Thread: won't start when hot

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I need some advice on timing/overheating and starting. I have a 350 gm in a 56 pontiac that runs great BUT after I've had it out running for a while it seems to get hot and will not start again until it cools down which sometimes can take a couple of hours. I've been told that my timing may be to far advanced so I've attempted to set the timing and can only see the timing mark when I put thewire on one of the back cylinders, so I.m thinking the distributed may be out 180 degrees????? can it be out that or can it be out 90 degrees?? the distributer is very close to the fire wall and I don't think it would fit if I pulled it and rotated 180 degrees. When I put the timing lite on front left cylinder the timing mark is nowhere to be seen. Any advise???

I'm fairly certain that it is starter related. Does the engine crank? Or does the starter not engage? Your starter solenoid is mounted on your starter correct? I'm not a GM guy, but is seems like I've heard over and over where these things get hot and won't restart for awhile. There should be a few GM guys on here that will chime in and let you know for sure. If your timing was real bad off, it would be bad off all the time, not necessarily when just hot, at least I wouldn't think so anyway.

My starter is new, and so is the battery, and as far as how off the timing is, it runs good, bu gets hot. I bought a mechanical temp guage today anfd the bloody thing doesn't work so I'm not sure how hot it actually gets.

the starter is engaging and turning until it clicks (like battery is dead, but will start fast once cool again

Sounds like you have a bad connection somewhere,,,,,check your grounds,,and pwr supply to the starter.
Also,,,,i have seen brand new starters which were faulty from day one,,so dont count on the starter being a good one just cos it's new.
Rememeber the old saying "Measure twice cut once" in this case,,,double check,,,then check again.

When I had the distributer loose and was playing with the timing, i had it maxed one way as far as it would go and turned the engine off, and it would not start, so I turned the distributer the other way and it fired up ???????

the clicking starter is your starter silanoid... are you sure its brand new or rebuilt? most places dont sell brand new starters... you have to pay ussually around $180 for a NEW starter... the clicking is a a fault in the starter silanoid, when it heats up the connection is being broken inside, and is unable to pull enough power flow to actually crank.... take the thing back, get it replaced for free... and you should be on your way

THanks Guys, I think the starter is the problem. 180 up here gets you a rebuilt starter. It seems that the starter may need a heat shield or just plain needs to be replaced.

How long is the positive cable and what guage?

I had a similar problem and corrected it by installing larger battery cables and switched to synthetic oil.Don't know which one fixed it, just figured that I'd change the oil since I was going to be down there anyways.

North60,

I had a smiliar problem with my engine. One day was talking to a guy who used what he called an "old trick". It has worked GREAT for me:

Apparently older Chevy starter solenoids draw a lot of current during starts, when they are hot, they require even more amps. Ford solenoids on the other hand do not draw as much current. He told me to wire a Ford (1960's era Mustang solenoid) solenoid in series with the Chevy one and it would get rid of this problem. I gave it a shot and it works like a champ.

I am at work right now so I don't have the part numbers or schematics that he drew out for me, but when I get home I will take a couple of digital pictures and attach them and the schematics as a post. My starter used to hesitate slightly or even click sometimes when hot, now it roars to life no matter what the temp of the engine is.

There might be someone else out there who knows about this "trick", the guy I got it from used to race Chevelles and he did it to all of his motors. Mine engine started life in a 69 Chevelle...

I had that problem, and replaced about everything in site...
Then I installed a hot-start relay kit and have never had the problem after that..
Jeff

Here is a diagram of the setup. The Ford solenoid is part #F496 (1966-1970 Ford Mustang/Torino). Within the diagram I have imbedded photos of the actual parts. I think this is self explanatory, but let me know if you have any questions...

well usualy the problem is with the starter especialy if u run headers.
my uncles 65 wagon does the same thing and it has nothing to do with timing on it. so we r goin to try different headers and a heet shield to see if that makes a difference