Okay, I'm re-wiring my whole car, with the bare minimum wiring required to run and be street legal. Having some problems, here's whats happening:

Battery seems to lose charge VERY quickly. I never had a problem with the battery before, I'm wondering if there could be a short somewhere, or if the battery has just gone bad. Anyways, I hooked up a battery charger, flip the switch for the electric fan or the fuel pump, and i have power, they turn on and run great. I dont have the coils hooked up yet so it isnt going to start, but I hit the start button, and I hear a click followed by a wrrrrrr noise, like the starter is trying to crank and pulling a lot of power but is unable to turn the engine. (no, its not carbon locked or anything, I can turn the engine by hand.) So the starter isnt cranking.

-Is the battery bad?
-Could the battery cables be bad?
-Is the starter bad?
-Anything else to check for?

 

You have a power drain somewhere. Get a test light. Remove your positive battery cable, Hook the test light to the battery post and touch it to the cable terminal.

If you have an aftermarket ECU or any stareo equipment, you may see the light glow faintly, With the test light still connected and touching the cable, touch the cable to the battery post and then take it away from the post... If the light stays lit, Start pulling fuses till it doesn't stay lit... That's how to find out what's draining power.

For the starter. Test it. If it's good, check your wiring... Try cranking while the lights are on. They should dim considerably if the starter is pulling power.

 

if you hear the starter spinning, but it just soudns like it is spinnign freely it may be the solenoid that engages the started gear to teh flywheel is not workign correctly.

 

sounds like a short and a bad battery.

 

the only things that are connected to the car right now are wires going to the starter, to the fan, to the fuel pump, and to the switches that turn each on and off. I havent attached any fuses, headlights, ANYthing else yet.

That said, the garage lights dim slightly when the starter is engaged (battery charger is hooked up), so it is drawing lots of power. Its just not cranking at all, you can hear it click and engage with the flywheel, but it doesnt turn.

Ugh, I'm gonna go try bypassing the battery cables, hook the battery charger directly to the starter and see what it does. If that doesnt work I'll pull the starter and swap it out.

 

Ah, THAT I can help with

A click, but no turn.

There are two things that have to be hooked up on a starter. The first is a large positive from the battery. This will provide the power the starter needs to turn.
The second is a small positive from the ignition switch, this is what activates the solonoid and tells the starter TO turn. Both have to be hooked up, and properly, for the starter to work. Here's a pic someone kindly posted to help *me* out this week with the same problem



There is a clip on top, and two bolts below the clip, on the Solonoid (the top cylinder). The clip on top is the positive from the ignition. The coil that has the braided wire going into the starter body you don't touch. And the other bolt is your direct current from the battery.

When the clip gets a small positive feed from the ignition, it "opens the gate" so to speak, between the two bolts. The positive goes in one bolt, out the other and into the stater, causing it to crank. (as far as I understand it)

Hope this will somehow help.

Careful how you hook the battery charger directly to the starter... I've blown one by doing it the wrong way.

Jon

 

hmm, this is wierd. I pulled the starter off, and tested it, it works just fine. So it works fine off the car, but once installed, it doenst work. ???? I dont get it. Why on earth would the starter work fine out of the car but not in the car, when powered the exact same way?? This is NOT making sense.

 

AAARRGGHH!!! I think i should just pull the starter off and rig up a pull start, lol.

 

just attach a crank handle out the front like the old 20's cars .

 

Okay, i think i figured it out... i had the wrong type of starter there... i think i had one from an auto trans car... (i got this starter from a friend), but I just got a new starter... and I'm gonna throw it on and see if she works.