starter just clicks

[69dodge383]

Had my car out the last couple weekends and it ran really good. Went to get it out yesterday,starter gives one click, sometimes no click, and sometimes a few clicks....but through all this the starter will not engage. I thought it was a bad starter relay so I went to NAPA and swapped it in and got same issue. Ground wires look to be intact...what is my issue here?


Other notes : Battery is new, alternator works

[Cooter]

High torque, mini?
Original Chrysler?
Clean the sh*t outta the Pos./Neg. Terminals. You would not believe how much this can cause headaches.
clean by scraping the posts upward with a pocket knife if proper tool isn't handy.

[69dodge383]

High torque mini starter, i will go out and clean the terminals and try it again

[JB400]

Have to agree with Cooter   You might even have a battery going dead.

[Cooter]

How old? Because these starters (Nipendenso) suffer from contacts burn out. That's really all that goes wrong with them, but unfortunately will require removal to replace.

[69dodge383]

The starter is from last fall. It is not the issue. I am thinking I have had a ground wire or something come loose. I cleaned the battery terminal with the cleaning tool. Reconnected cables and starter clicks twice and then nothing.

this car was running fine the other day and was parked saturday afternoon and then went to start sunday and it started doing this....

I did try to jump the starter via the starter relay, I noticed when I went to connect the jumper wire there was a blue spark, which I thinks means a loose connection or a bad ground...

Doug

[69dodge383]

I also just checked the fuses and all are fine. I also gave the battery a charge and got the same result. I also noticed the headlights seem dim. If I turn on my electric fuel pump it runs with full power. My electric fuel pump is on a separate power source than my starter.

[Cooter]

Check block ground.

[69dodge383]

I checked the grounds and they are tight and look good. I even added another engine to body ground and got the same three clicks. I know the starter is fine. There is just something that is messing my starter up, its not getting full power to the starter, or enough to engage then quit after a few clicks

[69dodge383]

I put my battery on the battery tender for the night. I will give this a shot tomorrow and will report back. Thanks for the help guys!!!

Doug

[A383Wing]

mini starters are known for the contacts burning inside....this is due to crappy design and crappy connections.

wondering how you know for sure that this is not issue...just because starter is new from last fall, does not mean it's faulty

[69dodge383]

mini starters are known for the contacts burning inside....this is due to crappy design and crappy connections.

wondering how you know for sure that this is not issue...just because starter is new from last fall, does not mean it's faulty

I dont know for sure that it is not the starter, but I sure as hell hope it aint cause it aint fun to switch one out around my TTI headers.

I will check more tmw and will report back

Doug

[Cooter]

One way to find out if it's starter.....keep clicking till it turns over. If this happens, you got burned contacts.

[polywideblock]

wouldn't be the first time a "good " battery has just gone bad 

[A383Wing]

I checked the grounds and they are tight and look good. I even added another engine to body ground and got the same three clicks. I know the starter is fine.

One way to find out if it's starter.....keep clicking till it turns over. If this happens, you got burned contacts.

[69wannabe]

Same thing going on with mine, I had cleaned and checked my terminals but the positive end was one of those replacement with the two 1/4 bolts that clamp down on the cable and the nut on the bottom of battery end pulled through causing the cable to be loose and I didn't realize it til it was a real problem. I fixed the end but I sometimes have to start is twice to get it to spin over. Most likely messed up the contacts when it had that bad connection for who knows how long. I have another starter that has been rebuilt just putting off swapping it out since the weather here has been crappy for the last week or so. Maybe I will get it swapped soon as I get off my rear and when it dries up some outside. 

[six-tee-nine]

To be sure 100% if the batt is fine, put a volt meter over it and see what happens when you try to start.

If it drops to something like 6 volts consider it dead and gone. If you have a bad ground or loose connection battery tension wont drop all that much.

Battery connectors tightened down?

Always begin with the power source when searching for an electrical problem, even if the battry is one month old they occasionaly go bad.

[myk]

There's know way to "know" a starter or any other component is good because it's new; parts fail all of the time, irregardless of age.  I know that the prospect of swapping out your starter is dizzying because of your headers, but you really can't rule it out just yet...

[John_Kunkel]

Is the click you're hearing actually coming from the starter or the firewall relay? Jumper the relay to be sure.

