Just alittle background, i was a automotive mechanic for 6 years, and have worked for chrysler as a engineer for 2 years now, im 25. I got out of cars for awhile while my wife was going to school 6 year radiography program.

Anyways, i picked up a roller friday night, its still in primer and the seals on the windows are out so there was water inside the door panels. the car was not takin care of and needs a lot of work, but deff got a good deal, and its a car.

i installed a 306 ford motor, going with a gt45, the motor and kit are all fabbed up. its ready to fire and i go to turn the key.... click click click.

i think of the possible causes, IE: bad ground, voltage, grounding out, faulty solenoid.

So far i replaced, starter wire from starter to solenoid, added ground from chassis to motor, motors to frame, main battery ground to chassis, removed power switch, etc etc.

The Only way i can get the starter to start is, by using the battery outside of car and running jumper cables, one to motor, and one to "power wire and touching the starter wire (one wire starter) with the power wire. heres where it gets weird, if i only put the starter wire and wire from battery to soleoid and try "juming" with a screw driver, NOTHING just arcs. i had the starter tested at autozone and tested fine, also installed a second spare starter with same results.

im sure im missing something and im starting to get frustrated, i wanted to get the motor running, then pull and finish paint etc.

any ideas would be greatly appreciated

 

You definitely have a bad connection somewhere. Corroded bolt or end ready to fall off a cable. Start by hooking up your jumper cable ground to engine and then positive to existing battery. If this does not work hook up ground to existing battery they jumper cables to starter side of solenoid. This will tell you which connections are your problem

 

Starters don't go bad that often solenoids on the other hand fail. Make sure you use Motorcraft parts otherwise aftermarket garbage can have you chasing your tail. Test your battery, , inspect your cables & connections make sure there clean & corrosion free. Chances of 2 starters bein bad are slim.

 

He said starter worked when jumped directly.

 

I would start checking voltage, and voltage drop with a multi-meter. Start with the battery, and work your way to the starter.

 

Okay thanks guys makes sense, I'm deff thinking it's a ground issue.

I replaced all the cables to exclude ends being loose, corroded, bad cable. Now that I'm thinking at work could it be the ground has such a long way to go? It's grounded out near the rear axle (frames tied) battery is relocated in the trunk.

Should I run a direct ground from battery to starter bolt (for securing starter then off that bolt to frame, from frame to block?

The chassis has a cage and it was all coated painted black. I uses a soft pad and grinder and cleaned all grounds so far my thoughts are it's just not making the ground it needs to.

Thanks for the advice in the right direction, I'll deff pull the Dmm out and start checking drops tomm morning.

 

You can't go wrong adding a separate ground from the bat to the starter, but the chassis usually makes a good ground as long as its clean, and you have the supporting grounds.... ie chassis to engine. What size cable are you using?

 

4 guage both ground to frame, and to relay, ill try the ground from battery and report back.

 

Just a update, replaced all wires and were still having issues. Bought a mini torque starter and checked all wires again. rewired for the solenoid and turn key, turned right over. finished wiring the car and finally got to put some heat into the motor.

found the ground from the cutoff switch to frame was not great which very well could have been the culprit. replaced my hot wire with 0 gage to solenoid and both a earth ground kit. seems fine now.

figured i would update because i hate reading treads that never come to a conclusion or fix.