Alright so I've been having problems getting my engine turning over. It's a 1971 302 with a C4, andeverytime I turn the key the engine cranks a little, the fan moves maybe a couple inches, and then the starter relay starts sounding like a machine gun. So far I've check the battery, replaced the relay, and then today I replaced the old starter withone of the newer miniPMGR starters. I have noidea what to try next, perhaps the old starter was shorted and fried both starterrelays? I don't know, I thought that maybe it wasan issue with the fly-wheel, but the fan does turn at least a little before the relay starts rapid firing. I know the engine isn't seized because after the starter disengages the crankshaft turns fine. Any ideas?

 

when you're absolutely positive that the engine is not seized oin any way (try turn manually for at least one full revolution), try the following
1. make sure car is in neutral
2. get a jump lead.
3. connect one end of this cable at battery+, the other to starter+ (where the fat cable from selonoid ends on started side).
that should crank (but not start) your engine (as you have the ignition key in off position)
Does that work for you?
4. If it does not, do the same test again, just before that you connect the other cable of the jumplead from: battery- to the starter housing (ground)
if that then works for you, the issue is your grounding (cable from battery- to chassis) or ground cable from chassis to engine (some cars have one from battery- to engine as well). All those cables should be fat ones like the jumpleads or the ones going to your selonoid

good luck and report the results

Kalli

 

When that relay does that sound it is a bad connection somewhere (assuming the battery is fully charged). Usually when the relay goes it dosen't do anything but click once. Check ALL connections including the engine ground.

 

i have my money as well on engine ground (see above).

I still accept bets against me and 69thunder. the bookmaker is still open :-]

 

I wouldn't bet against you on this one, Kalli.

Reaver, As long as you are certain that the battery is good. Try jumpstarting first if you haven't already tried. If that doesn't work I'd try what Kalli suggests to isolate the problem, butONLY if you are confident that you understand exactly what he is telling you to do. You could hurt yourself or your car if you do it wrong.

 

To clarify the instructions, you need jumper cables, not just a wire with alligator clips 200A through a small gauge wire is going to cause a nice little fire, heh.

 

How did you check the battery? Did you just check it for power or have it load tested. If you have access to a volt meter it would be a big help.

 

aye. should've made this one more clear. tiny wire will go up in smoke and burn your hands. proper jumpleads needed. something the same gauge+ as the cable going from battery to selonoid

 

I checked the battery withthe voltmeter function on my multimeter. What direction should I be turning the crank to make sure the engine isn't seized? I've been turning clockwise but it gets pretty hard at certain points, probably when some of the piston are nearing theend of the compression stroke. Also my transmission is probably low on fluid because there is a leak in one of the cooling lines, not sure if this matters but thought I'd mention it. And the car has had this trouble before, I 'fixed' it last time by pulling the battery out and having it charged, but the battery is reading just under 12V right now.

 

A good battery should read 12.87 volts, and around 14 volts when the engine runs.
A battery showing under 12 volts is to weak to start this engine. So try charging te battery, or jumpstarting with another car. If your battery shows the same problem again, it might be broken, or your alternator isn't working anymore.

Also check fluid levels, supposing they're low cause you've got a leak, is asking for trouble, en hitting yourself in the head later.

"Experience is what you get, when you don't get what you want"