Intermittent starting issue dead in the water what am i missing.
cranks sometime so slow and weak seems like a dieing battery or a bad battery but it isnt. Sounds like it is struggling to turn when problem is there. When the problem randomly goes away it snaps and fires up faster than a second and snaps on perfectly. Motor is timed perfect and fuel isnt an issue. Something electrical is going on and i cant figure it out its driving me nuts.
This all started when i thought the starter on my fresh motor rebuild was weak and failing as it was left over from before so I used it. I purchased and brand new starter swapped them out with the same results so i knew the two working starters were not the problem themselves.
Car intermittently starts perfect as it should one second the next the problem below.
One thing I have noticed if i move the shifter through the gears back and forth sometimes it will randomly restart sometimes it wont. The neutral saftey switch works not allowing me to start the car unless its in oark or neutral so that function works, im thinking possibly neutral safety switch could it partially work but cause a weak signal start one second and full perfect signal the next? I readjusted the shifter to make sure all the gears are engaging and that checks out.
New ignition switch, New battery, new battery cables, new starter, new starter cable, new solenoid and all these components test fine independently.
I jumped the solenoid to by pass the igntion but still causes the intermittent problem like a struggling turn of the motor like its lacking power. When i jumped the solenoid i noticed starter cable to solenoid to jumped each time in jumped it or if i cranked the key I havent seen that before. Also that starter cable get got when that happens too.
I tested the engine ground to battery and engine ground to firewall they all create good grounds. I also test the solenoid ground it tested good as well. Is there another ground im missing? I have been trying to figure this out for a month.
I believe your onto the issue being electrical. Starter relays… goofy sometimes, had bad intermittent ones before. Corrosion inside cables (invisible), question on starter?
Brand new or rebuilt? Maybe try new high torque unit. Grounds… yes you checked, but starter to block, block to firewall, then battery to block again using new grounding washers. Hope this help find the gremlin!
Is this a 351C? Does the behavior change hot vs. cold starts? I’ve found mine to do this occasionally when hot. I high power starter has helped but I try to avoid trying to restart unless half an hour or more of cool down has passed, if time allows.
If you’re sourcing your starters from the local parts store, you might have to step up to a better brand like JimK suggested, or take the starter back to the store and have it tested 2 or 3 times until you can see if the problem replicates on the bench.
It seems like an extravagance, but the powermaster and other higher priced parts seem to suffer less from the contemporary lack of component quality found in over the counter stuff.
I’ve had this problem more over the last 10 or 15 years than ever previously. It generally points to a lack of or lowered quality in QA for reman parts and the world’s okayest new parts.
Yea, this sounds electrical to me as well, if it still does it when jumping the solenoid, then it isn’t the neutral switch or anything in the low current circuit.
I haven’t had much good luck with Powermaster parts either. If you still have the original, have that one rebuilt or rebuild it yourself for another 50 years of trouble free use at a lower price than a generic replacement.
I think you may have a bad cable or connection between the solenoid and starter or a bad cable. One quick but dangerous way to check the starter is using a jumper cable. It is easy to short to the frame or other ground and be certain the car is in park. You might make some sparks if the starter is shorted out. Go from the battery positive to the input post on the starter. This bypasses everything.