Thread: Starter Dragging. Still!

Tweet

Ok- I have tried shimming both sides even and each side one at a time. Nothing is stopping my starter from dragging. The flywheel looks fine! I even put a new starter on and same thing!

It will engage, turn the car over, but then it drags and makes that sound!
Someone told me it could be a voltage drop problem? If so, where should I start looking? I have a voltage meter and it shows 12.5 at the + starter post.

The guy a bought the car from has a ground strap from the frame to the outside starter bolt head. Just FYI. Is this normal?

Just for grins I'd take jumper cables and double up on both cables..If it improves you will know you have a voltage(or connection) issue.. Another thing to check is to see if either of the cables is getting hot when you crank on it. If theres heat ,there is a connection that's weak... The ground strap was probably added to try to fix the problem.

what make is the motor?

It's either a 1968, 327 or a 1669-1979 350 according to the block casting numbers.

does the starter use the rear brace?

The starter bolts are not offset (they are inline.) There is no brace to speak of on the car right now. Starter is just bolted up.

Originally Posted by bucs012

The starter bolts are not offset (they are inline.) There is no brace to speak of on the car right now. Starter is just bolted up.

From your description, among other things, it sounds as if the bendix is weak.

ran into a similar problem awhile ago on a 350, some one told me to change out the starter to one from a vette.( the nose is diff ) fixed my problem, hope this helps. good luck
Dave

If the bushings are bad it could be dragging the armature on the fields. Use you volt meter at the battery and see how far down it goes when you crank and how it rocovers. It shouldn't go below 11, I think, and should come back pretty close to the same battery voltage. A voltage drop test is done by setting the meter to volts dc, hold one end right on the neg battery post, not the cable end, and the other on the starter housing. Have someone crank it and note the reading. It needs to be less than 1 volt. Do the same with the pos, holdig it to the posts, not on the cable. Also anyplace that has high resistance will be warm to the touch, might even burn you.
And FWIW, starters don't have bendix anymore unless you have something pretty old. It's called a starter drive and it will just kick the starter out when it gets bad.

I will update you guys on this. I have tried 3 different brands of starters. Still does the same thing.....

Here is what I noticed. If I turn the key to Start and hold like normal time on my Nova and newer car,. it still drags a little after the key is released.
HOWEVER, If I turn the key to Start and let it start and then release the key "quickly" it does not drag.

Originally Posted by willowbilly3

A voltage drop test is done by setting the meter to volts dc, hold one end right on the neg battery post, not the cable end, and the other on the starter housing. Have someone crank it and note the reading. It needs to be less than 1 volt. Do the same with the pos, holdig it to the posts, not on the cable. Also anyplace that has high resistance will be warm to the touch, might even burn you.

I am going to try this. To make sure I understand. When I do the Positive side test (noted at the end above) I put the red wire from volt meter to the + battery post and the - wire from volt meter anywhere on the starter housing. Right?

Both the above tests should read no more than 1 volt?

Are you using the same solenoid that was on the original starter?

Originally Posted by DennyW

Hey...hand me those Channel Locks....
Bendix, over running, self engaging, starter drive.
A self-engaging Starter drive gear, the gear moves into engagement when the Starter starts spinning and automatically disengages when the starter stops.

There are many drives out now. But, yes, there is a Bendix drive still yet.

Forgive me for my slip in liguistics, bendix is a term that was most commonly applied to the earlier bendix drive with a spring, like the Y block Fords use and I am unaware of any new automobile having used one in the last few decades, but that doesn't mean much. The spiral cut shaft type was technically a Bendix Folo-Thru drive and became more commonly referred to as just a starter drive in any local which I have had the privilage of spinning wrenches. A few old, old farmers still call them bendix.

But that doesn't help anything here
You have to do the voltage drop test while cranking, or starter engaged. And when you test the positive side you have to be on the posative terminal and the posative post on the starter, did I not word this correctly before? It is harder to explain than it is to do.

This is all good stuff guys, but it doesn't help to solve the problem.
Since he has tried at least three different starters, IMHO, that eliminates the starter as the problem. IMO that leaves four areas of concern.
1. A weak battery or a weak cell in the battery which can be verified by a load test on the battery.
2. Too small gauge positive battery cable. IMHO anything under 6 gauge is too small especially if we're talking a run of much more than two feet since as the length of the cable increases so does its impedance which will cause an undesired voltage drop.
3. An ignition switch that is close to being worn out.
4. The starter solenoid. If the contacts are burned it will cause it to stick and will also produce an undesirable voltage drop.
Personally, I would start at the starter solenoid.

Originally Posted by DennyW

Your absolutely correct nfday. I retract all I said. Except the farmer part...

Thanks, Denny. I'm just an old shade tree mechanic and if I have any expertise at all it's in the electrical end. At one time or another I have encountered all four of the situations I posted.