 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Maintenance and Repair / December 2005starter turns ssslllooowwwwlllllyyy, no start
Hi, I'm trying to start up my 84 Park Avenue that has been in mothballs for about 6 months, so I can sell it. It is VERY cold outside. I expected the battery to be dead so I hooked it up to my 50 amp power supply. Got headlights, interior lights, dash gauges and climate motor. I hear solenoid. However, when it cranks, I get about one turn every 2 seconds. The terminal voltage at the battery drops about 4/5 of the way while cranking. Then I pulled my brand new battery out of my other car that I have the motor tore apart in and hooked it up with jumper cables. Cranks a little faster, and terminal voltage drops about 2/3 of the way. But still not nearly fast enough cranking to start it. I can turn the motor by hand so it is not locked up. I did not prime the oil pump, so is it possible there is resistance in the valvetrain since it was sitting for several months? Or is it more likely a bad starter, bad noid or bad grounds. I would have my money on the noid given the weather, if it weren't for the fact that I can clearly hear it. >Or is it more likely a bad starter, bad noid or bad grounds. I would have my >money on the noid given the weather, if it weren't for the fact that I can >clearly hear it. The starter in a VERY cold engine can pull hundreds of amps. In this case it would likely just laugh at your 50 amp power supply. A good battery and jumper cables won't be much better. See if you can get the battery in the car charged. Most parts stores will charge it for you if you ask... takes a few hours. Once it is charged if it tests ok your old beast should crank over just fine. Steve B. >Then I pulled my brand new battery out of my other car that I have the motor >tore apart in and hooked it up with jumper cables. Cranks a little faster, and >terminal voltage drops about 2/3 of the way. But still not nearly fast enough >cranking to start it. ... >Or is it more likely a bad starter, bad noid or bad grounds. I would have my >money on the noid given the weather, if it weren't for the fact that I can >clearly hear it. Yup, it was a loose wire. Yippee, the car is gone now. >>Then I pulled my brand new battery out of my other car that I have the motor >>tore apart in and hooked it up with jumper cables. Cranks a little faster, and [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Yup, it was a loose wire. Yippee, the car is gone now. What wire? > Then I pulled my brand new battery out of my other car that I have the > motor tore apart in and hooked it up with jumper cables. Cranks a > little faster, and terminal voltage drops about 2/3 of the way. But > still not nearly fast enough cranking to start it. Cranking speed is not the issue. It was demonstrated in GM's cold-weather lab in the early '60s that an engine would reliably start from stone cold with cranking speeds as slow as 6rpm -- as long as the oil viscosity wasn't excessive. For one reason or another, your starter motor is drawing massively excessive current, dropping the line voltage below the level at which the electronic ignition system will fire the spark plugs. > is it possible there is resistance in the valvetrain since it was > sitting for several months? No. If there were "resistance in the valvetrain", you'd simply bend pushrods. You very well might have overly-thick oil in the crankcase. > Or is it more likely a bad starter Could be that, too. > bad noid Solenoid, no. It's not the solenoid. > I would have my money on the noid given the weather One does not follow from the other. >> Then I pulled my brand new battery out of my other car that I have the >> motor tore apart in and hooked it up with jumper cables. Cranks a [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > > One does not follow from the other. IME a GM starter's commutator gets corroded and fouls the starter motor's brushes. This will make the starter draw a lot of current but turn over slow. The cheap fix is to take the starter motor apart and shine up the commutator and replace the brushes. Or you could change out the starter for another... The battery that the poster has in the car is almost dead. When he jumped it with his other battery, the dead battery took most of the amps he intended for starting the car. It's hard to jump a car with a really dead battery. If he put his good battery in the car it might start. > Hi, I'm trying to start up my 84 Park Avenue that has been in mothballs for > about 6 months, so I can sell it. It is VERY cold outside. [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > money on the noid given the weather, if it weren't for the fact that I can > clearly hear it. Its probably just cable losses trying to start a long-parked car through jumper cables or charger cables with a stone-dead battery in the way. Remove the dead battery and INSTALL a good battery in its place, and it'll probably zip right over. |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.