Trouble Starting...

[beastiezzz]

Hello all, its been a while since I've posted anything here but I'm always reading all of the great info that everyone posts. Anyway, I'll get right to it...I just put a new battery into my 91 MGM. When i first put the battery in the car started and ran great. Now a few months later when I try and start it, it cranks very sluggishly. It does always start but it sounds like that might change judging from the slow cranking sound. I tested the alternator and its putting out 14.4v so that's not the issue. I do not have anything in the car that draws an excessive amount of power like a huge stereo or anything. The wires going to and from the battery terminals and the starter solenoid look kind of worn out. Before I go about replacing all of the wiring, I was wondering if there was anything else that might be causing this issue that I should look at. Thanks ahead of time for any insight into this.

[gadget73]

The usual is bad battery cables but you can actually test them if you hook a meter from end to end on the cable. You should see less than a half volt drop from one end of the cable to the other. I have had slow cranking caused by bad starters too. if the solenoid on top of the starter is flaky, it will lose too much voltage and make it act like a bad cable or bad battery. You can do the same test there too, check from fat post to fat post on the solenoid. The one on my truck was losing about 3 volts. I replaced the whole starter and the problem went away.

[beastiezzz]

Thanks for the info. I'll get to testing before changing anything out.

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[beastiezzz]

So I had the battery, starter and alternator tested at my local autozone and everything passed with flying colors. I also have cleaned the connections at the battery and put new heavy duty terminals on because the old ones were shot. There was some corrosion on the wires that connect to the battery so I cut them back and when I stripped the insulation there was shiny new copper in there. The only other thing that I can see that might be causing this problem is the connections on the starter itself and maybe corroded cables. Since the battery is good and I don't have to shell out for a new one, I may just go ahead and change the starter out with something more heavy duty if available. Does it sound like I'm moving in the right direction with this ghost in my starting/charging system? I just want to get it all fixed before the winter hits here in NYC. Thanks for reading

-Rob

[beastiezzz]

Ok so I went under the car today to check the starter. I pulled it out since it was only two bolts and I checked the voltage on the positive starter cable and there was no voltage drop. I also checked the grounds for the battery and that seems good as well but I took it off anyway and cleaned it anyway. I'm kind of at a loss now about what I should do next. I'm thinking just do the new starter but I don't want to have the same problem and have less money in my pocket for no reason. Does anyone have any ideas for what I could do next? I'm beginning to lose patience at this point.

Is it anyway possible that the fender mount solenoid is going bad? I don't really understand it's purpose if there is also a solenoid directly on the starter. Can someone please explain to me why both starter solenoids are needed? That might help me understand more about what's actually going wrong with my car. Thank you

[lincolnlarry]

The one on the fender protects the key switch in the steering column. The current flow needed to work the starter solenoid would burn it up.

Since you had everything checked, I would change the cables.

[gadget73]

you have to check for voltage drop while the engine is cranking. It will not show any problems otherwise.

[sly]

you have to check for voltage drop while the engine is cranking. It will not show any problems otherwise.

This. Voltage drop at the starter should be less than .2V (IIRC) different as the drop at the battery during starter operation. Jumping the lug on the solenoid to the battery to the skinny pin that the little wire is on will allow you to crank the engine without starting it (keys in pocket, not in car). Having 2 meters and someone else helping can check this out in one shot.

[beastiezzz]

Ok, so I changed the starter and the positive cable from the battery down to the starter and all is well now. The slow cranking is gone and it is now acting like a brand new car; cranking strong and fast. I knew I shouldn't have trusted the autozone "starter test." I should have just trusted my gut when the battery tested fine. It all boiled down to a bad starter. Thanks for all of your input guys. I'm glad I got this resolved before the winter.

[sly]