Just wondering how many of you have been stranded till the starter solenoid cooled off. I've had three running chevelles (66,67,66) and all would do this in the summer. Stock and performance,, it didn't matter.
I'm having a little to much fun with the poll,,, :)

Never.......since I installed a remote starter solenoid about 15 years ago. My battery is mounted in the trunk as well.

good/quality battery cables and put a shield around your starter. Wont happen again.

Never. With what Hanny said + good wires and connections, you won't have hot crank issues.

Never!

I run a gear reduction starter, so the solenoid isn't as close to the headers, plus there's more space and it's lighter.

Many many Years ago with my first big block Chevelle it was a huge issue. Go for smokes then have to smoke a few and wait till she cooled off. A major pain.
With all the upgrades happening today I am still surprised how for 5 years since I bought this car it has not been an issue at all.

Thanks for the help,,tho I found out this stuff the hard way. Just wondering how many have had this problem cause I hated it.
Got that mustang beside you at the pump,, waiting for you to pull out and my car won't start. I now use shield on my stock Chevelle and header wrap, shield with a gear reduction starter. It's great,,, Thank Guys,,, Joey

Iv'e had hot start problems twice, one time the starter was going bad and the other time it was a bad solenoid.

Both times the starter would work fine until the engine got hot. (was in the hot part of the summer)

I installed a gear reduction starter, wrapped the header in the area of the starter and put a heat shield on the starter and put a remote solenoid on the fire wall and never have a problem. Used too carry a pull strpa since it would never start hot. No more problem

The simplest and best solution is to use the ford or equivalent remote solenoid.

Cheap, easy and effective.

Good wire's, route the starter wires away from the headers, and a heat sheild.

Never stranded but several hard starts when I first got the 66. Installed a Summit remote kit and havent had a problem since. My battery is also in the trunk.

Might be a stupid question , but I understand the heat shield for the starter but don't understand what difference having the battery in the trunk would make? Thx

A couple times, until I put a heat shield around the starter and that took care of the problem.

I had bad hot start problems seven years ago. Ended up being corroded battery cables. I replaced them with some 2/0 gauge cables. No problems since :) .

I replaced the starter, battery, and bought a heat shield for the new starter. No workie. The new battery cables are what solved the problem.

Might be a stupid question , but I understand the heat shield for the starter but don't understand what difference having the battery in the trunk would make? Thx


I was just stating that because the distance between the battery and starter can make a hot start problem even worse. I am in the process of re-wiring my battery switch and remote solenoid before spring.

From a previous post:

Well, again I have to say I love this forum. I had the classic heat soak issue with my SB400 and trunk battery. I followed the advice I read in numerous threads and installed an Optima Red Top batt. new cables, fresh connections throughout and moved the batt to the engine compartment for a shorter battery cable run. The car starts like a young stallion, cold or hot!!

I should also add I grounded to the Frame and then from the Frame to the Engine.

Ever since I changed my inital timing from 0° to 16° for 36° total. The car loves it, starter does not. SB with headers.

It left me stranded a few times. Once at my folks house and had to use a leaf blower to cool the solenoid. Another at a gas station and had to have the wife bring a gallon of cold water and long funnel to cool it off.

I will be replacing the battery cables and ordering a high torque mini from www.dbelectrical.com (http://www.dbelectrical.com) soon. Hopefully, that will do the trick.

I never had this problem until I put everything back to original. I had headers and went to stock manifolds. I had a correct starter rebuilt also. Could it be the repo battery cables from M&H are not big enough?
I heard it could be.....
hot starter
poor ground
small cables
gas line getting hot
timing off
battery too small

Joey,no hot start issues with 10:1 comp 402 bbc with bone stock factory starting system (for 29+ yrs i have owned the car) which works just fine when setup correctly which is the key. I have a mild cam that created too high of cyl pressure with 210-220psi cranking compression to make the motor even harder to turn over hot along with running 18 deg initial timing for mild perf cam and it still starts fine when hot.

There is no need to install remote solenoid etc,yes they work but why clutter up the engine with FORD JUNK when you dont have to.

I did those very things in the info i sent you when i 1st bought my chevelle in 1978 and it has not had any hot start issues since then and i am on my 3rd battery in 29yrs,do the math on that. I have not had to fix or replace any starter system parts since i when through it back in 1978 almost 30yrs ago as specified in the info i sent you. I replaced the 1st 2 batteries (Sears Die Hards)at 10 yrs each not because they wouldnt start the car hot but as preventative maint to avoid getting stuck on a cruise some day. I am now almost due to replace this 3rd battery (Delco R59HC/Repro) as it too is apporaching 10 yrs old and i dont trust it. It still starts the 10:0 comp bbc with 220psi cranking copmression fine when hot but i dont trust 10yr old + car batteries when the avg car battey lasts approx 4-5yrs + -. I get 10yrs out of the batteries by watching the electrolite lvls and always add distilled water to keep plates covered at all times and more importantly i always keep the battery full charged with a 1.5amp float charger. The float charger keeps the plates from sulfating from non activity/no charging when the car sits for wks at a time with no use,this really extends the life of the car battery for sure and keeps the battery at full charge for when you only use it once in a while. Car batteries can loose on avg 3-4% of charge wkly when not in use according the info in the Interstate Battery Website. You loose close to 10% battery power in 2wks,add that to a weak starter & alt and you will have hot start issues for sure.

