Starter help

[rob63mess]

I'm pretty sure i have a good ground....and like i said, i hooked the jumper cables directly to the starter. not really wanting to get out of the hobby, but just bought a new house and my time is really limited.....i need something that i can spend more time riding and less time wrenching on.

[Tom]

It sounds like start drag,to me.What was the V-out of solenoid @ terminal?Was it showing batt.V?The voltage drop to 3V at starter is never a good thing.How is the cable from solenoid to starter resistance?Was the other starter doing same thing,or is this unknown?

[gearhead1937]

Is there a way that the starter could not be grounded to the engine? I've had the bolts come loose on a race car, not loose enough to grind or affect alignment, but loose enough to cause hard starting (dragging). I actually noticed it one night in the pits, there were little sparks coming off the stater. Couldn't see it in the day. Tightened the bolts and problem went away.

Also, we used to check starters off the car by using jumper cables and a good battery, a good starter had a different sound than a worn out one. Just a few thoughts.

[Jeff t-boss]

sure didn't, 12 volts at the battery but only about 3 volts at the starter. Hooked the jump pack directlt to the starer and still barely turns over. Actually put it on c-list for sale. if anyone is interested, its on the columbus ohio craigslist site. open to offers or trades

Rob; You obviousely covered all the bases. If you hooked the battery pak directly to the starter and it didn't work, I'd say you should take the starter back to the store and tell them they were wrong in telling you it is OK. Did they do an AMP draw test (Amp draw tests are best done with starter installed) when they checked it, or did they just "Bench test" it? Is it possible they sold you a starter for the wrong application? If you know anybody with an inductive amp clamp and a DVOM, they can check the draw for you. While you have the DVOM, do a voltage drop test on the positive battery cable. Any reading above .2 volts indicates a bad cable. I've seen cables that looked good, but after failing a volt drop test I cut them open and found (literally) a string of rust or corrosion that used to be wire. If you can get the unit on a trailer, take it to a service station and have them hook up their starting/charging system analyzer. They can do the test in about 2 minutes. On a small 1 or 2 lunger like ours, your amp draw (Working) shouldn't be much higher than 60-75 amps. ([B]I'm not positive on that reading, so somebody might wanna help me out there[/B]) Also, If either of the armature bearings is bad or misalligned for any reason, it will not hold the armature true when it spins. On a free-spin or bench test there is no stress on the armature, so the problem won't show. When it is trying to spin the flywheel, that shaft will allow the armature to run against the windings.

[Tom]

Rob; You obviousely covered all the bases. If you hooked the battery pak directly to the starter and it didn't work, I'd say you should take the starter back to the store and tell them they were wrong in telling you it is OK. Did they do an AMP draw test (Amp draw tests are best done with starter installed) when they checked it, or did they just "Bench test" it? Is it possible they sold you a starter for the wrong application? If you know anybody with an inductive amp clamp and a DVOM, they can check the draw for you. While you have the DVOM, do a voltage drop test on the positive battery cable. Any reading above .2 volts indicates a bad cable. I've seen cables that looked good, but after failing a volt drop test I cut them open and found (literally) a string of rust or corrosion that used to be wire. If you can get the unit on a trailer, take it to a service station and have them hook up their starting/charging system analyzer. They can do the test in about 2 minutes. On a small 1 or 2 lunger like ours, your amp draw (Working) shouldn't be much higher than 60-75 amps. ([B]I'm not positive on that reading, so somebody might wanna help me out there[/B]) Also, If either of the armature bearings is bad or misalligned for any reason, it will not hold the armature true when it spins. On a free-spin or bench test there is no stress on the armature, so the problem won't show. When it is trying to spin the flywheel, that shaft will allow the armature to run against the windings.

@ T-boss,that was my next question for him!Good post,I was thinking either to much starter draw or not enough V at starter.Maybe both problems at same time.
@ Gearhead,I too have seen that ground issue.