Of course, when I actually need to use my truck, it won't start. The other day, when I was installing my new instrument cluster, I was in the truck a good long while with the dome light on, and when I tried to start it afterwards, it was cranking very slowly. I jumped it off my car, but it still had a little trouble turning over. I drove it for a few minutes to check out the tach, and came home. This afternoon, I went to start it to run to the dump, and it was barely turning over again. Maybe turning over once a second. I pulled my car around and hooked up the cables, and it turned over a little faster, but not fast enough to start. I let it sit for a few minutes with the cables hooked up and tried again, same result. After trying to crank it a few times, I noticed that the positive cable to the solenoid was very hot. I took the positive cable and the wire to the silver box right under the solenoid (no idea what this is) off the battery side terminal of the solenoid and cleaned the connections real well. Put everything back together, and still the same. When connected to the cables, it barely turns over, and when it's not connected to the cables, the solenoid (relay, whatever, it's called) clicks, and the starter turns a tiny bit, but nothing else. The symptoms are very similar to when my car battery had a bad cell, but the truck battery is only a few months old...

Suggestions?

 

Sounds like your new battery is dead. Depending on where you got the battery, you might be able to take it back and have it tested. Be prepared to leave it there for a while for a thorough charging so thet can test it properly.

 

I just got back from NAPA for testing. They said the battery is healthy, but was only 20% charged. It's on the charger now, so we'll see in a few hours.

 

On newer cars you can get away with running a battery down and just jumping it but older vehicles don't have real high alternator output so you need to run them a lot longer to get it charged up or better yet, put it on the charger. Sounds like you put it on a slow charge, that's a good thing.

 

No dice. I charged it up over night, and installed it this morning. Tried to start it and it turned over once and that's it. Now when I try to start, I get a click from the relay and that's all. I tried starting in in park and neutral, and I pulled 3 of the plugs to make sure the cylinders weren't full of gas or water or anything. They're empty, and the plugs are dry and look good. I don't have the right sized socket to fit on the harmonic balancer to try to turn the engine over by hand. Is there another way to check? Starter maybe? It just seems like the whole time it's just cranked slower and slower and slower to the point it won't crank at all. I have no idea what that might be symptomatic of. The last time I drove it, it was a struggle to get it started, but it ran just fine once it was started.

 

Do any of the battery cables get hot (which would indicate the starter motor is trying to turn
the engine (well, it would indicate it's taking a lot of power, presumably trying to turn the
engine)). Assuming the engine is OK internally, it seems to me the problem therefore must
exist between the starter motor and the battery (including the battery's ground connection to
the block).

Do you have any known-good solenoids? I took one apart once just to see what failed, I
wish I had taken pics. There is basically just a copper disc that connects the two large
terminals electrically, the connection points burn up (as arcing occurs) resulting in reduced
ability to transfer current.

You could also remove your starter motor, set it on the ground and, using jumper cables,
hook it up directly to the battery to see if it's capable of turning. It will spark something
kinda fierce but that's expected (that same kind of arcing occurs inside the solenoid).

 

Ok, so I tried to crank it to see if any cables get hot. Nothing happened of course. I left it in the crank position for maybe 15 seconds to see if anything got hot, and the starter started rattling. Turned the key back off, tried to crank it again, and the starter was rattling again. I got my wife to come crank it so I could verify it was the starter making the noise. When she tried to crank it, again nothing happened for maybe 15 seconds, then the starter started making noise again. The starter isn't turning the engine over, but it's making a heck of a racket. I can't tell if it's spinning and not engaging the flywheel, or if it's just rattling around.

Oh, and the + wire from the battery to the solenoid got a little warm, but not super hot like it was before when it was actually trying to crank.

 

Oh, and the wiring, as far as I can tell is simply, + to solenoid, from solenoid to the starter, and - straight from the battery to the starter. I don't see a ground to the block or frame.

 

Take the starter off and have it tested. It sounds like it's defective.

The ground cables are just as important as the Positive cables. make sure both are clean and tight. Get new cables if nessecery.


On the 300, the ground cable goes from the battery negative terminal directly to the starter mounting bolt. This is where it grounds to the engine. About half way between on the ground cable there is also a ground connection to the frame. If the cable has been replaced with an aftermarket one, they may have eliminated this ground to the frame. You will have to run a seperate ground to the frame. This could be as simple as running a cable from the firewall to the frame.

There is also another ground cable that goes from the firewall to the engine.

All these grounds have to be in good condition.

 

X2!

I had a similar condition on my truck and ended up that the ground had slowly broken but had warmed back up and melted to the starter. If you look carefully there may a white color near the ground indicating an arching connection which will more than likely need to be replaced.

If this is not the case, you may need to check the health of the spark. There are spark testers available.

 

I'll probably have time Thursday or Friday to pull the starter and check it. I did notice that the ground cable between the battery and the starter has a metal plate in the middle, and was obviously bolted to the frame, but the bolt is long gone. Guess I should replace that while I'm in there. I'm considering redoing the cables in that area anyway, since they're looking a little rough. New cables from the battery to the solenoid, from the solenoid to the starter, and the ground cable. I think I have some 4ga wire out in the shed already.

 

That is where the cable grounds to the frame. the metal plate touches the bare wire of the cable. When you get a new cable, you will either need to remove that plate, cut the insulation around the cable in the right place and place it on the new cable. Use some insulation to keep the cable from corroding around the metal plate. Or you will need to run another ground cable from the engine block to the frame in that area.

 

I figured that's what it was. It appears to have been disconnected for some time. That wouldn't have any bearing on my current problem would it?

 

It very well could be. The factory cable likes to corrode at this connection as it wasn't very well protected from the elements. Why I said if you put the metal blade back on the new cable, you need to water proof it somehow to prevent corosion.

A new cable is a very good idea in anyrate.

Testing of the starter wouldn't be a bad idea either. Too much draw on the starter would cause this too. A bad cable would cause a lot of draw too due to resistance.

 

I didn't get to pull the starter today, but I did have a few minutes to fiddle. I didn't have the right size socket to put on the crank bolt, but I grabbed it with a big pair of pliers and was able to spin the engine. I'm not sure how easy or hard it's supposed to be, but there was a good bit of resistance. Not HARD to turn, but definitely required some force.

After I verified the engine turned, I tried to start it again. Again, nothing but the solenoid click. After several seconds of the key in the start position, I got the whirring noise from the starter again, and noticed the tach was reading about 1k RPM. I was under the impression the tach got it's signal from the distributor, right? So why would the distributor be spinning?