Slow cranking?
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 371
Likes: 1
From: Windsor Ontario
Slow cranking?
So the last week or so I have been having a slow cranking issue.
I go to start the vette and it will crank like the battery is dead (Ive been watching the gauge and I see 11.7-12.0v when I turn the key, then 13.6-14.3 driving.
It seems to be random but happening more lately.
Yesterday 4 out of 5 starts it cranked perfect. and today both times I started it is was slow.
I have a brand new battery (did it with my old one also)
Also a brand new starter solinoid (random solinoid since they apparenlty dont make one for the vette) I used an LT1 solinoid on my old LSX setup and it worked so did the same on the vette.
Is this a common vette issue anyone has had? I know we have some electrical gremlins in these cars.
Maybe tomorrow I will pull the battery cables and clean them up. (ground side) since the positive has a new terminal and I just cleaned up the starter end.
Thanks for any input
Jay
I go to start the vette and it will crank like the battery is dead (Ive been watching the gauge and I see 11.7-12.0v when I turn the key, then 13.6-14.3 driving.
It seems to be random but happening more lately.
Yesterday 4 out of 5 starts it cranked perfect. and today both times I started it is was slow.
I have a brand new battery (did it with my old one also)
Also a brand new starter solinoid (random solinoid since they apparenlty dont make one for the vette) I used an LT1 solinoid on my old LSX setup and it worked so did the same on the vette.
Is this a common vette issue anyone has had? I know we have some electrical gremlins in these cars.
Maybe tomorrow I will pull the battery cables and clean them up. (ground side) since the positive has a new terminal and I just cleaned up the starter end.
Thanks for any input
Jay
Racer
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 450
Likes: 18
From: NORTHPORT NY
it could be a number of things............its always a good idea to check cables and grounds be sure they are clean and tight. i would then do a test to see if there is a draw on the battery when the car is off .good luck
Tech Contributor
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 32,910
Likes: 2,402
From: Anthony TX
CI 6,7,8,9,11 Vet
St. Jude Donor '08
You mentioned a NEW POS battery terminal. HMMMMM,,,,,, The high current cables and connections need to be absolutly clean and tight. The proper torque value for the battery cables on the battery is 11 FT/LBS.
Inspect the battery terminals for damage under the boots. The terminal is CRIMPED onto the battery cable and Ive seen them burn and corrode there.
Battery voltage readings:
The Digital and Analog volt meter on the IPC DOES NOT read battery voltage. It reads the voltage that is supplied by the ignition switch. Yea,, I know that the battery supplies voltage to the switch but trust me,, DO NOT think that your reading the ACTUAL battery voltage on those meters. If your ignition switch has dirty, burnt, contacts, the voltage that you see there can be significantly LESS that actual battery voltage.
Use a meter and measure the battery voltage directly on the battery terminals/cables.
Measure the battery when you crank the engine. A new fully charged battery should NOT drop below 11 VDC. An old aged or battery that not properly charged can actually drop down to 9-10 VDC abd still crank the engine.
The NEG battery cable attaches at two points:
G-104/108 on the frame next to the battery:
The main cable attaches to the passengers side of the engine block above the starter.
Bill
Inspect the battery terminals for damage under the boots. The terminal is CRIMPED onto the battery cable and Ive seen them burn and corrode there.
Battery voltage readings:
The Digital and Analog volt meter on the IPC DOES NOT read battery voltage. It reads the voltage that is supplied by the ignition switch. Yea,, I know that the battery supplies voltage to the switch but trust me,, DO NOT think that your reading the ACTUAL battery voltage on those meters. If your ignition switch has dirty, burnt, contacts, the voltage that you see there can be significantly LESS that actual battery voltage.
Use a meter and measure the battery voltage directly on the battery terminals/cables.
Measure the battery when you crank the engine. A new fully charged battery should NOT drop below 11 VDC. An old aged or battery that not properly charged can actually drop down to 9-10 VDC abd still crank the engine.
The NEG battery cable attaches at two points:
G-104/108 on the frame next to the battery:
The main cable attaches to the passengers side of the engine block above the starter.
Bill
Last edited by Bill Curlee; Jun 15, 2012 at 12:02 PM.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 371
Likes: 1
From: Windsor Ontario
Just to give an update since I havent had time to do much to the car. I did pull the Ground and re-tightened it and still had the hard start on friday.
The fiance and myself decided to talk a mini vacation to (4 hour drive each way) and I decided Id put the vette to the test.
I didn't have one single hard start issue with the car. I drove 100km, got gas, fired right up, then pulled into the lot for food (15min later, fired up no prob)
Then drove another 300KM to the hotel and it fired up no issues.
I let it sit in the hotel garage for 2 days and had no issues with cranking.
So so far I have no idea. Its almost like on short drives the ALT is not charging the battery enough or something.
Also again this morning I got in the car with no issues (havent started it since I got home from a 300KM drive)
I will see when I leave work if it slow starts again.
Jay
The fiance and myself decided to talk a mini vacation to (4 hour drive each way) and I decided Id put the vette to the test.
I didn't have one single hard start issue with the car. I drove 100km, got gas, fired right up, then pulled into the lot for food (15min later, fired up no prob)
Then drove another 300KM to the hotel and it fired up no issues.
I let it sit in the hotel garage for 2 days and had no issues with cranking.
So so far I have no idea. Its almost like on short drives the ALT is not charging the battery enough or something.
Also again this morning I got in the car with no issues (havent started it since I got home from a 300KM drive)
I will see when I leave work if it slow starts again.
Jay