[69dodge383]

I swapped the relay on the firewall for a new one yesterday and got the same result.

At this point I am thinking this is battery...when I put the battery on the battery tender last night it showed a red light, still red light this morning. Battery is fully charged when light turns green. Hopefully by morning I will have a green light and will try this again.

Doug

[69dodge383]

Is the click you're hearing actually coming from the starter or the firewall relay? Jumper the relay to be sure.

Starter clicking is the noise I am hearing

Doug

[69dodge383]

Ok so I just got home and checked my battery tender. Light is solid green which means battery is ready to go.

I went to start the car and start has full power and just clicks three times and stops, if i try to start it again...nothing...and try again nothing...then try again and i get the clicks again and then it stops. These clicks are quick and rapid.

Any ideas?

I have another battery I can switch in that is newer than the one have in the car now

Doug

[polywideblock]

use a multi meter to check bat voltage  ,i'v had a "bad " bat that took a charge made charged light come on on charger  and then lost it straight away    still sounds like a bad bat to me 

[69dodge383]

Ok so I went out and tried again. Put the voltage meter on the battery and told my wife to crank the engine. Starter did not click now after a few tries. Also, the voltage meter did not have a voltage drop like you would see with a bad battery. The volt meter started at about 12.7 and did not go below 12.6 when my wife tried to crank engine.

I am going to have her try to start it either later tonight or tomorrow and i am going to tap the starter with a hammer to see if it will get going.

Doug

[MSRacing89]

You have got a bad starter my friend.  If you can't jump it with a screwdriver at the relay.......then there is only one more connection downstream.  Sucks, but its got to come apart.

[cudaken]

 While I more inclined to think it is the starter short story.

Guess it was 15 years ago and i had not started the 68 Road Runner for around a year. Buddy was over so we decided to start her up. Turn the key, click was all I got. Headlights where bright so I started hitting the starter with a hammer, click again. Cleaned everything I could and still just got the click!   At this point I was swearing like a sailor and was sure I needed a starter!  

Dave suggested I hook up my battery charger it has a 60 amp start setting. (I was sure he was wrong!) And I be dammed she fired right up on the first crank!   Funny thing, that pissed off Dave, his 68 Charger cranks and cranks before it fires even when driven daily, much less sitting for a year!  

With you having TTI headers, I would go to a stock sizes starter my self. I do not trust the minis my self.

Cuda Ken

[A383Wing]

it can't be the starter...it was new last fall.....   

[69dodge383]

You have got a bad starter my friend.  If you can't jump it with a screwdriver at the relay.......then there is only one more connection downstream.  Sucks, but its got to come apart.

Sure is shaping up that way...will get it done quick, I want this car back on the street

Doug

[firefighter3931]

Check the voltage at the starter while jumping the starter relay....that will tell you if it's a starter problem or a wiring/battery problem. 

Use a screwdriver to jump the relay. Earlier you posted that a wire was used to jump it....too much resistance to get an accurate jump unless you were using a 2G wire.

Let us know what you find.


Ron

[six-tee-nine]

What I said and what Ron says...

No voltage drop means batt ok. Now measure again on the starter so you can rule out every connection between the batt and the starter.
If you still have 12.6 at the starter motor then its not a bad + connection between batt and starter If you are sure you have good ground (engine to firewall and also batt to body) then I say starter went to another world.

[69dodge383]

I went back out to the car this morning. I took a screwdriver and jumped the starter relay. Starter flipped motor over with ease. Plenty of power to start the car. Like it should be. The other day after I had last posted I tried to start the car and just heard a click noise from inside the car...single click when i turn the key This is a new starter relay from NAPA know how. I would hear a single click when I would try to start car, Then try to start it again, nothing. Then try again and the starter would click three times or so trying to engage then gives up. If i try to start it again it would either click or nothing. And then I go out today take a screw driver and jump the relay it goes. I did notice a blue spark the first time i did it, it started engine normal and then i tried it again and it just sparked orange and started turning motor over like normal like if i clicked in fuel msd and pumped carb twice car would start like normal. grounds are good starter spins this 440 over like its nothing.

This to me is not a starter issue.....

Doug

[firefighter3931]

This to me is not a starter issue.....

