cooked starter

grizwald

Top Fueler
Feb 21, 2008
3,300
0
36
Ontario, Canada
my starter is cooked. when i broke in the cam in the new motor i didn't have heat shield on it and it's only about 1-1 1/2" away from the headers. so now when the starter heats up, it's very slow in cranking and sometimes will not start the car with out a boost. even with a boost, it's slow in cranking. on to the question....what is it that burnt out in the starter? i'm hoping to fix this starter as it's only about a year old. plus i won't have to worry about shimming it all over again.
 

Doober

Moderator
Jun 2, 2003
14,704
1
38
Catalina, AZ
www.cardomain.com
Mine is kinda the same way, so I'm interested in knowing. Mine often cranks over ok still, but after I've been driving the car (just put a heat shield on the first time in 3 or 4 summers driving it) it wants to crank slowly.
 

grizwald

Top Fueler
Thread starter
Feb 21, 2008
3,300
0
36
Ontario, Canada
that's what sucks! this WAS a brand new ac delco starter! that's why i'm hoping to fix it. but, depending on cost, new may be the way i'm going. i guess i could just switch the nose cone to the new one, if i have to go that route.
 

Phantom

Pro Stocker
Oct 9, 2004
1,709
0
0
DeSoto Wi
Make sure you check to see if that bronze bushing inyour old nose cone is tight
 

grizwald

Top Fueler
Thread starter
Feb 21, 2008
3,300
0
36
Ontario, Canada
with any luck, i'll be doing a header swap this weekend, so i'll get the starter out then and see what i can do with it.
 

grizwald

Top Fueler
Thread starter
Feb 21, 2008
3,300
0
36
Ontario, Canada
i'm starting to wonder if there's nothing actually wrong with my starter. let me know if this makes sense.....could it be that when the engine is cold, there's no problem for it to turn the motor over, but once it heats up, things get tighter and the starter can't put out enough power to turn it? although i don't know the exact comp. ratio, i know it's somewhere in the 10 to 1 range.
 

Doober

Moderator
Jun 2, 2003
14,704
1
38
Catalina, AZ
www.cardomain.com
In my case part of the issue was either something with the 27 year old wiring or the old ignition switch (couldn't carry enough current to energize the solenoid). I bypassed all that for now and put a relay under the hood with all new wiring. It still doesn't want to turn over well sometimes when it's hot, but it's much more reliable than with the old wiring (I used the original starter wire as the trigger for the relay). Try this: When it's having trouble turning over, jumper a wire from the hot side of the battery to the solenoid (you may need to wire the solenoid side up when the engine's cold though). If it turns over fine, it's likely something to do with the wiring, like mine was. My starter is an old junkyard piece, so that may be why I'm having trouble when the engine's hot.
 

racecar77

Pro Stocker
Aug 11, 2007
2,438
0
0
Crete,IL
Check your ignition timing. It sounds like the timing is advanced too far and giving you hot start problems.
 

Z-man

Dragway Regular
Aug 12, 2006
1,058
0
0
Barnesville MN/ Fargo ND
just a guess here but would the fact that heat builds up resistance be a factor?
 

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