79 ford 460. At the tail end of an engine swap. The starter is brand new. I clamped Jumper cable from - battery terminal to outside bolt hole on starter. I clamped Jumper cable to + post in starter and when I touch the other end to the + terminal on battery. I get nothing but a little bit of sparks and decent amount of heat on spring clamp. Battery was tested and is good. Any idea how this can be?

 

Is the engine in the truck? Or on the stand? If in the truck, why are you using jumper cables? Do you not have battery cables to the starter?

Have you tried to turn the engine by hand to make sure it is not locked up?

 

Ok, so you bench tested the "new" starter and got sparks, heat and no engagement. (Good for you to test the starter before installing it).

Just because something is "new" doesn't mean it'll work right or is good. Bring it back to the store you bought it from and have them bench test it.....

 

Oh, jeez, FB, I missed that. He is bench-testing the starter, I thought since he said "at the tail end of an engine swap" that the starter was on the motor.

Starter is bad - take it back.

 

I tested the starter before I was going to install it. I did turn the engine over by hand and it moves with maybe 50-80lb of torque.

This is the 3rd starter iv messed with. The first one was the original and was working prior to the engine pull. After wiring it all up i went to start the truck via ignition switch and it jumped up and turned over the engine but was working pretty hard. Battery was pretty low so After a quick charge of the battery I went to start it again and I got nothing except the solenoid jump. I pulled the starter and bench tested it and got nothing but sparks and heat I then pulled the battery and had both tested. Battery was good but starter failed one of the engagement tests. So I bought a remanufactured starter, I bench tested it at home and it failed. So I returned it. Then bought a brand new one and bench tested it, and then made this post. I'm thinking the battery might be bad and maybe the guy who tested the battery just sucked... not really sure.

 

Definitely have the battery load tested as well as the starter.

You didn't say if yer 460 has been "broken in" already.....as in she's got a few miles on her, or a recent re-build. A recent re-build will leave the engine pretty tight and a bit hard to turn over.....will draw a lot of starter amps and could wreak havoc on an old battery.

 

jas88: I can't tell you how many things Ive missed over the years........one being my virginity. Lost it somewhere and can't find it.

 

It doesn't take much battery to run a starter on the bench. If it won't engage, it's bad. The quality of rebuilt and even "new" starters is pretty much crap these days. My son's truck went thru 2 rebuilds and a new one in about a year. I finally bought 2 gear reduction starters from a place on eBay (can't remember the name but they've been mentioned on several posts here) and put one on the truck and one in the toolbox as a spare. I did the same thing on my truck as the starters I put on it never outright failed but they always sounded weak and slow. The downside is now my truck sounds like a 70s Mopar when I start it. :-)

 

Thank you guys for the advice. I hooked the starter up to a jump box and it worked when I turned it on. So I decided the battery was ****, even though it tested good at auto zone. I bought a new battery and bench tested it with the jumper cables again and oh my **** it still won't work. I'm completely dumb founded. So I'm assuming now it has something to do with the wire gauge I'm using... the whole engine swap has gone swimmingly up to this point

 

I hooked it up and motor turns over. Even after the battery tested good. Not sure what that says about autozones battery tester... eitger way it Feels good to hear it want to start after 9 months of not running. But problem I'm having now is the solenoid stays engaged causing the starter to keep running even after I pull the key from the ignition switch. I bypassed the ignition switch by a jump wire from 's' on the solenoid to the + on batt and it was still staying engaged after i pulled the jump wire... I'm assuming than it's the solenoid but this one I got new about a month ago... curious if the starter isn't exactly aligned will it stick to the fly wheel and cause the solenoid to not disengage?

 

The 'S' terminal on the solenoid allows battery voltage to be applied to the starter by closing the contacts inside the solenoid.....from the ignition switch.

Sometimes these contacts can "fuse" together causing a starter run-on type deal, as you've noticed. Give the solenoid a few good whacks with the plastic end of a screwdriver....mebbe it'l loosen 'em up.

The 'I' terminal on the solenoid will temporarily allow battery voltage to the coil when in START. That's it's only function in life. With the key in RUN, battery voltage is bypassed and handed over to the ballast resistor wire circuit allowing ~ 5-9 VDC supplied to the coil....DSI and DSII OEM ignition systems, anyway. These are the two circuits involved with the 'I' terminal....one is START, the other is START bypass....or in the RUN position.

Also, be sure to have the solenoid grounded well to the fenderwell....no painted surface, etc.......can cause problems if not.....

 

Thanks man. I managed to figure out the issue. First your right, if the solenoid is not properly grounded it won't work. I had a bad chassis ground so I made a new ground wire. That solved the problem when I jump wired the solenoid. But I was still having a problem at the ignition switch. I assumed the truck being a 1991 it was a straight wire from the ignition switch to the solenoid. But I guess it went to the computer first maybe, not sure. But I just ran a whole new wire from the switch to the solenoid and that seemed to make it work like it should. I can't wait to fire this thing up!