA
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Default Sound of a dying starter?

Yesterday, I was repeatedly cranking the engine (a 440) while troubleshooting a fuel problem. I tried to limit how long I cranked the engine to a few seconds at a time. After doing this a while, the starter would begin to turn the engine over, but then it would disengage and spin free. It soon got to the point where it wouldn't turn the engine at all - just spin. I cleaned all of the contacts and made sure all of the electrical connections are tight, but now, all I get is a "clicking" that sounds like it's coming from the solenoid.

The main lead from the battery to the starter is 6-gauge, and it's getting pretty hot - hotter than I would think is normal for a few seconds' worth of cranking.

I have a new hi-torque mini starter that I'm going to put in tomorrow, but since I have to raise the engine and remove the header to get the old starter out, I thought I'd see if anyone had any ideas.

One other thing - the battery is fully charged, and jump-starting it off of a running car to get a few volts extra didn't help either.

Thanks,
Scott Gardner
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Old 07-04-2005, 12:45 AM
Walkercolt Walkercolt is offline
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6 gauge to the starter is good way to burn one up especially on a BB. Replace that with a 4 or better 2 ga. wire and battery cables to match. Make certain your ground is good too. One to the block and one to the frame. The peak draw on a starter is over 100 amps, sometimes as high as 200. You need a darn big cable to handle that juice. Sounds like the solinoid is cooked and the bendix is sticky. It's probably better to replace the thing with reduction starter rather than mess with it unless you're going for a show car. A real electrical house can re-build the factory starter to better than new, but for a price.
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Old 07-04-2005, 02:28 PM
riquiscott riquiscott is offline
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Thanks for the tips. I replaced the starter this morning (not as bad of a job as I had thought it would be, even with removing the headers and raising the engine.)

I replaced the main starter wire and connection with some 4-gauge and a soldered terminal, and replaced the solenoid wire with 12-gauge while I was at it. Bolted everything back in place, and the new starter works beautifully. I re-built my carb last night, so today was the first time in two years that I've had the engine running. She's backfiring at idle, but I suspect I just need to dial in the carb, or I may have a bad plug wire.

Thanks again!

Scott Gardner
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