Over the yrs i also talked a few people i knew with hot start issues into doing the things i suggest in the info i sent you and they all had great results being were glad they finally had reliable starting motors when hot. A couple examples were a 469 pontiac 69 firbird & a 468 bbc in 70 SS CHEVELLE both with 10:0 comp,HEADERS,and fairly mild PERF cams that dont bleed off that much cyl pressure resulting in higher then normal/optimal cranking compression close to what my motor had. I consider 160-180psi as optimal cranking comp for a street perf motor but my motor has 210-220 psi cranking comp which is too hi for todays crap fuel IMHO. I will have to install more cam someday to bleed of more cyl pressure but the motor runs so well i hate to break it down again for a cam change.

By the way i too have the repop small original size battery cables and they work fine,no hot start issues with them for me but they were mentioned above as casuing hot start issues. I had no problems with the thin stock type cables because again i have the stock starting system restored to 100% working capacity with not one weak link in the mix. If you have a so so old starter along with a new battery that has low CCA amps (550-650/700-750 CCA are marginal) you will be SOL. If you have a good 800-1000CCA bettery but a so so starter you will be SOL for hot starts. If you have a KNOWN good hi trq starter (with hi trq armature in the hi trq starter case which is not always the case with rblts) with hi temp solenoid & shield & 800-1000cca battery but a weak (esp at night with light on etc) 37/42 amp alt(I rec 61 amp at a minimum) that cant quickly recover battery charge inbetween stop/go/stop/go starts when the motor is hot you will be SOL. In that case this will happen after a few starts or a few days of use as the new fresh hi CCA battery starts to be pulled down/partially discharged from mult starts but is never really fully recharged inbetween those starts. The motor will likely still start ok cold at that point but will fall on its face when starting hot due to the battery being in a partially discharged state from a weak 37/42 alt (need 61 amp @ a min)not being able to charge the battery enough or fully charged at all times on top of a heat soaked starter needing more AMPs to do the job that arent there. Get the point here, 1 or 2 weak STOCK starting system parts and you will definately have hot start issues,its that simple. All the stock starting system parts must be working up to their full capcity(not at 80-90% cap,all parts need to be working at 95-100% cap),if not hot start issues are just around the corner. You have to also use a starter & solenoid heat shield too or you will eventuall cook the starter from heat soak(esp with headers) which causes the starter to loose cranking power/trq over time or fail all together getting you stranded if you have auto trans.

And thats not to mention all the issues you can have with bad(due to New paint)/or dirty/corroded starting electrical system connections that result from fully restored cars where new paint interfears with proper electrical system gnd function (body to frame to motor grnd) or older restored/unrestored cars with dirty/corroded starting/electrical connection issues.

All this applies to basically any SBC/BBC car/truck from the late 50's-late70's +.

Scott

Where could i get a heat shield for my starter? Autozone?

Ever since I changed my inital timing from 0° to 16° for 36° total. The car loves it, starter does not. SB with headers.

It left me stranded a few times. Once at my folks house and had to use a leaf blower to cool the solenoid. Another at a gas station and had to have the wife bring a gallon of cold water and long funnel to cool it off.

I will be replacing the battery cables and ordering a high torque mini from www.dbelectrical.com (http://www.dbelectrical.com) soon. Hopefully, that will do the trick.


I solved my hot start issues. New high torque mini and 1/0 welding cable for battery cables.

I also wired up a ford remote solenoid even though my problem was a "slow crank", not a "nothing" hot start symptom.

I never had a problem until the last month or so. Now after running for a while, cranks real slow like 15:1 compression. I'm sure headers with a factory starter doesn't help but it's funny it was never a problem before even long running on the hottest days. Last time it happened I probably would have been stranded except I parked at a show so I wasn't leaving right away.

Where could i get a heat shield for my starter? Autozone?

Same question.

I never have hot start issues. I use a CVR Multi-Position adjustible gear reduction starter, with the solonoid 'jumped' out. I then use a ford solonoid hidden in the federwell behind the battery. New wires to the solonoid (heavy guage) and new battery cables, and good grounds including extra ground straps. Routed all wires neatly away from the heat. Cranks away no matter what the outside temp or engine temp. This was with a modified SB with large headers that came very close to the starter.

With this set up, the only wire that goes to the starter is a heavy guage battery cable direct from the remote solonoid (and its only energized when cranking). The heat has little effect of such a heavy wire.

Same question.

http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=mor-74300

I have one on a small block. Works awesome! Best $20 I ever spent on my car, and I had a REAL problem with hot starts when I put headers on. Now, no problem.