Strange Electrical Problem UPDATED

[Sinister68]

Having a strange problem with the 440 in my Charger. Yesterday I replaced the distributor. The Mallory Unilite ate itself up from the inside out so I replaced it with a trusty Mopar Performance (magnetic trigger) distributor. It cranked and fired fine. However, after shutting it off to prepare for timing the engine with the new distributor, the engine wouldn't fire again.

When I crank the engine, it sounds like 1 or 2 cylinders cause the starter to labor severely (like the starter can barely spin the engine). However, the starter does eventually spin the engine.

How can the engine run fine one minute and the next minute there seem to be 1 or 2 cylinders that cause interference when the engine is spun over?

I can't run the starter too long without the positive and negative battery cables getting hot to the touch (trunk mounted battery). I've reinstalled the negative battery cable by attaching it directly to the frame. I've also replaced the starter and this problem still persists.

Any ideas? Hurricane Ike appears to be heading to Houston so I might lose the Charger altogether if I can't drive it out of harms way. 

[Charger-Bodie]

If the timing is too far advanced it will labor the starter while cranking.

[bearbqd]

Did you bolt down the distributor clamp? Sounds like its out of time.

[Sinister68]

Sorry, stupid question  : How would the distributor cause the engine to labor when spinning? 

I'm not sure why the car started fine the first time, but wouldn't start at all the second time.  I didn't touch the distributor. 

[Charger-Bodie]

Sorry, stupid question  : How would the distributor cause the engine to labor when spinning? 

I'm not sure why the car started fine the first time, but wouldn't start at all the second time.  I didn't touch the distributor. 

Its a matter of leverage really, If it sparks too soon the piston will be in a position where it fights the starter.

If the dist. was loose enuogh it may have moved and went out of time.

[terrible one]

I'd start from scratch again and just play around with the dist. position while a buddy cranks on the engine. I'll bet it'll fire right back up.

[firefighter3931]

Timing too far advanced....it could be that the advance weights are sticking or the base timing has been set incorrectly.



Ron

[Sinister68]

Thanks, guys! 

I'll start by retarding the timing and then take it from there.

[flyinlow]

Crank  the engine with out ignition. Jump the starter relay, ground the coil wire or disconnect the distributor leads. Crank engine, if normal problem is timing/distributor cap on wrong/spark plug wires crossed.
If not normal cranking  you have a bigger problem.

[Sinister68]

Update: I checked every inch of the pos battery cable from the battery in the trunk to the starter and the cable looks fine.

I pulled all but 2 of the spark plugs and disconnected the distributor.  The engine spins fine except for (presumably) the 2 plugs that were still left in the engine.  During those two cylinders, the starter labors. 

After cranking, the positive battery cable (and to a lesser extent) the negative battery cable, were hot to the touch.

Any ideas?  The trunk mounted battery setup has been working for nearly 2 years without problems.  Why would I have electrical problems now? 

[Sinister68]

I've reattached the negative battery cable with a longer bolt which makes contact at the trunk floor and the bottom of the frame rail.

The starter is a light weight starter that I replaced this past weekend.  What are the odds of having 2 bad starters? 

The battery is an Optima red top and is only 3 weeks old. Tomorrow I'll try swapping out the battery in my '05 Ram with the Charger's battery and see what happens. Both batteries are the same brand/type. I don't know what else could be causing this. 

Thanks for the replies! 

[RD]

bad new starter.. wont be the first time i had seen new stuff go to the crapper... used to work autoparts for a long time.  sux when it  happens though.. so i feel your pain.

[Sinister68]

UPDATE: 1 problem down, 1 to go
The slow/labored starter problem was a bad firewall ground.  Moved the ground strap to a better location and the problem was solved.

Tomorrow I'm going to retard the timing and see if it will fire.

Thanks for all the replies!