ok so heres my whole dilema.....got a new battery, fuses are good. just took the starter off and had it checked, it passed. its not starting..dont even sound like the starter is engaging..it would slowly crank then stop, and not nothing...any ideas?. changed out ignition switch, neutral safety switch, horn relay, fuel pump, dropped tank and shecked sending unit. i have an hei accel super coil...any help would be appreciated, could the new battery go bad already from trying to start it like 30 times?...headlight come on and dont dim when trying to start...

 

maybe a bad ground or a fried starter wire

 

what kind of starter i put a robbmc on my car and it would start with charger on it and maybe one two times then nothing went back to the old delco and three years latter still starting good. robbmc said his solenoids took more
juice to work and i would have to put a ford solenoid on it to work . did you charge the new battery fully to start with ?

 

the starter dont need to be grounded correct?..it just have three wires from the starter..battery was new when bought didnt think i would need to charge it more. its a delco starter...

 

We will need more information to try to help you.

You said, "its not starting..dont even sound like the starter is engaging..it would slowly crank then stop, and not nothing."
You need to be clear.
Is the starter engaging or not?
Is the starter turning or not?
Is the engine turning when the starter's turning?
Do you have spark?
Do you have fuel in the float bowl?
Does the engine "kick" at all or just turn?
Have you done any work on it recently?
Did it run fine the last time?
And just when was the last time?

Just for starters...

- Eric

 

yes charge it !!!! clean the ground up at both ends.

 

even a new battery has sat on the store shelf for a while. put it on the charger.

 

yea took it to the auto store to check level..it was at 12.08 volts which is way low..there charging it for me so when i get it back we will go from there..hopefully that is the culprit.

 

I have also taken starters to O Reily's it tested good. Reinstalled it. Same problem, took it to Auto Zone they tested it, tested good. Reinstalled it, and a new fully charged battery, same problem, but would start with a 160amp start booster. Took it back to O Riely, told them of everything I did, a different guy tested it again, it tested good. He wouldn't exchange it. I asked for a manager told him my story, demanded an exhange, and have never had a problem since. Starter was bad even though it tested good 3 times at 2 different places.

 

wow crazy story..im just confused, why would it test good but not work?..got my battery all charged up and still getting nothing from my starter, it was working like 2 weeks ago and just stopped, didnt touch any wires or anything. lights, wipers work fine, no sound like starter want to even engage. does my starter need to be grounded?..if so what terminal do i ground from?..also i believe my engine should be grounded too but i dont see any wires that tell me it is?..where can i ground a wire from the engine to?..thanks

 

ground cable from battery should go directly to the engine,to a alt mounting bolt.

 

I'm sure its a rareity that happens, but it obviously happens when 2 different places tested it and it tested good but was bad. I have seen the same thing happen on an alternator. Tested good a couple times at discount auto parts. Put it back on. Being my dads vehicle that he depended on for his bread and butter, and being electrical problems on a vehicle that was only a couple years old at the time, he decided to take it to a dealership. He got it back about 3 hours later with guess what??? A new alternator and the problem was solved. The dealership was able to tell him exactly what was wrong with it, where discount auto parts testing didn't catch it. It had a short in the rectifier bridge inside the alternator. Apperantly the test equipment you use makes a difference. You know for a peeon to use test equipment, all they get is a GOOD, or a BAD. They don't get to see readings that they can analyze.

 

well i might have to check that.. but its weird why it would pass and not want to do anything when its back onto the car..i bolted it back on, screwed the wires down, turned the key, idiots lights come on, and still no starter ingaging. so i try and use a screwdriver and jump the two r and s terminals and i just get light spark but still no engaging!!!man getting frustrated!!! please help, thanks much forum..

 

Okay, never mind other people testing your starter. You test it.

Hook a jumper to the S terminal on the solenoid and touch the other end to the positive battery terminal.
Does the starter turn the engine over?
Does the solenoid pull in?

Once you've answered those questions, you can begin to troubleshoot.
If the starter works fine with the wiring from the rest of the car disconnected, then it would stand to reason that the problem is in the rest of the car.
If the starter doesn't work with the wiring from the rest of the car disconnected, then it would stand to reason that the problem is in the starter, in the big wire from the battery to the starter, in the wire terminals on either end, or in the battery.

Report back, and we'll come up with more questions.

- Eric

 

yes thats how i would start it before i fixed it, i would jump it directly to the battery and it would run. so i hooked up a toggle switch from that wire to my acc fuse box so i can engage it from in the car. it would run and function fine but now im not getting nothing..i took that wire off and tried to direct hookup to the battery again and the starter does not jump or nothing, this is after i took it off and had autozone test it, which it passed so i hooked it back up, took my new battery off and fully charged it back up...so that where i stand at now...

 

Now we're making progress.

I hear you telling me that when jumping directly from the S terminal of the solenoid to the positive terminal of the battery, the starter does nothing.
Does it do nothing, or does the solenoid click?

Check your high-current connections.
Big wire from the positive terminal to the starter.
Big wire from the negative terminal to the engine.

You should check the voltage from the positive terminal of the battery to the negative terminal of the battery, and then from the positive terminal of the starter (big wire) to the negative terminal of the battery.
It should be the same or within a tenth of a volt or so.

Then do the same from the place where the big ground wire connects to the engine, to the positive battery terminal.
It should also be the same as the voltage between the battery terminals.

The idea is to find out whether you've got resistance inside of one of your cables that is reducing the voltage to the starter. If you do, then you've got to clean the connections, and possibly replace the cable(S).

At this point, you've pretty much reduced it to:
Big cables and connections,
Battery.

Does the starter jump and spin when you put it on the loor and put the jumper cables to it?

- Eric

 

thanks al least we are getting somewhere.. the cables are clean and tight from the battery to the selaniod. tight and clean from the battery to engine.. dont currently have a voltage tester, wires look good, they dont look or feel burnted out or anything..when i directly touch the s cable i dont hear anything, i will drop the starter againt tomorrow and see if i can bench start it. so if im able to bench start it then the starter and selaniod should be good? if good then must be wires, what gauge should i replace my s cable from starter? thanks, really want this beast on the road!!!!