my truck is having issues starting. originally i thought that the truck didnt ever want to start, but it seems its only after the motor gets up to temperature. i thought maybe the starter solenoid was at fault, but seeing as how it clicks several times and does nothing, and then on the next try it starts up like there was nothing wrong. its unnerving and its getting worse. i made no changes to my truck from before it started doing this...it just started. im using the stock log style manifold and have not even been down in the drivers side of the engine bay. any ideas? eric
well I am not seth, but I will try ****Mikes Puts on old man Costume ********* B) Have you Checked all the Connections a lose connection could cause this have you had to battery Tested? load tested? (not just a DMM to see if it read 12v) I know those ot basics., but that is always where I start,
i did recently have the battery load tested, but that was a few months ago, and the battery-alternator-ground wires have all been changed. eric
I did not ask if they were changed a LOOSE connection, even slighly, can cause issues like that... I would take a Wrench and Tighten all Connection from the Batter to the Alt. to the Starter etc etc etc etc etc and Check for Corrosion while you do
Therein may lie the problem. I would remove the ground wire and sand the ring terminal... be sure it is grounded directly to the block, not to the aluminum timing cover, or any bracketry. A guy I work with stuck a motor in a Chevy truck last week... SOB ran great, took it for a test drive blah, blah blah... he brings it to the inspection bay, runs the tailpipe test on it and shut it off. 15 minutes later he went to start it and all he got was "chink" like the starter was trying to spin the motor, but couldn't. Him and the boss frigged with it for a few hours figuring the starter (didn't fix it) and then they had hydrolock on the brain. After pulling all the plugs and finding no water in the cylinders they called me over. I hooked up the load tester and looked at the current draw and voltage... voltage hardly dipped, and the current jumped to 600 amps then immediately down to about 30 amps... We pulled the ground cable from the aluminum bracket on the front, cleaned it and some steel on the block and attatched it there... problem solved. if that doesn't cut it there may be a solenoid issue... but my thought is just a poor connection.
well, i will check these connections, but there's a few things that dont add up. i changed the way the wires were run several months ago and have not had issue. i have gold sidepost terminals on my battery now, so everything outside the battery has a solid connection. as for grounds, my battery is grounded through the alt chassis directly, and then from the alt chassis to the frame of the truck. one though i do have is that where the ground on the frame hits the ground that originally went from the block to the battery negative might not be solid?! i dont know if that makes sense, but ill draw a picture and post it here in a few minutes. eric
I know what you mean... there is a stud on the front of the motor mount bracket that houses the ground... I'd try a differant location, but that is factory of course. Grounding to the alt case is great for the charging system, but not for the starting system... bear in mind current has issue flowing through aluminum (alt) and all kinds of painted brackets (there are a ton of brackets on your alt )... but with all the extra ground you should likely not have a ground issue anyways... Sometimes a solenoid will do that too.
well, i did not remove the block to battery ground that is on the motor. i simply took it off the battery ground and moved it so that the battery end met up with the ground from the alt and the battery. don't know if that makes any difference...besides, its all 2/0 with gp terminals eric
I've found the problem to generally be gremlins. Nasty little things too, they can live in areas of your motor that you'd consider uninhabitable. The fuel mixed with the oxygen just makes them disoriented and uninhibited, and who can predict what they might try to break when in that state... Sometimes, changing your oxygen sensor can solve an overly-rich mixture issue, minimizing the fuel and therefore their drunken stupors. The worst is when they mess with your PCV valve. Just remember - Gremlins die when exposed to direct sunlight. Saw it in a movie (er... you're probably too young for that one :lol: ). Might solve your problem, if all this logic and reason doesn't work out for you.
Just remember also... paint is an insulator. If you moved ANY grounds - or even if you didn't - what you want is bare, metal-on-metal connections. Anything less might be a compromised connection. A wire wheel on a drill is usually the most efficient means of stripping paint locally... and just remember after you make the connection, to paint over the connection, or maybe grease over it, to prevent corrosion... very important in the engine bay, exposed to the elements. B)
chris, i use a dremel and a sanding drum. seems to work well for me...and then i spray paint the hell out of it after putting a bit of rtv in there to seal the wire itself so it doesnt corrode. eric
