Starter woes...

[2Luke2]

So we finally got her mostly back together and ended up stabbing the dizzy 180° and had to restab it today, but we are running into a bit of an issue and wanted to get some help troubleshooting. We have a brand new starter on the car and it's a pretty beefy powermaster that is supposed to be rated up to 12:1 compression. Anyway sometimes the starter just makes a whining noise and the motor doesn't turn over and then it makes a really loud grind/popping sound when we let off the key. We have checked the battery and it's 13+ volts and we checked the wires at the front of the car and they read pretty close to the same as the battery. So we are wondering what could be causing this. Below is a video of what we are hearing... and at the last part of the video is what we are thinking haha...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBh12AJJHEA&feature=youtu.be


Here is a video of her idling before we got any kind of timing on her just to make this thread a bit more interesting lol... Only thing on the car at this stage exhaust wise is the headers and finger tight connection pipes to the x-pipe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUJQiyQdTTY&feature=youtu.be

[c00nhunterjoe]

I personally dont like powermaster. I think its overpriced junk. After watching your video, your starter is no good. Buy a starter for a 95 dodge dakota with a 5.2 from any parts store. It will cost $65 and come with a lifetime warrenty and be the same starter as the powermaster, except it will work.

[2Luke2]

We have one sitting on the floor and before we moved the battery to the trunk it would never start the car or would start it very slowly. We thought since we were running 11.3:1 compression that it might not have had enough power to turn the motor. When this one works it works great!

Though we just noticed that when we started the car up again a few minutes ago to check the tranny fluid... we turned the car off and then heard the starter stopping. So we are wondering if the starter was running the entire time the motor was... that obviously wouldn't be good... So a little more diagnostics is in order.

[1974dodgecharger]

wow that's one weak starter....I got mine from DBelectrical.

[myk]

Another vote for the DB electrical mini-starter, or something like it.  Have that Powermaster tested...

[2Luke2]

It doesn't seem like it's weak when it actually engages or turns the motor over. It's soo much better than our last starter, but obviously we are having issues with it.

This is the one we have right now. The 9613 model.

http://www.powermastermotorsports.com/180_ft-lb_starters.html

I just left a message with their tech line to see what they think. I hate to have to tear it all apart to pull it out of there. Trying to get to it with the headers on is just a plain nightmare...

In the meantime I'll check out the db electrical you guys mentioned.

[2Luke2]

Does the DBelectrical starter fit with LT headers? I noticed the mounting for the wiring looks like it's in a much much better location!

[firefighter3931]

Luke,

I've recommended the DB electrical mini starter to many members over the years. I have one on my car with 2in TTI headers and it clears fine. You just remove the plastic terminal extension that comes with it and connect your wiring up. That sucker spins my 572 over like it's a 6-banger ! 

It sounds like you have a defective starter and the drive is having trouble engaging/disengaging


Ron

[2Luke2]

Thanks to everyone for the replies and information. Ron, could a defective starter also cause it to stay on while the engine is running? We have noticed that it sounds like the starter is winding down when the motor is shut off. We still have it wired up like we talked about in that other thread, but not sure what else might be causing that. Maybe a bad solenoid, but we don't understand what would cause that.

[1974dodgecharger]

Does the DBelectrical starter fit with LT headers? I noticed the mounting for the wiring looks like it's in a much much better location!

you have to play tetris to get the starter in I think HOOKER headers are worse.  I had to cock the steering wheel all the way to the right and remove valve covers to get my DB in.

[2Luke2]

So we got our db electrical starter today and the car starts up like a dream... only issue now is the starter stays running while the car is running. So we need to readdress how we have the car wired with the battery in the trunk.

Currently we have it wired like the attached picture. What we are thinking is that we need to get a positive from the battery before it gets to the starter. What we think is happening is it's completely the circuit, but we aren't 100% sure. All we know is that it's happening and we need to fix it haha... Anyway... If anyone else could take a look and give us a thumbs up or down on this we would appreciate it. Ron if you read this I know you said you have yours wired like this, but maybe we missed something. Maybe we didn't plug something back up right when we put the steering column back in.

[john108]

Hi
At some point I will have to understand the wiring you have because mine will be similar.  But without more detail, I am having difficulty understanding the diagram.  Where are the switches, open and closed??  The sketch shows that everything is grounded and also has power?