Wassup y’all, I’m brand new to these forums and I’ve been searching for awhile and can’t find much, I have a early 351w that runs great has a edelbrock avs2 carb, comp cam, and a 1” phenolic spacer to eliminate fuel boiling, and pretty much the rest is stock, I have timing set at 14 degrees of timing with vacuum advance pulled and plugged while I set it, and carb is set 1.5 out on fuel screw, it starts great first try everytime, and it revs fast, runs great, but once I drive it around for about half hour, it runs fine but if I shut it off and try to restart it will not crank fast enough, does a wa wa wa weer wa wa wa weer, I have put a brand new starter, have new ground run from battery ( in the bed ) to the Frame, from frame to block, and starter to frame, and battery to frame in the back. I have 0 gauge wire due to it being in the back. If I put direct power to the starter from a fully charged battery, it still won’t crank while it’s warm, I believe it is heat soak so I ordered a heat blanket for it and will try it tomorrow. I just want some advice in case it doesn’t help. I really want this thing to be able to start because it’s my wheeler and I can’t be dead in the trail, wouldn’t be very fun lol. Idk if I’m having a vapor lock issue, if I hold the gas down either slightly or fully it doesn’t change anything, and putting fuel or starting fluid down the carb doesn’t help with hot start, so I’m pretty sure it’s not vapor lock, if I use a jumper box that has 1200cca it will start hot, but I can’t buy a 1200cca battery so that’s not an option. I’m sorta lost just need help.

 

by starting with the addition of the jumper box, it may just need another battery.

 

Sounds like either your starter is getting to hot or the battery needs to be bigger.

 

Could I just run a second battery in parallel with my existing battery? Or do I run the second battery in series with my existing one? I put the heat blanket on with my brand new starter took it out for a drive and it still cranks slow.

 

Could a bad starter relay cause resistance?

 

Parallel ONLY.

Before you do anything, do a voltage drop test on the ground cable, I'd be willing to bet money having the ground cable not going directly to the engine block is where your concern is.

That cable needs to go directly to the block, preferably near the starter.

 

I need a ground cable from the battery to the block ?
I replaced the starter solenoid and I rerouted my fuel lines away from any heat, and it is now starting every time but still doesn’t crank as fast as it should.

 

High resistance exacerbated by heat. That frame does not provide a proper ground. Ford is notorious for issues with grounds it was supplied by the oem, you added another.

 

First off welcome to FTE
2nd it is not a fuel issue as adding more did not help. Fuel has nothing to do with how fast a motor cranks.
3rd do a voltage drop test it will tell you just were the problem is and you then dont throw parts at it, but is sounds like you have done that already with the parts.
4th when this happens try removing power to the HEI distributor and see if it cranks over normal, if so you have too much timing at 14* BTDC, that sounds like a lot for a v8 what is total timing at 3000 RPM?

I have run the ground to the body on my drag car with the battery in the trunk and then body to motor and never had a problem.
I dont see why you cant go to the frame at the battery out back and then from frame to motor, by starter would be best and a 10 ga. wire from motor to body to ground the cab.
The picture of the frame ground by the motor looks kind of ify and would pull it apart and give it a good cleaning.
Good luck
Dave ----

 

I cleaned every ground point till every surface was clean and clear, I added a ground from the battery directly to the frame, only about two feet of cable, I cleaned the ground points coming from the starter face, the starter ground, and I can’t seem to find a ground coming from the block to frame. Should I add one just in case?

 

I added a heat blanket on the starter, and I bumped my timing down to 12* and it’s starting fine now, but it still just doesn’t seem to crank as fast as my buddies 351w in his truck.

 

yes, you need a ground wire from block to frame ........especially if you are using the frame as your grounding system.