Car won't start< starter won't crank over

[D Rock]

Car has sat up for a few weeks, battery voltage is good at both the starter and battery. I have over 12 volts at both sources, heres the weird thing, when i hook a battery charger up to it and try to crank the car over the starter makes a weird sound like its trying to start but doesn't have enough voltage, however the starter isn't actually turning over the flywheel. Any suggestions as to where to start?

[MrQuick]

a couple things to check...
~see what your battery volts drop to while cranking.
~check you cables to see if they are getting hot after cranking. check for a loose connection on the hot cable.
~if its a side terminal type battery,remove the terminals and inspect for a powdery residue...powder bad. Don't assume its good just because its tight, make sure the terminal doesn't spin.
~new or reman starter...remember new don't mean squat.

[D Rock]

OK i will check these things today and let you know what i find.

[D Rock]

ok tested the battery while cranking.

lead where the starter wire connects is getting 3.6 volts while cranking.
bolt below the main power wire that leads into starter has .406 volts while cranking. Actual power line has 6 volts while cranking meaning something is drawing on the line. Is my starter solenoid bad?

[David Pozzi]

The starter has a bendix clutch that grabbs when you crank the starter. When this fails it makes a strange noise, the starter goes but doesn't turn the engine.

Other starter failures are worn out brushes, makes a rough sound, draws a lot of amps. Or worn out bushings, the armiture drags on the magnets and this draws extra amps.

Here's a handy chart of battery charge state.
STATE
OF
CHARGE ----VOLTS
100%---------12.66
75%----------12.45
50%----------12.24
25%----------12.06
0%-----------11.89

[D Rock]

Checked the starter, its fine, guess its a wiring problem.

[David Pozzi]

It's pretty easy to pull the cover off the starter end and check the brushes, also wiggle the gear end of the shaft, and observe the end bushing for wear and play. The solenoid wouldn't cause the draw down you are seeing, it can wear and cause a bad connection but that would lower draw.

Check all your connections. The battery ground must connect to the engine block.

You either have a severe draw from the starter, or a bad connection somewhere. Usually it's the positive battery connection due to corrosion but check things out.

I don't know of a test for the solenoid, all you can do is replace it. The starter may run OK when out of the car, but when force is applied to the starter pinion gear, it may force the shaft to one side and create a drag.

Make sure your battery is OK, it can have good voltage with no load, but fail to put out enough amps to run the starter properly. Either sub a new battery in, or use jumper cables from a good battery.
David

[D Rock]

OK thanks, i'll check all of these things today and let you know what i find.

[Chevy]

ok tested the battery while cranking.

lead where the starter wire connects is getting 3.6 volts while cranking.
bolt below the main power wire that leads into starter has .406 volts while cranking. Actual power line has 6 volts while cranking meaning something is drawing on the line. Is my starter solenoid bad?

D Rock, if voltage is that low when cranking, it could be a massive short somewhere pulling the battery down...but more likely it seems to me it's just a dead battery. I have had battery so dead that it won't take a charge and i can't even start car with a jump, and in my case it happened over night. Messed with starter and wiring for a whole day, no luck. Purchased a new battery, droppped it in, fired right up, no more problems...i would swap known good battery in before any additional tests.
Good luck!

[osdmike]

Hi!
Have You checked the battery Disconnect Switch? (if You have one)
Some of my friends had the same problem ,with their BD Switches lately.
The Switches were all the same brand.
Bad quality I guess.



"Osdmike"

[dharrod]

1969 Chevelle 396 .. battery good, starter good, all other electrical items worked fine. After testing every thing I could I Replaced the battery cable with a 2gauge and it starts like a champ. My issue wasn't the battery nor the ground .. it was the positive cable.

[all wired]

I second what David Pozzi said. I had identical problem, turned out to be a bad ground to the motor. but thats not to say that the starter isn't on the way out as well.

[D Rock]

Still haven't figured it out, about to go out now and put a new ground on the block and try again, as well as try a new battery and see what happens. I will let you guys know.

[D Rock]

Got it going, thanks for all the suggestions guys, ran a 2 gauge wire to the block and it fired right up. Guess even though it tests that it has voltage it needs a little more juice.

Thanks again,

Derek

[David Pozzi]

An easy method is to use a jumper cable from the battery to the block to see if a better ground would help. It's allways good to start with a good known battery and clean and tight battery terminals, then check the starter and block connections.

I carry a Harbor Freight battery load tester in my truck for work, I start with a load test on the battery then go to the cables. Sometimes I test by clamping over the bat cable terminals, and it shows bad, then I remove the cable and test right from the battery posts, and it'll test good. This tells me the bat terminal was dirty or loose. I can also quickly connect one end of the load tester to the block and hit the test button, this tells me if the ground to the block is OK.

If the engine runs, I can test for charging voltage too using the same tester. That takes care of the majority of problems I see on the farm.
David