I am starting up my brothers elcamino after sitting for many years. I primed the motor and can even turn over the motor by hand using a breaker bar and socket on the crank bolt. I am pretty sure it is not seized up or i would not have been able to move it by hand. When i turn the key the motor moves maybe a 1/10 of a turn before stopping. If i try again i get the same result. 1/10 turn every turn of the key. I gave up for the day as i had to leave for work but when i disconnected the battery cables i could feel both positive and negative battery cables were warm. Right now i am thinking posssible starter malfunction or maybe corrosion on the cables that is causing my motor not to turn over? Asking here just in case i am missing something or something i have not thought of yet.
Engine Barely moves when turning key.
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New battery, well charged? It could be a bad starter but my guess is the cables are corroded under the insulation near the connectors.
You may find that you need new positive and negative battery cables - full length between the battery and the starter. You might also need to clean up the ground connections around the engine compartment.
Rick
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You may find that you need new positive and negative battery cables - full length between the battery and the starter. You might also need to clean up the ground connections around the engine compartment.
Rick
Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
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My guess is a low battery.
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Battery, loose cables at the battery or at the starter, bad/corroded connections at the battery or starter. Bad or corroded grounds. And those will all cause warm cables. You may find that replacing with larger cables ultimately fixes the issue because the connectors are clean, new and tight connection, and was not due to the larger cables.
And a battery can look charged but be bad. Only way to tell may be with a load tester or take it out and to a battery shop for a load test.
Mike
And a battery can look charged but be bad. Only way to tell may be with a load tester or take it out and to a battery shop for a load test.
Mike
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Pick up a quart of Rislone by Shaler and squirt some into all the cylinders, then try cranking the engine without any spark plugs. This will take the compression off the starter. Keep spinning the engine and putting in more Rislone. Change the oil and filter to Mobil 1 5W30 synthetic..
Clockwise to retard, counter clockwise to advance
Disconnect the old cables and try connecting (jumping) the + battery cable with jumper cable. See what happens. Same with the - cable. It's free and may ID your problem (the cables and/or connectors).
IF replacing your cables, replace both with no higher (numerically) than 2 gauge. That will reduce the resistance to them. OEM was 6 gauge (I think). You may wish to replace them regardless. Not expensive and the 2 gauge is superior for the application (in my opinion).
Don't mess with timing (yet). 'Slow crank' (from too much initial advance) rears its ugly head when the engine is hot.
ANY increase in resistance (cables and/or starter windings) reduces the current flow and increases the heat.
What was the battery output after charging? Does it hold a charge?
Here's one vendor who sells custom cables (any length, gauge, connectors, color you wish):
2 Gauge Battery Cables - Custom Made 2 AWG Battery Cables
I found their quality far superior to anything in a package.
Just a few suggestions.
Pete
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Pull the plugs and turn it over first. One of them cylinders might be full of coolant.
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do you have any reason to believe it wasn’t running when it got put away?
It was a brand new motor when installed. Brother turned it on then after that sat for many years.
I will be getting those new cables soon. Also been reading that i need plenty of ground cables also.
As already mentioned, in this order:
New battery or fresh battery. If it's a relatively new take out from another car (and it sounds like it is) it should be fine. Otherwise if it's an old battery that is recently recharged it could be suspect. Clean and tighten both ends of the battery cables. Including the starter terminal and the ground end of the negative terminal. Next would be to remover and clean the starter mounting pad to the engine. This can be done at the same time you are cleaning the positive starter terminal. After that, replace the starting, it may have a pair of windings that are shorted.
If it ran when it was put away, it is highly unlikely the timing some how changed in all these years. It would take a nefarious actor to decide to do that and unless he was a real die hard car guy, there are a lot more obvious ways to mess with stuff than move the timing.
I had a buddy go through this a few years ago with an old pickup. It had sat for only about a year and had the green carnation corroded terminals. I told him clean the cables. He replace the battery with new. No start, just a click. I told him clean the cables. He replaced the starter. No start, just a click. Then he listended.
New battery or fresh battery. If it's a relatively new take out from another car (and it sounds like it is) it should be fine. Otherwise if it's an old battery that is recently recharged it could be suspect. Clean and tighten both ends of the battery cables. Including the starter terminal and the ground end of the negative terminal. Next would be to remover and clean the starter mounting pad to the engine. This can be done at the same time you are cleaning the positive starter terminal. After that, replace the starting, it may have a pair of windings that are shorted.
If it ran when it was put away, it is highly unlikely the timing some how changed in all these years. It would take a nefarious actor to decide to do that and unless he was a real die hard car guy, there are a lot more obvious ways to mess with stuff than move the timing.
I had a buddy go through this a few years ago with an old pickup. It had sat for only about a year and had the green carnation corroded terminals. I told him clean the cables. He replace the battery with new. No start, just a click. I told him clean the cables. He replaced the starter. No start, just a click. Then he listended.
Timing was only brought up because he said he primed the motor. We did not get a description of what he meant by prime but I would assume that he pulled the distributor and installed a priming tool on a drill.
The timing will be off just because I removed the distributor so I could prime it.
I have 0 gauge battery cables in my Chevelle I will swap in to see if that works.
I have 0 gauge battery cables in my Chevelle I will swap in to see if that works.
Yes that is correct. I pulled the distributor and primed the motor with the correct priming tool. Ran it till I seen oil come out of the rockers.
Check grounds man. Seen it many many times in that scenario . Old car been hangin around 2.5 dogs ages lol . New Battery plugs blah blah and nothin . Ground cables and or what its grounded too is all shited up with rust and or loose .
Grind and get good connect
Grind and get good connect
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