Doug

I have to agree Doug  If it just clicks with the key but turns over fast while bumping the relay i would suspect the relay is the issue. I would try another relay first. 


Ron

[69dodge383]

One other thing i did notice the other day was that when I would test the engine for ground by putting my negative side of my tester to the cyl head and the red to the +post and it would read 12.6+ if i remove the negative battery cable from the battery and do the same test with my tester it reads zero volts like the engine isnt grounded any more, hook negative cable to battery again and it shows power again like the first test....dont know if that matters just figured i would add it

[firefighter3931]

One other thing i did notice the other day was that when I would test the engine for ground by putting my negative side of my tester to the cyl head and the red to the +post and it would read 12.6+ if i remove the negative battery cable from the battery and do the same test with my tester it reads zero volts like the engine isnt grounded any more, hook negative cable to battery again and it shows power again like the first test....dont know if that matters just figured i would add it

That's perfectly normal....no problems there. 


Ron

[Back N Black]

Here is a quick check for grounding issues.

Start the engine, turn on the headlights.

Set digital volt meter to 20 volt DC scale.

1.  Test between the positive and negative battery post, 14.1 to 14.8 volts is expected.

2.  Test between the negative battery post and the engine block,   0.04 volts is expected.

3.  Test between the negative battery post and the body, 0.02 volts is expected.

4.  Test between the engine block and the body, 0.02 volts is expected.

If you get 0.00 volts on tests 2, 3 and 4. Reset meter to 2 volt DC and retest. On test one you should get 14.1 volts if not something is wrong.
On tests 2, 3, 4. If you get more than 0.04 or 0.02 volts you have a grounding problem between those parts.

It's a good idea to run a ground wire to the ignition module base in order to shorten the path of electrons.  The spark goes from the coil to the coil wire across the rotor, jumps the gap to the cap terminals, down the wire and jumps the gap at the spark plug then through the head to the block and up the ground wire to the battery. Then through the small wire to the body, across several weld seams to the module base to complete the circuit. That's 20KV worth of electron movement.

[Road Dog]

Neutral Safety Switch or connection to it?

[A383Wing]

Here is a quick check for grounding issues.

Start the engine,................

that's why this thread is here...it won't start....he needs a starter...we have been saying this all along....it's a cheapo Nippo starter...contact points always go bad

[ottawamerc]

Ok I've been following this for a bit and after all that has been said and done I would place bets that there is a poor connection in your bulk head electrical connector I had a friends do the same thing at a car show and thats what we found. Every thing else sounds  fine.

Scott

[Back N Black]

Here is a quick check for grounding issues.

Start the engine,................

that's why this thread is here...it won't start....he needs a starter...we have been saying this all along....it's a cheapo Nippo starter...contact points always go bad

If you read a couple post up the page, the car started by jumping the relay. 

[69dodge383]

Thanks for everyones input on this-

The car does turn over like it is supposed to. Screwdriver on the starter relay does the trick.   This is a new starter relay and may be the culprit  ...there may be a breakdown in the bulkhead  or somewhere along the line to the key switch itself . I will sort it out.  

What I am going to do in the mean time so I dont have to start my car with a screwdriver is get a push button switch and wire that in to the solenoid wire on the starter relay. Using 12 gauge . I know that will work in the meantime and it will run fine until I sort this out.

I want to drive this car, I can deal with the mystery when there is 2 feet of snow on the ground.

Doug

[69dodge383]

Went to auto store and got push button start switch. Wired push button to starter...and it starts car. Real good...like it should. Like starting a race car now. I will still need my key in the car for the stock electric items and whatever.

Doug

[Lunger]

 yep same happened to mine its in the key switch or someplace alone that line. I never traced it down, still have the pushbutton bypass. The key has to be in the on position for it to start.

[cudaken]

Went to auto store and got push button start switch. Wired push button to starter...and it starts car. Real good...like it should. Like starting a race car now. I will still need my key in the car for the stock electric items and whatever.

Doug

My 68 Road Runner is all so wired like that. I like that way, sort of a half ass anti theft devices. I hide mine under the carpet. Just push on the small lump and she fires right up. Been that way for 30 years now.

Cuda Ken

 

[fy469rtse]

Now I know how to start it Ken , I'll be over tonight to take her for a spin lol ,
Problem is in the bulk head, and ignition switch