Ok I have a mild built 350. By mild It has a edlebrock preformer cam bored .60 over 305 HO heads. Quadrajet Carb. Motor runs great. Yesterday I replace the main starter cable with a new one and redid grounds. Truck was starting great no issues and now it seems to pull the starter really hard like the battery is dead. Brand new Battery also. Once truck is started It runs and drives great. If I shut it down truck it will not restart untiled cooled off. So my question is do I have a crappy starter. Hugger headers heating starting? Starter use to spin awsome and not hesitate but now just seems slow and sluggish. Another problem I notice is base gasket on carb is dumping fuel. I know that is just a gasket fix. Evertime I take out my truck something happens. It ran fine the first few times and now I keep having little issues pop up.
the hard start may be due to the fuel being dumped in your manifold after you shut it off. Fix the carb and maybe the starting issue will clear up. Also, try a heat shield between the starter and headers. Recheck your grounds.
All you did between the time it worked well and didn't work so well was change the cables, right? Are the cables you replaced the same gauge, or heavier? If they are smaller than what you took off, that could be the problem, in that they are not heavy enough to carry the current required to crank the engine. Also double check to make sure all those connections are tight, and on clean metal. Otherwise I'd be trying another starter.
Was starting fine ? What's the reason for : New battery New cables New starter Now is the battery same CCA ? Cables the same gauge? Same length? Connected and routed the same location? Ground in same location ? Should be close to the starter direct from battery to block
You need to do a shunt test. The starter should draw .5 amps per cubic inch. So 175 amps if it pulls in excess. It uses to much of the power and starves the ignition. That is my 2 cents.
I up the CCA to 750 New wire the same. All is the same. When I got the truck on the road the started would spin quick with no problems. Now it is slow and sluggish. If the lights are on it dims the badly. I am going with starter is worn.
New batteries are sometimes not up to par. Have it load checked. If the starter was fine before the other up grades I would think one of your up grades is not correct. The starter alternator guy here says check GROUNDS! Then start looking for the problem.
Well let us separate the problems. To start with the battery cable didn't make the carb drool. So carb first. If you are leaking fuel at th base gasket you are flooding. When you are runnign an engine it is not supposed to b getting raw fuel down the throat of the carb it is supposed to be getting a fog of fuel and air mix. That may be part of your hot start problem. As for the started not wprking properly after a cable change it could be a number of things. like the cheap assed cable that you bought off the rack at "The Zone" for instance. If it was working finwe with the old cable and now it is not I would suspect the cable not the headers to be your problem. What you are esperiencing is what some of us older guys used to call working the bugs out. You may spend the next year reworking things that you either did wrong or cheaped out on.
I experienced this exact problem with a customer truck a few months back. It ended up being a bad ground. The battery was grounded but wasn't good enough, and once it was under load had issues. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
That the most logical place to start. It really doesn't take much to mess up a ground after disturbing everything. Nor does to take much to correct it. Sometimes the issue hides quite well until there is a load placed on it.
When a problem arises after you've done some work, always suspect, and inspect the work you just did, namely the cable and grounds. With the lights dimming, that's usually an indication of a bad ground. You can't have too many grounds. Not sure I understand whether battery was replaced at same time or earlier, but a load test on it can't hurt.
Definitely sounds like a ground fault, make sure did up the battery terminals too you might have overlooked them being loose. Also you can hook a jumper cable from earth of battery to body of engine block this will give a temporary good earth. Remember to make sure it's to clean metal on block. Also definitely go over what you have done its very easy to get distracted and have a whoops moment . Good luck with it you'll get there. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
An easy test for a bad battery ground: when the engine is hot, grab your jump-start cables. Attach one end to the battery ground post. Attach the other end to a clean engine ground. Now try to start it. If it spins faster, you've found your problem.
I replace all my grounds and new battery and new + Cable. Still have to put the new starter on tonight. Took the old starter and it tested bad. Should be back on the road this weekend.
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