Starter FE Engine - need help

[Stephan427SC]

Hi guys,
I have stroked FE 390 engine (445cui) in my cobra. If I try to start up the engine, the starter only turns the engine about an inch, then it stops....seems that he wouldn't have enough power, but until last October it worked good....could it be that there's not enough ground on the engine...? Battery is fully loaded.....
What do you think ?

Best, Stephan

[Stephan427SC]

What is the best starter with the most torque for these engines ? which would you recommend ?
Stephan

[SSSammy]

Originally Posted by Stephan427SC

What is the best starter with the most torque for these engines ? which would you recommend ?
Stephan

Tilton $uper $tarter, just to answer the question. Not sure that is your problem. Maybe the existing starter is burned up or not grounded well. Take it off and bench test it. Auto parts stores can load test it. Pull the plugs and put the longest socket wrench you have on the front of the crank and see if it will turn freely (clockwise), just to confirm engine is ok.

Check engine to chassis ground strap for clean connections, and also battery to chassis ground strap.

Sam

[bill37341]

Better hope you are not hydro-locked!

[DanEC]

Might want to pull the spark plugs and see if it spins over OK. If so, your suspected weak starter/solenoid is probably correct. It's always a good idea to check and clean your grounds and connections. Also, even though you believe the battery is good I would hook up a multi-meter set on 20 volts and see what happens to the reading when you hit the starter. If it dives down to single digit voltage you have a battery or some sort of connection problem. Sometimes a battery can seem OK but have a bum cell and won't have enough cranking amps to turn the engine over.

[Racer_X]

+1 on pull the spark plugs and see if the engine will turn over by hand.
Quite possibly a bad battery, not enough cranking amps to turn the engine over.

[Stephan427SC]

In the meanwhile I changed Battery, Starter and relay....doublechecked all cables and ground...all things fine...

I pulled the sparkplugs and I can turn the engine by hand....starter is not able to turn the engine....if I turned by hand and then push the button from the starter, the engine turns slowly.....if I stop and will start again, relay is clacking and starter is not able to turn engine....

Any more ideas from the pro's..?

Thanks, Stephan

[Racer_X]

What gauge are the battery cables? Where does the ground wire terminate? Is there a heavy ground strap between the engine block and chassis?

There could be internal corrosion on the cables at the terminal connections causing resistance.

Could you connect the battery to the relay with another cable as a test, even if you have the battery out of the car temporarily as a troubleshooting step?

Something has changed over time. If you changed out the starter, relay and battery with all known good components, the items left in the equation are the cables and ground connectivity.

My money is on internal cable corrosion. Hard to tell unless you cut away the insulation at a terminal, then you'll usually see green on the copper wire or the white powder corrosion inside the terminal.

[DanEC]

Have you tried jumping the car - positive clamp on the starter relay and negative clamp on the engine? If it spins over OK then it might be something breaking down in the cables - of course if not there is still a cable from the relay down to the starter that could be part of the problem.

When you say you can turn the motor by hand and then the starter will turn it very slowly - do you mean with the plugs out? With all those new parts, if it won't spin over well with plugs out, that would be pretty strange.

Have you hooked up a volt meter and watched it when you try to start it? It would be interesting to know what the voltage does.

[Shootnride]

Originally Posted by Stephan427SC

In the meanwhile I changed Battery, Starter and relay....doublechecked all cables and ground...all things fine...

I pulled the sparkplugs and I can turn the engine by hand....starter is not able to turn the engine....if I turned by hand and then push the button from the starter, the engine turns slowly.....if I stop and will start again, relay is clacking and starter is not able to turn engine....

Any more ideas from the pro's..?

Thanks, Stephan

Stephan,

First off, I'm assuming that by "relay", you are referring to the starter solenoid ?

The fact that you said the relay is "clacking" may indicate another problem. You may be getting low voltage to the coil of the starter solenoid via the ignition switch. If this coil doesn't get sufficient voltage, the high current contacts in the solenoid will not close tightly enough to transmit the high current needed by the starter. It may very well cause the "clacking" noise as well. Try energizing the solenoid with jumpers directly from the battery positive and negative terminals to the coil terminals on the starter solenoid. If the starter functions properly, you need to check your ignition switch/wiring for the problem.

Good luck,

Ted