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ricracer113
07-12-2011, 10:57 PM
battery has 5 races on it and static charge is 12.6v. all the connections seam tight but when i try to start the car it acts just like a dead battery. Could the starter be going bad and mimic a dead battery? any ideas?

TALON75
07-13-2011, 03:43 AM
Yes, the starter can be drawing too many amps . I have had problems with starters before that would do this, my problem came from dirt and corrosion inside the starter, I could smack it a bit with a hammer while some one was on the switch and it would work but not on its own . Had the starter rebuilt, the first question the guy asked was do you pressure wash the car, I said of course!!lol, if you seen it come back from our track you would too!! But the pressure washing and the muddy/ dirty environment that it lives in are not good for them . Be sure to check all grounds also, not just tight but clean(no corrosion) also, they are very important .

1cln_sdime
07-13-2011, 10:12 PM
Put a meter on the starter and check voltage make sure u got atleast a good 12v there if u do hit the starter and c what u have then if its droping out really fast its the battery most of the time. If u have battery terminals that bolt onto the wire clean them really well we had that problem a few times finaly had to solder and shrink wrap em. hope this helps.

ricracer113
07-13-2011, 10:58 PM
i did try that and when i started had 12.6 volts and hit the starter and went down to 8 volts so ill try cleanining all connections and checking the alighnment of the starter again....thanks all i also put a ground straight from the frame to the starter

mudeater18
07-13-2011, 11:54 PM
I've been fighting the same problem. My battery was in the low 12v range and would start it 2 or 3 times and it was done. My new battery has 13.4 and starts it fine. Another thing to check is your cables. Take a "good" heavy set of jumper cables and isolate each section of your cables, both hot and ground. Just clamp it on for example from the solenoid to the starter and try it. If it cranks over faster then you may need to replace that section of the cable. It may look fine and the connections may be clean but it still could be bad. Also clamp the cables from the engine block to the starter and see if it cranks better which would indicate a weak ground through the cables. I've also had wires break inside the starter and it would only be using 2 of the 4 brushes and the starter would work but be weaker. Hope this helps.

Egoracing
07-14-2011, 06:44 AM
1. A fully charged battery should be over 13 and closer to 14 volts.
2. You should be running a Ford style remote solenoid wired correctly as it takes less than 1/4 the amps to get the engine to turn over. (this is what causes a Chevy to be hard to start when the starter gets warm)
3. Steel is an awful conductor, you should have a copper ground from the battery to the engine block, to each head and to the distributor. If you do not you are going to open up yourself for issues and you are giving away HP.
4. Battery voltage sitting there is not an indicator of battery condition, you MUST put the battery under load either with a tester or trying to start the engine while reading voltage. A tester is better as it puts a larger constant load on the battery during testing.

1cln_sdime
07-14-2011, 10:34 PM
Droping down to 8 i would bet its the battery on one of the terminals on top throw in a battery u know is good and try it just to make sure if that dont fix it start cheking wires and clean everything realy well

diggindirt
07-17-2011, 10:29 AM
Don't forget the master disconnect switch. Ours went out last night. Acted just like a dead battery.

dirty white boy
07-17-2011, 10:08 PM
I've been fighting the same problem. My battery was in the low 12v range and would start it 2 or 3 times and it was done. My new battery has 13.4 and starts it fine. Another thing to check is your cables. Take a "good" heavy set of jumper cables and isolate each section of your cables, both hot and ground. Just clamp it on for example from the solenoid to the starter and try it. If it cranks over faster then you may need to replace that section of the cable. It may look fine and the connections may be clean but it still could be bad. Also clamp the cables from the engine block to the starter and see if it cranks better which would indicate a weak ground through the cables. I've also had wires break inside the starter and it would only be using 2 of the 4 brushes and the starter would work but be weaker. Hope this helps.
seen this many times!!